The institute, which is intended to help the public and private sectors exploit government data, also has £10m of government funding over five years. It is run by the inventor of the worldwide web, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Professor Nigel Shadbolt and entrepreneur Gavin Starks.
The institute has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the World Bank, pledging to work together to create a programme that will encourage and accelerate the use of open data worldwide. This programme will collect evidence globally on the benefits of open data, and train senior people who will lead open data initiatives in developing countries.