Rufus Pollock is a British economist and social entrepreneur who has been at the forefront of the global open knowledge and open data movements, fundamentally challenging how information is controlled, accessed, and shared in the digital age. After obtaining his PhD in Economics from the University of Cambridge in 2008, where he researched the theory and empirics of innovation and intellectual property policy, Pollock founded the Open Knowledge Foundation in 2004—an organization that has become instrumental in establishing global standards for open data and open knowledge. In 2005, he created The Open Definition, the first formal specification of what constitutes 'open' content and open data, which remains the standard reference definition worldwide and has been adopted by governments, NGOs, and institutions across the globe.
Beyond establishing definitional frameworks, Pollock built practical tools that have transformed how governments and organizations manage information. In 2005–06, he created CKAN (Comprehensive Knowledge Archive Network), an open-source data management system that has become the world's leading open data platform, used by governments including the US and UK to publish millions of public datasets. His 2018 book 'Open Revolution: How the Open Internet is Transforming Society' articulates a vision for a radically freer and fairer information age. Through Life Itself and other initiatives, Pollock continues to work at the intersection of technology, economics, and social transformation, demonstrating how open principles can reshape everything from governance to knowledge production to economic systems.