The term data collaborative refers to a new form of collaboration, beyond the public-private partnership model, in which participants from different sectors (including private companies, research institutions, and government agencies) exchange data to create new public value and solve public problems. Several of society’s greatest challenges — from addressing climate change to public health to job creation to improving the lives of children — require greater access to data, more collaboration between public – and private-sector entities, and an increased ability to analyze datasets. In the coming months and years, data collaboratives will be essential vehicles for harnessing the vast stores of privately held data toward the public good.

The pieces collected here examine a number of elements related to this emerging field – from the potential (or realized) societal benefits of data collaboratives, to issues of governance and incentives for corporations to participate in such arrangements, to risks and strategies for mitigating them. To learn more about data collaboratives, check out DataCollaboratives.org