DS-001Climate & Earth · GlobalLive data
USGS
Global real-time earthquake streamA continuous event stream of magnitude, depth, location, time, and felt reports, ready for maps and timelines.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“Are earthquakes becoming more frequent, or are we simply seeing them more clearly?”
- UPDATE
- Every minute
- COVERAGE
- Global · past hour to 30 days
- ACCESS
- No login
- LICENSE / TYPE
- U.S. public domain for USGS-produced material; third-party exceptions
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITCredit “U.S. Geological Survey” and link to the original feed.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKBefore publishing, recheck the feed page and any item-level third-party credits or notices.
Read license basis↗DS-002Climate & Earth · United StatesLive data
NOAA / NWS
U.S. severe weather alertsStorm, flood, heat, and fire-weather alerts with severity, affected areas, active periods, and response guidance.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“Why do cities receive different warning times for the same type of weather risk?”
- UPDATE
- Near real time · poll ≥30 sec
- COVERAGE
- United States · active alerts
- ACCESS
- No login
- LICENSE / TYPE
- U.S. public domain unless otherwise marked by NWS
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITCredit “NOAA / National Weather Service.”
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKRecheck alert timestamps, disclaimers, experimental products, and third-party material; do not imply endorsement.
Read license basis↗DS-003Climate & Earth · GlobalLive data
NOAA / NDBC
Ocean buoy observationsSea temperature, wave height, wind, pressure, and tide observations. Most stations report hourly; the latest summary refreshes about every five minutes.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“What does a buoy notice first as a storm crosses the sea?”
- UPDATE
- Summary about every 5 min
- COVERAGE
- Global stations · last 45 days
- ACCESS
- No login
- LICENSE / TYPE
- U.S. government public domain for NOAA-produced material; third-party exceptions
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITCredit “NOAA National Data Buoy Center (NDBC).”
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKRecheck station metadata, quality flags, and any observations supplied by partner organizations.
Read license basis↗DS-004Climate & Earth · GlobalLive data
NASA / LANCE
Satellite active-fire detectionsMODIS, VIIRS, and Landsat hotspots with brightness, confidence, and overpass time for tracking wildfire spread.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“How long is the gap between a fire seen by satellite and a fire reported by the news?”
- UPDATE
- As fast as under 60 min
- COVERAGE
- Global · 24 hours to 7 days
- ACCESS
- Free account / MAP_KEY
- LICENSE / TYPE
- CC0 1.0 for NASA-led data unless a restriction or other license is marked
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITName the satellite product and acknowledge NASA/GSFC, LANCE, ESDIS, and FIRMS with access date.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKSuomi NPP science-product delivery will cease on November 1, 2026, and data after the March 9, 2026 anomaly may not meet mission specifications. Before publishing, open the product citation page and verify a current feed such as NOAA-20 or NOAA-21, near-real-time status, version, and basemap rights.
Read license basis↗DS-005Society & Public Life · GlobalLive data
GDELT Project
Global news event graphTurns global news into events, places, people, themes, and emotional signals for stories about media narratives and shifting attention.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“How does the emotional framing of one event change across languages?”
- UPDATE
- Every 15 minutes
- COVERAGE
- Global · 65 live-translated languages
- ACCESS
- No-login downloads
- LICENSE / TYPE
- Unlimited use and redistribution under GDELT Terms of Use
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITCitation to the GDELT Project and a link to https://www.gdeltproject.org/ are required.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKRecheck the Terms, dataset version, and codebook; do not treat source-news text as openly reusable GDELT data.
Read license basis↗DS-006Culture & Knowledge · GlobalLive data
Wikimedia
Wikipedia attention signalsPage views, edits, devices, and top-page metrics that turn collective curiosity into comparable time series.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“After a major event, which term does the world look up first?”
- UPDATE
- Hourly / daily granularity
- COVERAGE
- 300+ language projects
- ACCESS
- No login
- LICENSE / TYPE
- CC0 1.0 for Analytics API data
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITAttribution is not legally required; citing “Wikimedia Analytics API” and query date is recommended.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKRecheck API terms, User-Agent identification, rate limits, and endpoint stability before publishing.
Read license basis↗DS-007Science & Health · GlobalLive data
Crossref
Global research metadataPapers, journals, funders, institutions, licenses, and corrections for tracking research trends, retractions, and knowledge networks.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“How many years does a new concept take to move from paper titles into mainstream research?”
- UPDATE
- Continuously deposited
- COVERAGE
- Global DOI records
- ACCESS
- Public API · no registration
- LICENSE / TYPE
- Bibliographic metadata is generally factual / CC0; abstracts may be copyrighted
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITCredit Crossref and use DOI links when referring to scholarly works.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKSeparately verify abstracts, full text, and publisher-supplied fields; follow API pacing and caching guidance.
Read license basis↗DS-008Cities & Mobility · GlobalLive data
MobilityData
Global shared-mobility statusPublic real-time feeds for vehicles, stations, availability, service areas, and pricing rules, with no personal trip records.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“Can a city's daily tide be read from empty docks and available bikes?”
