Big Data meets Open Data.  Creating benefit for the economy or a monster that we will not be able to control?

This is a question being asked within the  IQmulus project in the context of how do we exploit, on a sustainable basis, the products and services we are researching.  IQmulus examines big geospatial data; the data from sources such as LIDAR, SONAR and numerical simulations; these data are simply too big for routine and ad-hoc analysis, yet they could realise a myriad of disparate, and readily useable, information products with the right infrastructure in place. IQmulus is setting itself out to be this infrastructure, but does Open Data policy allow for its sustainable operation?    

"Data is the raw material of the digital age" it is often cited and "open data" has been adopted as the way to drive this digital economy forward.  The rationale for this is simple: if (public) data is thrown to the wider (private and academic) community on a perpetual, no fee basis then other communities will arise that make use of the data in interesting and important ways.  Those that are useful will thrive, and those of no value will wither and die.  As stated, the primary rationale for this is data created by public bodies.  Everyone wins - the public sector does the minimum, private sector adds value and earns an income from selling these products (driving economic growth) and citizens are empowered with services that go well beyond the original data.  However experience to date has highlighted some cautionary tales that indicate that this vision isn’t working in practice and it is forcing how private data services like IQmulus (at a later stage) could operate on a financially sustainable basis.