Supporting New Open Data Initiatives: Harvard’s Institutional Data Initiative and CORE

Microsoft is proud to support the establishment of Harvard Law School Library’s new Institutional Data Initiative (IDI), which will work alongside other knowledge institutions to increase access to knowledge and high-quality data for all builders of AI. 

Microsoft is committed to enabling broad access to data and empowering a more inclusive AI ecosystem. Since 2020, with the launch of our Open Data Campaign, we at Microsoft have worked to close the data divide, ensuring that every organization has access to data to innovate and achieve more, which is essential to growing a vibrant, competitive AI economy.  

In a joint blog post from Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO and Brad Smith, Vice-Chair and President of Microsoft, along with Marc Andreessen, Cofounder and General Partner, and Ben Horowitz, Cofounder and General Partner from Andreessen Horowitz, they said, “data is a critical input for all AI developers,” and we need open data commons to promote a “thriving and growing ecosystem of data around the globe.” 

The work of IDI will be a significant and meaningful step towards this goal. 

IDI will work with library, academic, and government institutions across the world to unlock and refine high-quality data, starting with collections at Harvard Law School Library. Boston Public Library is additionally preparing a collection as part of their engagement with IDI. These collections of data contain critical snapshots of cultures and worldviews through the ages that should be reflected in AI innovations.  

IDI is actively inviting engagement from nonprofits, universities, governments, and other technology companies to make strides on opening high-quality data in the public interest through open data commons. This effort is focused on increasing both the quantity of data available to the public and the diversity of sources, cultures, languages, and subject matters represented in that data. This variety will help ensure that AI reflects and can benefit all communities. 

Additionally, we are supporting CORE, a nonprofit open access infrastructure service operated by The Open University in the UK. CORE seeks to open access to scholarly knowledge worldwide. This requires both the availability of high-quality research and the supporting infrastructure necessary to store and access it. Our contribution to CORE will help improve their services for machine access to academic research content, support research on ethical ways of using academic content in the AI era, and inform approaches to opening access to more academic research content. 

For AI innovation to work for everyone, access to broad and varied data is a must, and not just for big companies like Microsoft, but importantly also for researchers and startups. It is necessary to enhance performance, improve safety, and minimize bias. We look forward to working with IDI and CORE to make diverse and high-quality data more accessible to all developers. 

Tags: AI, data, equity, inclusion, Innovation, Open Data, Open Data Campaign