- UPDATE
- Refreshed by each operator
- COVERAGE
- 1,000+ shared-mobility systems
- ACCESS
- Public feeds
- LICENSE / TYPE
- Operator-specific; check system_information.json
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITFollow the selected feed’s license_url and operator attribution requirements.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKReview each feed’s license, caching or polling terms, and operator policy; an open GBFS standard does not create one universal data license.
Read license basis↗DS-009Population & Development · GlobalHistorical data
World Bank
World development indicatorsLong-run cross-country data on population, poverty, education, energy, trade, and the environment: a dependable foundation for data stories.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“Which countries expanded electricity or education before income began to rise?”
- UPDATE
- Annual / quarterly
- COVERAGE
- 1960s–present · 200+ economies
- ACCESS
- No API key
- LICENSE / TYPE
- World Bank-produced open data defaults to CC BY 4.0; indicator exceptions may apply
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITCredit the World Bank and dataset, include access date, and indicate translations or changes.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKCheck each indicator’s provider, license label, and additional terms; not every catalog dataset is CC BY.
Read license basis↗DS-010Climate & Earth · GlobalHistorical data
NASA GISS
Global surface temperature anomaliesLand–ocean temperature anomalies, gridded data, and uncertainty analysis for stories that move from the global trend to local differences.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“Warming is not one line: which places heated first, and where did change fluctuate most?”
- UPDATE
- Around the 10th each month
- COVERAGE
- 1880–present · global grids
- ACCESS
- No-login downloads
- LICENSE / TYPE
- CC0 1.0 unless otherwise marked; GISTEMP lists separate citation guidance
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITCite both the GISTEMP v4 website with access date and the latest paper listed there.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKThe official citation page was confirmed restored on 2026-09-06. Before publishing, cite both the GISTEMP v4 website with access date and the latest paper listed there, then recheck GHCN, ERSST, other source notes, and NASA image and media guidance.
Read license basis↗DS-011Climate & Earth · United StatesHistorical data
NOAA / NCEI
U.S. severe-weather event archiveTornado, hail, flood, heat, and other events with location, casualties, loss estimates, and narrative accounts.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“Are the economic losses from extreme weather rising faster than the number of events?”
- UPDATE
- About 75–90 days after month end
- COVERAGE
- 1950–present · United States
- ACCESS
- No-login bulk download
- LICENSE / TYPE
- U.S. public domain for NOAA/NWS-produced material; third-party exceptions
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITCredit “NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database” with access date.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKRecheck the NWS disclaimer, methodology changes, loss-estimate limitations, and any third-party narratives.
Read license basis↗DS-012Cities & Mobility · United States · New YorkHistorical data
NYC Open Data
New York City road collisionsEvery police-reported collision with time, location, casualties, vehicles, and possible factors, ready to join with street redesign and weather data.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“After a street is redesigned, do the locations and types of crashes actually change?”
- UPDATE
- Updates paused · official fix expected August 2026
- COVERAGE
- 2012–present · New York City
- ACCESS
- No-login download / API · awaiting publisher recovery, then rechecked here
- LICENSE / TYPE
- NYC public data generally has no registration, license, or use restriction; dataset exceptions control
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITCredit “NYC Open Data / NYPD Motor Vehicle Collisions.”
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKOfficial metadata says automated updates are temporarily paused with a fix expected in August 2026; confirm recovery, personal-data fields, and disclaimers before publishing.
Read license basis↗DS-013Culture & Knowledge · Global · MultilingualHistorical data
Google Books
Five centuries of word popularityAnnual phrase frequencies from millions of books for tracing long-run changes in ideas, technology, emotion, and language.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“When an era begins talking about “anxiety,” which words disappear first?”
- UPDATE
- Versioned releases
- COVERAGE
- Approx. 1500–2019 · multilingual
- ACCESS
- Direct download · no login
- LICENSE / TYPE
- CC BY 3.0 for the downloadable Ngram corpus compilation
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITCredit Google Books Ngram Viewer, name the corpus version, and link the official data page.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKRecheck the download-page license, corpus version, OCR and language-detection limits, and query parameters.
Read license basis↗DS-014Science & Health · GlobalHistorical data
WHO
Global health observatoryCross-country indicators for mortality, disease, health resources, vaccination, and risk factors, with dimensions and metadata.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“As life expectancy rises, does healthy life expectancy keep pace?”
- UPDATE
- As indicators are released
- COVERAGE
- Global · thousands of health indicators
- ACCESS
- No-login web / OData · awaiting WHO migration, then rechecked here
- LICENSE / TYPE
- WHO Dataset Terms; not an unrestricted open license
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITCredit WHO, dataset title, year, access date, and underlying countries identified by the dataset.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKAs of 2026-09-13, the legacy GHO OData endpoint responds, but WHO still labels it as the old interface and the migration notice does not provide a stable successor. Before publishing, confirm the current endpoint and field names, then recheck public-health purpose, commercial-promotion limits, modification rules, third-party material, and current WHO terms.
Read license basis↗DS-015Population & Development · United StatesHistorical data
U.S. Census Bureau
U.S. population and community structureACS, census, migration, housing, business, and public-finance data reaching counties, census tracts, and block groups.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“How do commuting, renting, and household structure reshape a neighborhood together?”
