Open Data Movement Research Articles

Shining Light on Charities or Looking in the Wrong Place? Regulation-by-Transparency in Canada

The nature of charity reporting and transparency is changing significantly; while the longstanding focus on financial reporting remains, there is much greater emphasis on illuminating governance systems and impacts. Regulatory regimes are becoming more polycentric with the expansion of third party watchdogs and emergence of new self-regulatory bodies. With more open access to data, transparency has become an independent force in these regimes. The article outlines a conceptual model of charity regulatory regimes and applies this to analyze recent developments of regulation-by-transparency in Canada. Although the intent of encouraging greater transparency is seldom questioned, this Canadian case study demonstrates how transparency can become politicized, damaging the relationship between the regulator and the charitable sector. In addition, the open data movement means that charities now operate in a world in which neither they nor state regulators control access and use of information.

Why the Current Insistence on Open Access to Scientific Data? Big Data, Knowledge Production, and the Political Economy of Contemporary Biology

The collection and dissemination of data on human and nonhuman organisms has become a central feature of 21st-century biology and has been endorsed by funding agencies in the United States and Europe as crucial to translating biological research into therapeutic and agricultural innovation. Large molecular data sets, often referred to as “big data,” are increasingly incorporated into digital databases, many of which are freely accessible online. These data have come to be seen as resources that play a key role in mediating global market exchange, thus achieving a prominent social and economic status well beyond science itself. At the same time, calls to make all such data publicly and freely available have garnered strength and visibility, most prominently in the form of the Open Data movement. I discuss these developments by considering the conditions under which data journey across the communities and institutions implicated in globalized biology and biomedicine, and what this indicates about how Internet-based communication and the use of online databases affect scientific research and its role within contemporary society.

Binary RDF representation for publication and exchange (HDT)

The current Web of Data is producing increasingly large RDF datasets. Massive publication efforts of RDF data driven by initiatives like the Linked Open Data movement, and the need to exchange large datasets has unveiled the drawbacks of traditional RDF representations, inspired and designed by a document-centric and human-readable Web. Among the main problems are high levels of verbosity/redundancy and weak machine-processable capabilities in the description of these datasets. This scenario calls for efficient formats for publication and exchange.This article presents a binary RDF representation addressing these issues. Based on a set of metrics that characterizes the skewed structure of real-world RDF data, we develop a proposal of an RDF representation that modularly partitions and efficiently represents three components of RDF datasets: Header information, a Dictionary, and the actual Triples structure (thus called HDT). Our experimental evaluation shows that datasets in HDT format can be compacted by more than fifteen times as compared to current naive representations, improving both parsing and processing while keeping a consistent publication scheme. Specific compression techniques over HDT further improve these compression rates and prove to outperform existing compression solutions for efficient RDF exchange.

Open Data in the Italian Government: the experience of the Town of Florence

The City of Florence, Italy, has been carrying out a large data integration and consolidation process since 2003, that was even more improved and targeted to an open and federated approach during 2009. Results of such a process are now being exploited in several current hot eGovernment fields, among which business intelligence, and, more recently, the open data movement. During the year 2011, the City of Florence lead an internal structured assessment process in which each department named an open data referee, and was called to analyse which available public datastores were eligible to be opened up in a suitable website section. The first Data section of the City of Florence website was published in October 2011, to which followed the publication of RDF scheme, and SPARQL endpoint for the three above datasets. In February 2012, a brand-new specific open data portal was published, whose main sections were the dataset catalogue, the Open data for all section, with human-readable data visualisations, the Linked Data section, and the GeoPortal section, giving access to geospatial data through a standard catalogue and a portal which are based on the open source GeoNetwork and GeoServer projects.

