To capitalise on the wealth of information becoming available, Dawn Austwick of the Big Lottery Fund says the sector needs "more geeks and nerds"
Trusts and foundations in the UK provide grants totalling about £2.5bn a year, so it seems obvious that money should be spent wisely and without duplication.But there has been some concern that too many grants go to certain causes and parts of the country and too few to others, partly because funders aren't coordinating their efforts and sharing information about their grant-giving.
The international development sector has been leading the way in opening up its data by developing the International Aid Transparency Initiative in 2008. The IATI has established a standard way of sharing information on aid projects and its registry provides access to standardised open-data files. It was originally developed by government aid donors but is increasingly used by charities to publish details of their projects, spending and results.
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