- UPDATE
- Annual / decennial
- COVERAGE
- 1942–present · varies by dataset
- ACCESS
- Public API
- LICENSE / TYPE
- U.S. government public domain for Census-produced material; third-party exceptions
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITName the U.S. Census Bureau, specific dataset or API, year, and access date.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKRecheck the API dataset notes, geographic level, statistical disclosure limits, and third-party copyright marks.
Read license basis↗DS-016Population & Development · GlobalHistorical data
Gapminder
Story-ready global time seriesCountry-level time series assembled from dispersed sources, especially useful for comparative stories about health, income, population, and education.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“How many of our deepest intuitions about the world are already out of date?”
- UPDATE
- Independent by indicator
- COVERAGE
- Global · hundreds of curated indicators
- ACCESS
- No-login downloads
- LICENSE / TYPE
- CC BY 4.0 for the Gapminder Systema Globalis dataset
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITCredit Gapminder / Systema Globalis, link the dataset, note changes, and preserve indicator source notes.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKCheck each indicator’s original source, version, and update note; the aggregate license does not replace source review.
Read license basis↗DS-017Climate & Earth · GlobalLive data
NASA / EONET
Global natural-event trackerA NASA-curated stream of natural-event metadata with categories, time, location, magnitude, and links to original sources, ready for maps and timelines.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“When and where do wildfires, storms, and volcanic activity form event clusters?”
- UPDATE
- Continuously curated · near real time
- COVERAGE
- Global · open and historical natural events
- ACCESS
- No-login API
- LICENSE / TYPE
- CC0 1.0 by default for NASA-produced EONET metadata; linked third-party source content excluded
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITCC0 does not require credit; cite “NASA EONET v3,” access date, and preserve each event's original source links as a best practice.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKRecheck the EONET disclaimer, event curation status, and record-level sources; do not treat linked third-party pages, imagery, or text as CC0.
Read license basis↗DS-018Science & Health · GlobalLive data
OpenAQ
Global air-quality observationsOriginal pollutant readings from government and institutional monitors, hourly-to-yearly aggregations, coordinates, coverage metrics, providers, and license records.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“Which neighborhoods in the same city are breathing fundamentally different air?”
- UPDATE
- Provider-dependent · often hourly
- COVERAGE
- Public monitoring stations worldwide · multiple pollutants
- ACCESS
- Free account / API key · no-login AWS archive
- LICENSE / TYPE
- Original-provider licenses vary; the OpenAQ API licenses resource records the applicable terms
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITCredit OpenAQ and follow the selected station or provider's original-source attribution requirements.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKQuery locations, providers, and licenses before publishing; verify commercial, modification, and redistribution rights plus late-arriving data and coverage—latest is not a complete series.
Read license basis↗DS-019Climate & Earth · GlobalHistorical data
Copernicus C3S / ECMWF
Eight decades of hourly global weather reanalysisA consistent hourly weather archive that combines observations with a physical model across temperature, wind, precipitation, soil, waves, and many other variables.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“How have the most extreme weather days in your city changed since 1940?”
- UPDATE
- Daily · about 5-day lag; final release 2–3 months later
- COVERAGE
- 1940–present · global 0.25° grid
- ACCESS
- Free account / CDS API key
- LICENSE / TYPE
- CC BY 4.0 as marked in the ERA5 catalog entry
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITCite DOI 10.24381/cds.adbb2d47, state “Generated using Copernicus Climate Change Service information [Year],” and indicate changes.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKRecheck the catalog's version, known issues, and citation guidance; distinguish ERA5T at about five days' latency from the final release two to three months later.
Read license basis↗DS-020Science & Health · GlobalHistorical data
OpenAlex
Open global research knowledge graphAn open graph linking works, authors, institutions, sources, topics, funders, and citations for stories about knowledge diffusion and research inequality.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“How does a research topic spread across borders, and which institutions connect first?”
- UPDATE
- Continuously maintained API · free snapshot quarterly
- COVERAGE
- Global · hundreds of millions of works, authors, and institutions
- ACCESS
- Free API key / free quarterly snapshot
- LICENSE / TYPE
- CC0 for the complete OpenAlex dataset
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITAttribution is not legally required; research use should cite the OpenAlex paper and record the snapshot or query date.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKRecheck the free API allowance, snapshot date, and field definitions; linked full text, publisher pages, and other third-party content do not become open through the metadata license.
Read license basis↗DS-021Culture & Knowledge · United States · Global collectionsHistorical data
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian open collectionsObject metadata and open media across art, history, science, libraries, and archives for studying collecting, classification, donation, place, and digitization bias.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“Whom does a national museum's digital history center, and whom does it leave out?”
- UPDATE
- AWS metadata refreshed weekly
- COVERAGE
- 5M+ digital items · 21 museums and research units
- ACCESS
- No-login AWS archive / free API key
- LICENSE / TYPE
- CC0 for assets and data explicitly designated Smithsonian Open Access
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITCC0 does not require credit; preserve title, creator, Smithsonian unit, accession number, and source URL as a best practice.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKThe old GitHub metadata repository was archived on 2026-05-21; use the AWS open-data route that remains on a weekly refresh. Use the Open Access FAQ to confirm the CC0 mark item by item, then review trademark, privacy, publicity, cultural-sensitivity, and third-party rights.
