The opening of data has been hailed for its innovative capacity and transformative power. Over the last years, many politicians, companies, scientists, and citizen communities have paid considerable attention to the demand of opening data of both public and private organizations. An important event in this context was the release of the EU Public Sector Information (PSI) directive in 2003, in which a common legislative framework was presented, which regulates making data of public sector bodies available for re-use . In 2009, the Obama Administration stated that its primary goal was the establishment of an unprecedented level of openness of the Government and published an Open Government Directive some months afterwards . Building on former policies, the EuropeanCommission has recently presented an Open Data Strategy for Europe, in which more evident rules on making the best use of government-held information are presented . In 2012, the Obama Administration published the Digital Government Strategy, which aims to 1) enable the American people to access high-quality digital government information and services anywhere, anytime, on any device; 2) seize the opportunity to procure and manage devices, applications, and data in smart, secure and affordable ways; and 3) unlock the power of government data to spur innovation and improve the 5 quality of services for the American people .In addition to these policy documents, various studies have shown that opening data by public and private organizations has considerable potential to provide citizens, researchers, companies and other stakeholders with many advantages, such as a growing economy by stimulating innovation, developing new businesses and obtaining new insights in the public and private sector by creating new ways of understanding problems and interpreting data. Open data enable new ventures to develop new business models and innovative services. Often the added value is generated from combining multiple sources. Open data have the potential to enable different types of innovation, such as innovation through the provision, processing and use of open data, innovation through open data technologies, and innovation through impact and public value creation from open data initiatives (transparency, accountability and collaborative governance approaches). Open data can contribute to open government. However, although open data research is performed increasingly, research about the way innovation can take place through open data is still lacking. For this reason, innovation through open data is the main focus of this Special Issue.