Babbage: Opening up

<p>Tech firm Microsoft has announced plans to <a href="https://www.economist.com/business/2020/04/21/microsoft-embraces-open-data" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">embrace open data</a>. Jeni Tennison, from Britain’s Open Data Institute, says it marks a milestone in the way big companies share data. Also, could mass testing for covid-19 provide a way out of the global lockdown? And, what is causing the <a href="https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2020/04/18/the-american-wests-drought-is-its-second-worst-for-12-centuries" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">worst drought</a> in over 1,000 years in the south-west of the United States? Kenneth Cukier hosts&nbsp;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>You can read <em>The Economist’s</em> <a href="https://www.economist.com/news/2020/03/11/the-economists-coverage-of-the-coronavirus" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">full coverage</a> of the coronavirus<strong>. </strong>Please subscribe for full access to print, digital and audio editions: <a href="http://www.economist.com/radiooffer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">www.economist.com/radiooffer</a>.</p> &#10;&nbsp;<br /><hr><p style='color: grey; font - size: 0.75em; '>See <a style='color: grey; ' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for privacy and opt-out information.</p>