Read license basis↗DS-022Economy & Business · CanadaHistorical data
Statistics Canada
Canada's official statistics APIA machine-readable gateway to official tables, time series, census data, and metadata, with point queries, full-table downloads, and daily deltas.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“How do high interest rates, housing costs, and migration create different life paths across provinces?”
- UPDATE
- Every business day at 08:30 ET
- COVERAGE
- Canada · economy, population, society, and census
- ACCESS
- No login · 25 requests/sec per IP
- LICENSE / TYPE
- Statistics Canada Open Licence
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITUse “Adapted from Statistics Canada, [product], [reference date]” and state that this does not constitute endorsement.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKRecheck table ID, reference period, revision status, and third-party marks; do not attempt to re-identify people, businesses, or organizations.
Read license basis↗DS-023Climate & Earth · CanadaLive data
Environment and Climate Change Canada
Canada's live river levels and flowsLive water level, discharge, coordinates, and station metadata for rivers and lakes across Canada, ready to connect with weather, floods, and community risk.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“Where do snowmelt, intense rain, and drought first become visible as abnormal river levels?”
- UPDATE
- Continual · latest 30 days
- COVERAGE
- Canada · 2,100+ hydrometric stations
- ACCESS
- No-login OGC API / CSV / GeoJSON
- LICENSE / TYPE
- Open Government Licence – Canada
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITCredit Environment and Climate Change Canada, dataset title, access date, and link the licence.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKCheck station quality flags, preliminary versus final status, time zone, and provincial partner sources; do not treat live values as final archive values.
Read license basis↗DS-024Population & Development · United KingdomHistorical data
UK Office for National Statistics
United Kingdom official statistics APIFilterable official datasets, census observations, and time series with no API key required; the interface remains in beta.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“How do remote work, house prices, and age structure shape the recovery of British towns?”
- UPDATE
- As official releases are published
- COVERAGE
- United Kingdom · economy, population, labour, and Census 2021
- ACCESS
- No login · beta API
- LICENSE / TYPE
- Open Government Licence v3.0 unless an item states otherwise
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITState “Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.”
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKCheck the dataset page for Crown copyright, third-party exceptions, revisions, and beta endpoint changes.
Read license basis↗DS-025Cities & Mobility · United Kingdom · LondonLive data
Transport for London
Live London transport APIA unified live API for routes, arrivals, status, disruption, journeys, fares, stops, roads, and cycle hire.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“How does one line disruption propagate delay through an entire city's interchange network?”
- UPDATE
- Live with the transport systems
- COVERAGE
- United Kingdom · London public transport and roads
- ACCESS
- Free registration / access token
- LICENSE / TYPE
- TfL Transport Data Service Licence, based on OGL 2.0 with amendments
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITDisplay “Powered by TfL Open Data” plus the required OS and Geomni notices in the terms.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKReread the changeable terms before release; check registration, the 500-calls-per-minute limit, brand rules, and exclusions for scraped website data.
Read license basis↗DS-026Economy & Business · FranceHistorical data
INSEE
French official time-series APIA free SDMX 2.1 service for indices and long time series in the BDM database, including multi-series queries by identifier.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“How do mismatched inflation, wages, and rents reshape household budgets across France?”
- UPDATE
- Daily
- COVERAGE
- France · economy, society, population, and local statistics
- ACCESS
- No-login SDMX REST
- LICENSE / TYPE
- Licence Ouverte / Open Licence 2.0 (Etalab)
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITCredit “Source: Insee,” dataset name, latest update date, and URL.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKCheck the idbank, seasonal-adjustment basis, revision date, and third-party marks; disclose transformations.
Read license basis↗DS-027Economy & Business · GermanyHistorical data
Destatis
German federal statistics APIFree access to the full GENESIS-Online table stock through configured downloads or automated REST/JSON queries.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“Do the energy transition, industrial output, and employment move together in Germany's manufacturing regions?”
- UPDATE
- As official tables are released
- COVERAGE
- Germany · federal tables and regional data
- ACCESS
- No-registration REST / downloads
- LICENSE / TYPE
- Data Licence Germany – Attribution – Version 2.0 (dl-de/by-2-0)
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITName the provider, licence and link, and dataset URI; indicate modifications.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKVerify the current API address, POST/GET method, table status, and any separate licence for geospatial basemaps.
Read license basis↗DS-028Population & Development · FinlandHistorical data
Statistics Finland
Finland's open statistical databaseFree statistical databases and geospatial interfaces spanning national, municipal, postal-code, and map-grid detail.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“How are ageing and job access redrawing the survival map of Finland's small towns?”
- UPDATE
- Continuously updated · table-specific
- COVERAGE
- Finland · national, municipal, postal-code, and grid data
- ACCESS
- No-login PxWeb API
- LICENSE / TYPE
- CC BY 4.0
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITCredit Statistics Finland, table title, URL, access date, and changes.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKSome table IDs, variable codes, and value codes changed after June 8, 2026; rebuild queries and check table lifecycle before release.
