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The Best Publicly Available Data for Business
August 1, 2018
In most countries, increasing quantities of public data are being made available, particularly by public organisations. This data can be useful to many businesses, as it can be combined with your own information to improve the quality of your analytics. This post will identify a few of the most useful public data sources fro businesses.
Government Data
Many governments now open up their data to the public. Some useful data sources here include:
- data.gov: This site is a portal for data released by various US government agencies, featuring information from a wide range of topics
- US Census Bureau: Provides a vast amount of information on US citizens, collected through the census every 10 years, as well as more frequent surveys.
- Canada Open Data: Provides data sets created by the Canadian government.
- data.gov.uk: Datasets created by the British government and other governmental bodies
- UK Data service: Provides a collection of surveys and studies commissioned by the UK government , including the UK census.
- data.gov.ie: The open data portal for the Irish government and public sector.
- EU Open Data Portal: This gives you access to open data published by EU institutions and bodies.
- Eurostat: This is the EU’s statistics agency, providing data for the countries of the EU in areas such as population, economics and trade
- data.gov.au: This is the open data portal for the Australian government.
General Data Sources
Several sources provide data on various different areas, such as:
- CIA World Factbook: A range of datasets on population, government, the economy and various other areas. Claims to cover 267 “world entities”, in other words most or all of the world.
- Google Public Data Explorer: Google’s Data Explorer aggregates data, mostly on economic topics, from various other data sources.
Finance
Several financial institutions also provide open data:
- International Monetary Fund: The IMF provides a large amount of data focusing on the global economy and various macroeconomic indicators
- World Bank: Open data provided by the World Bank, with a focus on economics and economic development indicators
- Google Finance: A good source to use for tracking stock prices over time.
Internet and Social Media
Unsurprisingly, internet companies make a lot of data accessible to the public. Some examples include:
- Google Trends: Analyse trends on search volumes for whatever terms you are interested in
- Google Books Ngrams: Track the popularity of words over time in the vast collection of books digitised by Google
- Facebook Graph: The Facebook Graph API can be used to get data from Facebook.
- Twitter: The Twitter API allows you to connect to data from Twitter
- Instagram: The Instagram Graph API, based on Facebook’s Graph API, can be used to build tools for businesses
Health
There are also several health related organisations providing open access to their data;
- healthdata.gov: This website provides data related to the US health system
- NHS Digital: Provides a wide range of data covering the health care system in the UK
- World Health Organisation: The Global Health Observatory is the section of the WHO that produces data on various global health issues
As you can see, open data is commonly available across a wide range of sectors throughout the world. Use any of these data sources, or others, and you’ll quickly improve your ability to get insights from your own company’s data and improve outcomes for your business.
For nearly a decade, Kubicle has set new benchmarks in corporate training, empowering over one million learners across more than 1,000 enterprises worldwide. The mission has always been to foster valuable, measurable skills that drive organizational success.
However, teaching new skills alone isn’t enough to create lasting change. To bridge the gap between learning and real-world impact, businesses require more robust, integrated approaches. That’s why Academies+ has been developed—an innovative blended learning program designed to transform skill acquisition into tangible outcomes.
Why Blended Digital Learning?
eLearning alone is a proven tool for effectively upskilling large groups. Organizations leveraging Kubicle’s solutions often see significant performance improvements after just a few hours of tailored training. However, learning a new skill is only half the battle. The real challenge is ensuring those skills are applied effectively within an organization’s unique context to maximize its impact.
In recent times, an additional challenge has emerged: the rapid acceleration of change, especially in technology. The production timelines for eLearning courses often struggle to keep pace with product development, nowhere more obviously than in the domain of Generative AI. As a result, a course being developed today may already be outdated by its release—regardless of how short the production cycle is.
Blended learning tackles these challenges by merging the advantages of eLearning with hands-on, real-world applications. Likewise, virtual classrooms led by industry-leading SMEs offer an effective platform for delivering consistently up-to-date content. This approach enhances knowledge retention while ensuring accuracy and smooth integration into daily workflows.
In recent times, an additional challenge has emerged: the rapid acceleration of change, especially in technology. The production timelines for eLearning courses often struggle to keep pace with product development, nowhere more obviously than in the domain of Generative AI. As a result, a course being developed today may already be outdated by its release—regardless of how short the production cycle is.
Blended learning tackles these challenges by merging the advantages of eLearning with hands-on, real-world applications. Likewise, virtual classrooms led by industry-leading SMEs offer an effective platform for delivering consistently up-to-date content. This approach enhances knowledge retention while ensuring accuracy and smooth integration into daily workflows.
How It Works: The Academies+ Formula: Self-paced eLearning + Virtual Classrooms & Workshops + Impact Coaching + Impact Project = Maximized Organizational Impact
Our unique design of blended learning interventions are aligned to one thing, Impact.
Learners start by exploring foundational concepts at their own pace with self-guided eLearning. This flexible format allows them to absorb and reflect on the material before moving on to interactive virtual classrooms. Here, subject matter experts and peers provide fresh insights, helping to deepen understanding through discussion and collaboration.
The experience continues with hands-on workshops, where learners put their new skills to the test in a practical setting, guided by experts. But the real differentiator of Academies+ lies in its final components: the Impact Project and the Impact Coach.
The Impact Project is where learning meets real-world impact. Through the Impact Project, learners will address genuine business challenges and make a measurable difference. With the support of an Impact Coach, participants develop a project tailored to their organization’s needs, applying their newly acquired skills to solve genuine problems and deliver tangible results.
With Kubicle’s Academies+, we don’t just train—we transform, turning learning into a strategic asset for your organization.
Learners start by exploring foundational concepts at their own pace with self-guided eLearning. This flexible format allows them to absorb and reflect on the material before moving on to interactive virtual classrooms. Here, subject matter experts and peers provide fresh insights, helping to deepen understanding through discussion and collaboration.
The experience continues with hands-on workshops, where learners put their new skills to the test in a practical setting, guided by experts. But the real differentiator of Academies+ lies in its final components: the Impact Project and the Impact Coach.
The Impact Project is where learning meets real-world impact. Through the Impact Project, learners will address genuine business challenges and make a measurable difference. With the support of an Impact Coach, participants develop a project tailored to their organization’s needs, applying their newly acquired skills to solve genuine problems and deliver tangible results.
With Kubicle’s Academies+, we don’t just train—we transform, turning learning into a strategic asset for your organization.
Launching Now: AI for Business Professionals Academy+
In 2025, Kubicle will roll out a series of Academies+ programs addressing critical skill gaps in organizations. The first program, AI for Business Professionals Academy+, is now open for enrollment.
This program is designed to equip leaders and professionals with the skills to harness AI effectively in their roles. As regulations like the EU AI Act approach, organizations must meet AI literacy standards. This program prepares participants to not only understand AI principles but also apply them to improve productivity and efficiency.
By the end of the course, participants will view AI not as a buzzword but as a practical tool for solving business challenges and driving innovation.
This program is designed to equip leaders and professionals with the skills to harness AI effectively in their roles. As regulations like the EU AI Act approach, organizations must meet AI literacy standards. This program prepares participants to not only understand AI principles but also apply them to improve productivity and efficiency.
By the end of the course, participants will view AI not as a buzzword but as a practical tool for solving business challenges and driving innovation.
