We've chosen to be a Profit-With-Purpose Social Enterprise rather than choose a charitable vehicle because Corporate Transparency needs to be corporately owned, and must be self-sustaining. Whilst we're a Silver Level Open Data platform where source data is already open.

Why Open Data Platforms Don’t Mean Free Data
There’s a common misconception that open data should be free, but in reality, building and maintaining an open data platform—especially one as comprehensive and valuable as TISCreport—requires significant resources. While the data itself may come from public sources, the work to collect, verify, analyse, and present that data in a meaningful way is far from cost-free.

Public Access to Data
At TISCreport, the public can freely view information about companies using our search box, and even subscribe to receive updates when changes occur. We ensure transparency by listing all our data sources, so that users who want access to the raw, freely available data can pull it directly from the source.

However, TISCreport goes beyond merely aggregating open data. We add specific layers of value to this data—such as advanced analysis, relationship tracking, and compliance insights—to help achieve our social mission of fostering ethical business practices and supply chain transparency.

1. Collecting and Curating Data Takes Resources
Open data doesn’t just appear on platforms like TISCreport; it requires a systematic process to gather it from various public sources. This includes:

  • Aggregating data from government registers, company filings, compliance reports, and international regulatory bodies.
  • Verifying the accuracy of the data, especially when dealing with millions of records across different jurisdictions.
  • Cleaning and curating the data, ensuring it’s presented in a way that is meaningful and useful for businesses and stakeholders.

This process involves technical infrastructure, skilled personnel, and ongoing maintenance. Even though the original data might be publicly available, the value lies in the aggregation, verification, and presentation of that data.

2. Building the Platform Requires Investment
An open data platform like TISCreport is not just a repository of raw data—it’s a sophisticated tool that turns raw data into actionable insights. Here’s what’s involved:

  • Technology infrastructure: Hosting, maintaining, and scaling the platform to support thousands of users and millions of data points.
  • AI and machine learning (ML): The development of advanced algorithms to provide insights, automate compliance checks, and track complex relationships between entities.
  • Security: Protecting user data and ensuring compliance with privacy laws requires investing in state-of-the-art security measures.
  • Ongoing platform updates: Regular improvements, new features, and user support require continuous development and technical support.
  • Building and maintaining this infrastructure is costly, and that’s why access to such platforms often comes with commercial membership fees or subscription costs.

3. Adding Contextual Value to Raw Data
Raw data is often fragmented, outdated, or lacking context. TISCreport adds significant value to open data by:

  • Cross-referencing multiple datasets to provide context, such as linking companies with their regulatory bodies, suppliers, and subsidiaries.
  • Tracking compliance over time, turning static reports into dynamic, real-time monitoring.
  • Providing actionable insights: TISCreport uses AI/ML tools to analyse corporate behaviours, helping users assess whether companies are engaging in greenwashing or genuinely following through on their ESG commitments.
  • Visualising complex data in easy-to-understand formats like dashboards, reports, and alerts.
  • Without this added layer of analysis and insight, users would have to manually sift through and interpret large volumes of disjointed data—something most organisations don’t have the time or expertise to do.

4. Open Data Needs to Be Kept Up-to-Date
One of the biggest challenges with open data is ensuring that it remains current and relevant. This requires:

  • Continuous data imports: Open data sources are updated at different intervals—some daily, some annually. The platform must constantly pull new data and refresh existing records to ensure users are making decisions based on the latest information.
  • Ongoing validation: Data validation efforts need to be in place to ensure accuracy. This requires both automated processes and, at times, human intervention to manage discrepancies or inconsistencies in public datasets.
  • Monitoring changes in legal and regulatory frameworks that affect compliance requirements, especially across multiple regions or sectors.
  • This constant monitoring and updating process incurs significant operational costs, and it’s why access to open data platforms needs to be funded through commercial means.

5. Enhancing Data with Proprietary Insights
While much of the data on TISCreport may originate from open sources, the platform also integrates proprietary datasets. These are often sourced from partners, user-contributed information, and third-party providers, further enhancing the value of the platform.

For example, TISCreport’s TISC.IO platform creates an “Internet of Connected Entities,” linking open data with proprietary insights on corporate behaviour, supply chain relationships, and compliance. This level of depth and insight isn’t available in public datasets alone.

This enhanced data is a key differentiator for TISCreport, but it also means the platform goes far beyond what a free, open data source could offer.

6. Sustainability and Ethical Responsibility
Open data platforms that charge for access can sustain themselves and invest in the future of the platform, ensuring the data remains open and accessible while also enhancing its quality and usefulness. TISCreport, as a profit-with-purpose social enterprise, uses its revenue to:

  • To support the platform’s ongoing development.
  • Keep its mission-driven approach, ensuring ethical practices are maintained.
  • Make transparency tools available to users at various price points, making data accessible while remaining sustainable.

Conclusion: Open Data Isn't Free—But It Provides Value Beyond Its Source
While raw data may be publicly available, the true value of an open data platform like TISCreport lies in the way it collects, curates, analyses, and delivers that data in an actionable and context-rich format. This added value requires substantial investment in technology, expertise, and resources, which is why access to such platforms is often subscription-based or fee-driven.

Our members recognise this value and are committed to supporting the platform’s independence and impartiality. By subscribing and contributing to the sustainability of TISCreport, they help ensure that the platform remains free from commercial bias, maintaining its mission of providing unbiased, evidence-based transparency to enable ethical decision-making. We hope you will join our community of transparency pioneers!