Read license basis↗DS-029Economy & Business · NorwayHistorical data
Statistics Norway
Norway's national statistics APIPxWeb API v2 exposes all Statbank tables through stable URLs, powerful filters, and metadata, up to 800,000 cells per extract.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“How do oil wealth, regional jobs, and household migration reshape Norway's north–south divide?”
- UPDATE
- Continuous · official releases often at 08:00
- COVERAGE
- Norway · 7,500 official tables
- ACCESS
- No registration · 30 requests/minute
- LICENSE / TYPE
- CC BY 4.0
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITCredit Statistics Norway / SSB, table number, access date, and modifications.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKCheck structural changes, discontinued or replacement tables, revision windows, the 800,000-cell cap, and rate limits.
Read license basis↗DS-030Economy & Business · NetherlandsHistorical data
Statistics Netherlands (CBS)
Netherlands StatLine open dataEvery StatLine dataset is machine-readable open data, with a standard API for smaller queries and feeds for bulk retrieval.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“How do housing shortages, commuting, and household size push Dutch neighborhoods toward different densities?”
- UPDATE
- As StatLine tables are released
- COVERAGE
- Netherlands · economy, society, housing, transport, and regions
- ACCESS
- No-login OData / bulk feed
- LICENSE / TYPE
- CC BY 4.0, subject to the selected StatLine entry
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITCredit Statistics Netherlands / CBS, table title and identifier, and link the table.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKCheck the entry's licence, redesign or replacement notices, the standard API's 10,000-cell cap, and third-party material.
Read license basis↗DS-031Population & Development · AustraliaHistorical data
Australian Bureau of Statistics
Australian official statistics APICustom queries over detailed economic, social, and census statistics, with CSV, UpdatedAfter, and a new base URL since the 2024 update.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“When do resource towns and major cities begin to diverge in living costs and population structure?”
- UPDATE
- Loaded after release embargoes · beta
- COVERAGE
- Australia · economic, social, and census data
- ACCESS
- No login / no API key
- LICENSE / TYPE
- CC BY 4.0 except logos, trademarks, microdata, third-party content, and named brands
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITCredit the Australian Bureau of Statistics, product title, release date, and URL following ABS citation guidance.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKThe API remains beta, may lag the latest release, and can change; compare against the formal ABS release and exclude excepted material.
Read license basis↗DS-032Population & Development · New ZealandHistorical data
Stats NZ
New Zealand official statistics APIMachine-readable access to products including Aotearoa Data Explorer; registration and a subscription key are required, with commercial reuse allowed.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“How are migration, housing, and ethnicity shifting the population center beyond Auckland?”
- UPDATE
- As official releases are published
- COVERAGE
- New Zealand · population, economy, labour, society, and environment
- ACCESS
- Free registration / API key
- LICENSE / TYPE
- CC BY 4.0 for API Portal content
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITUse Stats NZ's prescribed written attribution, not its logo; adapted work must say it is based on Stats NZ data.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKCheck the selected API product, key security, anti-reidentification conditions, currency, and specific copyright exceptions.
Read license basis↗DS-033Population & Development · JapanHistorical data
e-Stat / Statistics Bureau of Japan
Japan government statistics APIMachine access to e-Stat database tables by topic, geography, and table dimension after obtaining a free application ID.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“Where do depopulation, vacant homes, and ageing first create a chain reaction across Japanese municipalities?”
- UPDATE
- As publishing ministries update their data
- COVERAGE
- Japan · government tables and regional grids
- ACCESS
- Free registration / application ID
- LICENSE / TYPE
- Government of Japan Standard Terms of Use 2.0, compatible with CC BY 4.0; raw numerical data is not copyrighted
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITCredit “Source: Portal Site of Official Statistics of Japan (e-Stat)”; public API applications must also display API credit.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKCheck the responsible ministry, third-party content, table update time, and API terms; do not transfer or lend the application ID.
Read license basis↗DS-034Cities & Mobility · SingaporeLive data
Singapore Government / data.gov.sg
Singapore government open-data APIsGovernment datasets and collection APIs spanning live weather and transport signals plus housing, population, and public-service archives.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“How do rainfall, congestion, and transit waiting amplify one another within an hour in a tropical city?”
- UPDATE
- Dataset-specific · includes live and high-frequency feeds
- COVERAGE
- Singapore · transport, weather, housing, environment, and public services
- ACCESS
- Public API · free account for higher limits
- LICENSE / TYPE
- Singapore Open Data Licence 1.0
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITConspicuously name the dataset, access date, source, and link the latest licence.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKCheck each dataset's frequency, personal data, third-party rights, patents or trademarks, and extra conditions; do not imply official status.
Read license basis↗DS-035Society & Public Life · IndiaHistorical data
Government of India / NIC
India's government open-data platformA cross-government catalog spanning agriculture, health, transport, education, environment, and the economy, with resource-level access and frequency notes.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“How do public infrastructure, farm output, and extreme weather explain regional development gaps across India?”
- UPDATE
- Dataset-specific
- COVERAGE
- India · central and state government data across topics
- ACCESS
- Public downloads; some APIs need a free key
- LICENSE / TYPE
- Government Open Data License – India
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITExplicitly name the provider, source, licence, and dataset DOI, URL, or URI.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKConfirm the selected resource is marked GODL; check personal information, third-party rights, national emblems, sensitive military data, and provider conditions.
