Satellite and weather balloon data tell us that the Earth's average temperature has fallen slightly during the last 20 years.

FORBES: Fact and Comment

Just as open data has been used to fuel multi-billion dollar industries in other sectors, like the weather industry that uses raw satellite data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has spent the last few years nurturing entrepreneurial innovation in the health space through open government data.

FORBES: Todd Park Invites Food & Tech Innovators to the Health Datapalooza

That has already happened with weather data and with America's GPS satellite-navigation system that was opened for full commercial use a decade ago.

ECONOMIST: Governments are letting in the light

The satellite launched by Seoul is designed to analyze weather data, measure radiation in space, gauges distances on earth and test how effectively South Korean-made devices installed on the satellite operate in space.

NPR: SKorea: Satellite Working Normally, Sending Data