The government has announced the launch on the Open Data Institute (ODI), marking a significant step forward in their Open Data policy.

The institute aims to provide an environment in which business, the public sector, academic institutions and developers can come together and maximise the commercial potential of open data, whilst making advances towards sustainable policy.

Plans for the ODI strategy were revealed in November 2011, however, the embryo organisation secured funding from the government's Technology Strategy Board last month, which may amount to £10m over the next five years.

The project will be headed up by data experts Professors Sir Tim Berners-Lee and Nigel Shadbolt. "The institute will connect together lots of people excited about open data,” said Berners-Lee. “Those who produce it, with those who want to put it to use in all sorts of fields and every kind of industry.”