Read license basis↗DS-036Society & Public Life · TaiwanLive data
Ministry of Digital Affairs, Taiwan
Taiwan government open-data platformA machine-readable central and local government catalog containing high-frequency transport and environmental feeds plus long-run administrative statistics.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“How do air quality, commuting, and healthcare access form different maps of everyday risk across the island?”
- UPDATE
- Dataset-specific · includes high-frequency APIs
- COVERAGE
- Taiwan · transport, health, environment, education, and public affairs
- ACCESS
- Public downloads / APIs; authentication stated per item
- LICENSE / TYPE
- Open Government Data License, version 1.0
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITUse the prescribed attribution naming the provider, year, dataset and version, with a licence link.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKCheck the actual provider, item licence, authentication, third-party rights, and current resource URL; item-specific terms control.
Read license basis↗DS-037Economy & Business · SwedenHistorical data
Statistics Sweden (SCB)
Sweden's statistical database APIPxWeb API v2, launched in 2025, exposes every Statistical Database table through stable URLs with extracts up to 150,000 cells.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“How do childcare, labour participation, and regional house prices shape Swedish family migration?”
- UPDATE
- Continuously updated and corrected
- COVERAGE
- Sweden · official statistics and some other agencies
- ACCESS
- No login · 30 calls per 10 seconds
- LICENSE / TYPE
- CC0 1.0 for SCB open statistics and open geodata
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITNot legally required; “Source: Statistics Sweden” is recommended. Credit another agency when the table names it as source.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKCheck source fields, correction notices, the 150,000-cell cap, and rate limits; do not claim an official partnership with SCB.
Read license basis↗DS-038Agriculture & Food · GlobalHistorical data
FAO
Global food and agriculture statisticsLong-run global series from crops, trade, and prices to land, emissions, nutrition, and food security, with a unified API portal launched in 2026.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“After a climate shock, which countries first show a chain reaction across yields, imports, and food prices?”
- UPDATE
- By domain and release calendar
- COVERAGE
- Global · 245+ countries and territories · 1961–present
- ACCESS
- No-login bulk; API developer portal
- LICENSE / TYPE
- CC BY 4.0 by default plus FAO Statistical Database Terms; metadata exceptions control
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITUse FAO's citation format with year, database or dataset, access date, URL, and “Licence: CC-BY-4.0.”
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKCheck metadata for third-party conditions; do not use data for commercial promotion, imply FAO endorsement, de-anonymize, or misrepresent it.
Read license basis↗DS-039Culture & Knowledge · GlobalLive data
Wikimedia / Wikidata
Live collaborative knowledge graphAn open graph connecting people, places, works, institutions, and facts, available by entity, query service, recent-change stream, or full dump.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“Which cities, people, or cultures remain only sparsely connected in the world's knowledge graph?”
- UPDATE
- Continuously edited · live change stream
- COVERAGE
- Global · 120M+ entities · multilingual
- ACCESS
- No-login SPARQL / REST / dumps
- LICENSE / TYPE
- CC0 1.0
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITNot legally required; “Data from Wikidata” with a project link is recommended.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKCheck references, qualifiers, ranks, and timestamps; follow User-Agent, rate-limit, and 429 Retry-After guidance, and verify claims independently.
Read license basis↗DS-040Cities & Mobility · GlobalLive data
OpenStreetMap Foundation
Open global map databaseA community-maintained global geodatabase with weekly planet files, minute replication diffs, and history for infrastructure and mapping-equity stories.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“Which neighborhoods have denser mapped roads, shops, and public amenities—and which remain invisible?”
- UPDATE
- Minute diffs · weekly full planet
- COVERAGE
- Global roads, buildings, amenities, boundaries, and history
- ACCESS
- No-login downloads · full files are large
- LICENSE / TYPE
- Open Data Commons Open Database License 1.0 (ODbL)
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITDisplay “© OpenStreetMap contributors,” make the ODbL clear, and follow OSMF attribution guidance for the medium.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKDetermine whether you created a derived database and owe share-alike; do not place heavy traffic on restricted OSM.org tiles or APIs, and review contributor notices.
Read license basis↗DS-041Nature & Biodiversity · GlobalLive data
Global Biodiversity Information Facility
Global species occurrence recordsMuseum, research, and citizen-science records with spatial, temporal, taxonomic, and licence filters; bulk downloads receive a citable DOI.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“After urban expansion, which species observations move outward—and where did observer effort simply change?”
- UPDATE
- Continuously ingested from publishers
- COVERAGE
- Global · specimens, observations, and occurrences
- ACCESS
- Search without login; free account for bulk downloads
- LICENSE / TYPE
- Per dataset: CC0, CC BY, or CC BY-NC; this library recommends filtering to CC0 / CC BY for open reuse
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITCite the GBIF download DOI and follow its citation list for each publisher or dataset.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKFreeze the DOI and query, exclude unsuitable CC BY-NC records, and review sensitive coordinates, sampling bias, duplicates, and geospatial uncertainty.