'Open Data' and the Semantic Web Require a Rethink on Statistics Teaching

The concept of statistical literacy needs to be refreshed, regularly. Major changes in the ways that data can be accessed from government and non-government agencies allow everyone to access huge databases, to create new variables, and to explore new relationships. New ways of visualizing data provide further challenges and opportunities. The Open Data movement, and the rise of data driven journalism are increasing public access to large scale data via the media. Here, we map out some opportunities and potential pitfalls, and discuss the rebalancing of statistics curricula that is required. The most obvious challenge is the need to introduce students to the exploration and analysis of large scale multivariate data sets. The curriculum should also address issues of data provenance and quality. We present an example of our visualisations of complex multivariate data, used in classroom trials. General issues of pedagogy and curriculum innovation are discussed.

From Open Data to Information Justice

This paper argues for subsuming the question of open data within a larger question of information justice, with the immediate aim being to establish the need for rather than the principles of such a theory. I show that there are several problems of justice that emerge as a consequence of opening data to full public accessibility, and are generally a consequence of the failure of the open data movement to understand the constructed nature of data. I examine three such problems: the embedding of social privilege in datasets as the data is constructed, the differential capabilities of data users (especially differences between citizens and enterprise users), and the norms that data systems impose through their function as disciplinary systems. In each case I show that open data has the quite real potential to exacerbate rather than alleviate injustices. This necessitates a theory of information justice. I briefly suggest two complementary directions in which such a theory might be developed: one defining a set of moral inquiries that can be used to evaluate the justness of data practices, and another exploring the practices and structures that a social movement promoting information justice might pursue.

Open Data as a key factor for developing expert systems: a perspective from Spain

The open data movement is relatively new but very significant, and potentially powerful. The overall intention is to make local, regional and national data available in a form that allows for direct manipulation. This paper is based on analyzing the current context of the Open Data initiative in Spain, from its origins and concepts, the legal framework, current initiatives and challenges that must be addressed for effective reuse of public sector information.

Binary RDF Representation for Publication and Exchange (HDT)

The current Web of Data is producing increasingly large RDF datasets. Massive publication efforts of RDF data driven by initiatives like the Linked Open Data movement, and the need to exchange large datasets has unveiled the drawbacks of traditional RDF representations, inspired and designed by a document-centric and human-readable Web. Among the main problems are high levels of verbosity/redundancy and weak machine-processable capabilities in the description of these datasets. This scenario calls for efficient formats for publication and exchange. This article presents a binary RDF representation addressing these issues. Based on a set of metrics that characterizes the skewed structure of real-world RDF data, we develop a proposal of an RDF representation that modularly partitions and efficiently represents three components of RDF datasets: Header information, a Dictionary, and the actual Triples structure (thus called HDT). Our experimental evaluation shows that datasets in HDT format can be compacted by more than fifteen times as compared to current naive representations, improving both parsing and processing while keeping a consistent publication scheme. Specific compression techniques over HDT further improve these compression rates and prove to outperform existing compression solutions for efficient RDF exchange.

Open Government and (Linked) (Open) (Government) (Data)

This article explores the opening and the free usage of stored public sector data, supplied by state. In the age of Open Government and Open Data it’s not enough just to put data online. It should be rather weighed out whether, how and which supplied public sector data can be published. Open Data are defined as stored data which could be made accessible in a public interest without any restrictions for usage and distribution. These Open Data can possibly be statistics, geo data, maps, plans, environmental data and weather data in addition to materials of the parliaments, ministries and authorities. The preparation and the free access to existing data permit varied approaches to the reuse of data, discussed in the article. In addition, impulses can be given for Open Government – the opening of state and administration, to more transparency, participation and collaboration as well as to innovation and business development. The Open Data movement tries to get to the bottom of current publication processes in the public sector which could be formed even more friendly to citizens and enterprises.

Open Government Data and the Right to Information: Opportunities and Obstacles

This article discusses the relationship between the open government data (OGD) movement and the right to information (RTI) movement. While both movements are closely related, there are some differences that may have a considerable impact on the right of the citizen to access government information. The article argues that the calls for OGD may on the one hand risk limiting the access to government information, while on the other hand they may also provide an alternative source of access to information for existing freedom of information legislation, which is being threatened in some countries.

