Social barriers to open (water) data

Abstract

AbstractAlthough the proliferation of open water data platforms and initiatives in recent years is a laudable phenomenon, there is little empirical evidence indicating whether and to what extent these efforts are generating anticipated benefits of improved transparency, citizen participation, innovation, and water resource decision making. Relatedly, water resource researchers have devoted little attention to identifying and accounting for barriers that may be limiting open water data efforts from realizing their potential. The premise of this overview is that (a) open water data efforts could be improved with a better understanding of the non‐technical challenges and that (b) water researchers interested in open water data would benefit from delving into the emerging body of research in public policy, information science, and other disciplines on open data barriers more broadly. However, the research on open data barriers has neglected water sustainability issues. In light of this asymmetry, the aim of this overview is to foster interdisciplinary engagement on this topic by introducing the water resource community to this literature via a discussion of key social barriers to open data. Additionally, I hope to motivate water resource researchers to develop a two‐way interdisciplinary engagement by making original research contributions to this larger literature.This article is categorized under: Engineering Water Science of Water > Methods Human Water > Water Governance Human Water > Water as Imagined and Represented