Read license basis↗DS-042Agriculture & Food · GlobalLive data
Open Food Facts
Global food-label databaseA crowdsourced product database connecting barcodes, ingredients, nutrition, allergens, labels, Nutri-Score, and packaging; use daily exports at scale.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“How much do sugar, salt, serving sizes, and package claims vary for the same breakfast food across countries?”
- UPDATE
- Continuously edited · daily exports
- COVERAGE
- Global · barcodes, ingredients, nutrition, and packaging
- ACCESS
- Read without login · custom User-Agent required
- LICENSE / TYPE
- ODbL 1.0 database, DbCL individual contents, CC BY-SA images
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITCredit Open Food Facts and the licences; share derived public databases under ODbL where required, and attribute images separately.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKSeparate database, content, and image rights; check package trademarks and copyright, completeness, API v3, and rate limits; send a custom User-Agent.
Read license basis↗DS-043Population & Development · GlobalHistorical data
WorldPop / University of Southampton
Global gridded population estimatesPopulation grids built from census, survey, satellite, and geographic covariates for stories about access, disaster exposure, and urban expansion.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“Beyond administrative borders, how does population cluster along roads, terrain, and urban edges?”
- UPDATE
- Annual and versioned releases
- COVERAGE
- Global · high-resolution national population grids
- ACCESS
- No-login downloads / API
- LICENSE / TYPE
- CC BY 4.0 under the WorldPop FAQ; selected item metadata controls
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITCredit WorldPop, dataset title, version, year, URL, and access date.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKCheck product metadata, model year, population definition, uncertainty, and covariates; do not present estimates as household-level census counts.
Read license basis↗DS-044Politics & Conflict · GlobalLive data
Uppsala Conflict Data Program
Global organized-violence eventsConsistently coded state conflict, non-state conflict, one-sided violence, and georeferenced events; candidate events lag by no more than about a month.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“Beyond news attention, which low-intensity conflicts accumulate month by month across places, actors, and fatalities?”
- UPDATE
- Candidate events monthly · archives annually
- COVERAGE
- Global · 1946–present; event level 1989–present
- ACCESS
- No-login CSV; free API token by request
- LICENSE / TYPE
- CC BY 4.0 for current UCDP datasets
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITCredit UCDP and cite the relevant publications and version listed for each dataset.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKFreeze the version and codebook; distinguish candidate from final data and best/high/low fatality estimates. The API needs a requested token and allows 5,000 calls/day.
Read license basis↗DS-045Energy & Infrastructure · GlobalLive data
NASA POWER
Global solar and meteorological energy dataGlobal solar-radiation and meteorological time series for energy, agriculture, and buildings, available hourly, daily, monthly, and as climatology.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“Where are energy systems most fragile when solar potential, heatwaves, and electricity demand overlap?”
- UPDATE
- Near real time; climate-quality replacement after 2–3 months
- COVERAGE
- Global · 1981–present · 300+ parameters
- ACCESS
- No-login REST / AWS Open Data
- LICENSE / TYPE
- NASA-produced data is generally not subject to U.S. copyright; NASA open-data and third-party exception policies apply
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITCredit NASA POWER with parameters or product, version, query extent, access date, and recommended citations.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKCheck Data v10, lineage, source products, near-real-time versus climate-quality status, resolution, and third-party restrictions; respect rate limits.
Read license basis↗DS-046Society & Public Life · United States · Los AngelesHistorical data
Los Angeles Police Department / LA Open Data
Los Angeles NIBRS crime-victim recordsVictim-level NIBRS records from LAPD's new records system, including demographics and offense details; the reporting change creates a new baseline beginning March 7, 2024.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“After the shift to NIBRS, what relationships among victims, offenses, and incidents become visible that the old reporting system missed?”
- UPDATE
- First published 2026-08-18 · future cadence not stated
- COVERAGE
- United States · Los Angeles · 2024-03-07–2025
- ACCESS
- No-login downloads and Socrata API
- LICENSE / TYPE
- Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal public-domain dedication
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITCredit is not legally required; recommended citation includes Los Angeles Police Department, dataset title, Socrata ID gqf2-vm2j, version date, and access date.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKCheck revision time, field definitions, and the NIBRS codebook; do not splice pre- and post-March 7, 2024 reporting into one trend. Suppress small victim-demographic cells and avoid stigma or re-identification.
Read license basis↗DS-047Cities & Mobility · Australia · QueenslandHistorical data
Brisbane City Council / Queensland Rail
Queensland low-clearance rail structuresLocations, road names, and signed clearance heights for low-clearance railway bridges and structures owned by Queensland Rail, published as downloadable geospatial data by Brisbane City Council.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“How do low-clearance bridges connect freight routing, city streets, and rail reliability into one risk map?”
- UPDATE
- Monthly · current point-in-time extract dated 2026-08-20
- COVERAGE
- Australia · South East Queensland · 106 structures
- ACCESS
- No-login downloads and Opendatasoft API
- LICENSE / TYPE
- Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITRetain the official credit “© Brisbane City Council 2026 © Queensland Rail 2026,” link the dataset and CC BY 4.0, and indicate changes.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKThis is a point-in-time extract dated 2026-08-20, not a permit, route assessment, or guarantee of safe passage. Before publication or travel use, verify current clearance, road conditions, works, and applicable rules with Queensland Rail.