Openness and archaeology's information ecosystem

The rise of the World Wide Web represents one of the most significant transitions in communications since the printing press or even since the origins of writing. To Open Access and Open Data advocates, the web offers great opportunity for expanding the accessibility, scale, diversity and quality of archaeological communications. Nevertheless, Open Access and Open Data face steep adoption barriers. Critics wrongly see Open Access as a threat to peer review. Others see data transparency as naively technocratic and lacking in an appreciation of archaeology's social and professional incentive structure. However, as argued in this paper, the Open Access and Open Data movements do not gloss over sustainability, quality and professional incentive concerns. Rather, these reform movements offer much needed and trenchant critiques of the academy's many dysfunctions. These dysfunctions, ranging from the expectations of tenure and review committees to the structure of the academic publishing industry, go largely unknown and unremarked by most archaeologists. At a time of cutting fiscal austerity, Open Access and Open Data offer desperately needed ways to expand research opportunities, reduce costs and expand the equity and effectiveness of archaeological communication.

Maximisation of the value of population health sciences data

The sharing of research data for new science forms an important part of the UK Government's transparency agenda and its open data movement. The Medical Research Council (MRC) every year invests around £700 million of public money in health research, the primary output of which is data. This investment can be maximised through the sharing and further use of such data for the benefit of public health research. The MRC's research data policy aims to maximise the lifetime value of research data assets for human health in a timely and responsible manner, in line with the principles and guidelines from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for access to research data from public funding.Analysis by Piwowar has shown that in microarray clinical trials, publicly available research data are significantly associated with a 69% increase in citations. At the same time, data sharing between researchers varies widely within the health sciences, with investigators of cancer and patient studies least likely to make their datasets available. Thus data are least available in areas in which they could make the biggest effect.Research to understand human health and to assess interventions to improve health depends on information about the health, lifestyle, genetics, and environments (social, economic, and physical) of populations and patients. Data sharing is imminent because researchers need access to large samples across populations, to be able to study the complex effects of genetic, environmental, and lifestyle factors on diseases. Furthermore, data and studied ideas need to be standardised and harmonised, to enable comparability of measurements and attributes across samples.Within this framework of research needs, the MRC Data Support Service project developed a Research Data Gateway for the discovery of MRC-funded population and patient studies and their datasets and variables. The Gateway enables researchers to find and explore variables across longitudinal cohort studies, to support data linkage for new research. A federated approach is used, whereby investigators of studies are responsible for storage, preservation, curation, and dissemination of data; and then for publication of standardised metadata into the gateway. The system uses a Drupal content management system and Apache Solr search and browse functionality, with metadata organised into modular units representing studies, time periods, collection events, and variables. Researchers can search and discover variables across studies and export baskets of variables to request access to data. The directory already holds more than 45 000 variables for four studies: Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC), National Survey for Health and Development (NSHD), Southampton Women's Study (SWS), and Whitehall II. Inclusion of more variables and studies is under development.Development towards a Data Documentation Initiative–Lifecycle (DDI3-L) metadata exchange standard is in progress, enabling metadata from diverse formats and structures to be ingested into the gateway and result in comparable, standardised metadata.The project also works towards integration of this discovery platform with the Cohorts and Longitudinal Studies Enhancement Resource (CLOSER), a joint ESRC/MRC-funded project facilitating cross-disciplinary research across cohort studies, so that the MRC metadata directory can underpin CLOSER's future data harmonisation work. FundingMedical Research Council.

Trustworthy Records and Open Data

The Open Data movement has assumed that that accurate data is available to demonstrate government expenditure and actions. However, in many countries, the records of government policies, activities and transactions that should provide the basis for a large proportion of government data are incomplete, inaccurate or inaccessible. This will result in inaccurate data. This paper suggests that alongside the enthusiasm for Open Data, there needs to be parallel attention to ensuring that government records are managed as the evidence base for Open Government. The paper explores key records issues that will affect Open Data and draws attention to the value of international records management standards.

