he following graph from Google Trends compares interest in four of the leading open data solutions alongside interest in open data, as indicated by the use of search terms worldwide.
The emergence of the CKAN open data software aligns with growth in general interest in the subject of open data. Additionally, the trend displays an overwhelming dominance of interest in CKAN over Socrata, Junar and DKAN.
Open data is a public good in economic terms and provides access to all sorts of Government data for use by anyone, just as playgrounds and other public facilities are open for anyone to use.
No matter what platform approach is used for the release of Government data, it is good for both Government transparency and reducing the friction between communities and government when raw data is often at the heart of many policy decisions. If CKAN is helping to bring more Government data into the hands of citizens then the trend is a positive indication for the project’s long term success.
Link Digital supports data.gov.au, data.vic.gov.au, data.nsw.gov.au and data.sa.gov.au via CKAN for data publishing and Drupal for content management features. There is strong adoption of the Drupal CMS by Government organisations worldwide, so the integration between these two platforms is an area of development we are continuing to support.
As a Gold member of the CKAN Association Link contributes to both projects to ensure positive trends in open Government outcomes is something that will continue to grow over the years ahead.
Edit:
It was awesomely pointed out to me that perhaps the global growth in open data interest was instead being fueled by C-Kan, the hip hop artist. The trend below would suggest there is a significant bump in both search terms that align. Even when searching for C-Kan the CKAN project features prominently. The only conclusion to draw must be that Government servants working on open data initiatives are significantly influenced by popular music 
Good thing that CKAN has a rap to continue pushing that trend further up the charts.