Read license basis↗DS-048Nature & Biodiversity · CanadaHistorical data
Natural Resources Canada
Annual Canadian fractional landcover mapsAnnual, wall-to-wall 30 m rasters separating water, rock, soil, burn scars, lichen, herbs, shrubs, and tree cover, plus a summary landcover classification.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“Where do four decades of burn scars, shrub expansion, and canopy change reveal the clearest climate and land-use fingerprints across Canada?”
- UPDATE
- First published 2026-09-09 · annual layers for 1985–2025
- COVERAGE
- Canada · 30 m resolution · 11 fractional components plus classification
- ACCESS
- No-login HTTPS / FTP downloads
- LICENSE / TYPE
- Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITCite Guindon et al. (2026), Natural Resources Canada, dataset DOI 10.23687/50f132f9-f312-4951-bb9f-9ea99580f29f, and indicate changes.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKFreeze layer year and file-creation date; check EPSG:3979, 30 m pixels, and the methods paper. Do not interpret fractional cover as biomass, and disclose limitations for wetlands, regenerating stands, northern training data, and understory observation.
Read license basis↗DS-049Science & Health · United Kingdom · England and WalesHistorical data
Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership / NATCAN
England and Wales lymphoma-care auditDownloadable tables and a national clinical-audit report comparing non-Hodgkin lymphoma care with recommended practice and surfacing provider and regional differences.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“At which points do regional differences in diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up most alter the care path for people with lymphoma?”
- UPDATE
- Published 2026-09-11 · annual audit
- COVERAGE
- United Kingdom · England and Wales · non-Hodgkin lymphoma care
- ACCESS
- No-login XLSX tables and PDF
- LICENSE / TYPE
- Open Government Licence v3.0, for the scope stated on the dataset record
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITCredit Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership, National Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma Audit, the 2026 report, access date, and link OGL v3.0.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKRead the tables, report methodology, and suppression rules together; check denominators, case ascertainment, risk adjustment, and small samples. Do not identify individuals or treat audit variation as direct evidence of individual prognosis or malpractice.
Read license basis↗DS-050Culture & Knowledge · United Kingdom · Northern IrelandHistorical data
Historic Environment Division / OpenDataNI
Northern Ireland archaeological logboat locationsGeospatial records of historic logboat finds in Northern Ireland, with location accuracy classified by field verification, detailed historic evidence, or approximate waterbody or townland.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“Can logboat findspots reconnect rivers, lakes, and older settlements into a transport network hidden by modern roads?”
- UPDATE
- First published 2026-09-10 · future cadence not stated
- COVERAGE
- United Kingdom · Northern Ireland · historic logboat finds
- ACCESS
- No-login GeoJSON / ZIP downloads
- LICENSE / TYPE
- Open Government Licence v3.0
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITCredit Historic Environment Division, OpenDataNI, Logboat Record, data version, and access date, and link OGL v3.0.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKRetain each record's location-accuracy class: about 10 m, about 50 m, or only the waterbody or townland. Do not present approximate points as exact archaeological sites; follow publisher and heritage guidance when mapping vulnerable locations.
Read license basis↗DS-051Society & Public Life · CanadaLive data
Health Canada
Canadian commercial cannabis applications and licencesFive open files cover cultivation, processing, medical sales, and self-identified Indigenous applicants and licence holders, with subclass, province, issue date, and status.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“From application queues to inactive licences, where did Canada's commercial cannabis industry expand or contract fastest by province and business type?”
- UPDATE
- Quarterly · first published 2026-09-08
- COVERAGE
- Canada · application queues, issuance, and status snapshots
- ACCESS
- No-login CSV / DataStore API
- LICENSE / TYPE
- Open Government Licence – Canada
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITCredit Health Canada, dataset title, quarter or snapshot date, and access date, and link the licence; disclose modifications.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKCheck each of the five files' snapshot date, guide, licence-status reasons, and revision. Treat self-identified Indigenous fields carefully at aggregate level; avoid small-cell identification, stigma, or interpreting application status as unlawful conduct.
Read license basis↗DS-052Energy & Infrastructure · Australia · QueenslandHistorical data
Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines
Granted mining claims in QueenslandA list of Queensland mining claims granted through MyMinesOnline; the publisher notes that reports appear only when the relevant period has a change or approval.
STORY SPARK / QUESTION TO FOLLOW“How do newly granted mining claims overlap with towns, waterways, protected land, and commodity-price cycles?”
- UPDATE
- First published 2026-09-10 · refreshed when a period has reportable data
- COVERAGE
- Australia · Queensland · granted resource authorities
- ACCESS
- No-login XLSX download / CKAN API
- LICENSE / TYPE
- Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
ATTRIBUTION / REQUIRED CREDITCredit the State of Queensland, publishing department, List of Granted Mining Claims, and data-update date; link the source and CC BY 4.0 and indicate changes.
PRE-PUBLISH CHECKVerify authority status, reporting period, MyMinesOnline record, and spatial boundaries. The list is not permission to enter land, environmental approval, or authority to operate a mine. A missing period may mean no change, not service failure.
Read license basis↗