Fundamental interests and open data for re-use1

Public sector information plays an important role in that it constitutes a powerful tool for bolstering democratic values and a solid base upon which to build our knowledge economy. Nevertheless, current legislation on different uses of public sector information does not allow for the creation or taking advantage of all the opportunities permitted by the development and scope of information and communication technologies. The aim of this article is to analyse the interests involved in public sector information and the protection offered at any given time by the different existing legal instruments. It also seeks to assess the impact of the open data movement with regard to the different interests involved and the extent to which current regulations can provide it cover. Finally, it proposes the main elements of new regulations that reflect today’s needs and opportunities of public sector information.

Open data: “There’s an app for that.”

This commentary examines how the open data movement is revolutionizing the diverse practices of journalism, government communication and public relations. The author defines open data as the future of communicating knowledge, and explains how it is challenging communication professionals in ways that previous incarnations of the World Wide Web have not before. The author describes the evolution of web services tracing the differences between Web 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0. The author proposes transparency as the fundamental concept underlying success for professional communicators in an open data world. ©Journal of Professional Communication, all rights reserved.

The role of public sector information in the European market for online content: a never‐ending story or a new beginning?

PurposeThis paper aims to address the recent trends and developments relating to the re‐use of public sector information (PSI) and open government data.Design/methodology/approachIt starts from the European Commission's Digital Agenda, which stressed the importance of opening up access to content to promote the single market. While the 2003 PSI directive has contributed to this, barriers to the re‐use of PSI still remain, often based on a lack of awareness with public sector data holders and users. Some of these barriers are currently being challenged by the open government data (OGD) movement. While this movement has comparable objectives to the PSI directive, it is based on different arguments. This raises the question of how the two approaches relate.FindingsThe paper argues that the proponents of the re‐use of PSI and OGD should join forces to promote the availability of public sector data.Originality/valueIn this way, the public sector can be encouraged to rethink its information policy and move to a more coherent view on how data can be used to increase the benefits for the information society and the market for digital content.

The influence of the PSI directive on open government data: An overview of recent developments

Abstract This paper looks at the role of the European Directive on re-use of public sector information in the current trend towards opening up government data. After discussing the PSI directive, it gives an overview of current policies and practices with regard to open government data in the Member States. It is argued that the success of the open government data movement in some Member States can be related to the confusion or ignorance about the relationship between traditional freedom of information legislation and the re-use of public sector data. If future information policies decide to follow this trend, they should always ensure that existing rights on freedom of information are not harmed.

Acceso a Los Datos Públicos y Su Reutilización: <i>Open Data y Open Government</i>

Open government is a form of permanent open communication between the administration and citizens, based on transparency from the administration, working with civil society and business. We present one of the key points that are being used to achieve this objective of participation: the open data movement. In Europe, its origins lie in the issuance of Directive 2003/98/EC of the European Parliament and the Council on access to and reuse of public sector information. Open data projects described here provide access to government data according to the recommendations of the W3C. The structure and open format allows data to be reused to provide new services to citizens and businesses. Numerous projects and visualization applications have been developed that realize the potential of this movement. The situation in Spain is emerging and even in a short period of time many initiatives are maturing. This offers us the opportunity to ask what role information managers will take on in this new scenario.

Open Access, Open Data: Paradigm Shifts in the Changing Scholarly Communication Scenario

The Access Data conference was held December 13 -14, 2010 in Cologne, Germany. The purpose of the conference was to examine the development of the Access movement during the last five years, how it is expected to change within the next five to ten years, and to further investigate the Open Data Movement that is rapidly growing in international importance. This report discusses some of the key ideas that emerged from the workshop discussion and debate.

Understanding the open access data movement

Editor’s note: The internet provides unprecedented opportunities to share summary data and complete datasets of original research online, in order that readers and researchers alike can review such data in detail. The implications of this ‘open data movement’ are considerable, though not entirely resolved. In this expanded Letter to the Editor, Dr. John Doyle comments on several ramifications of the open data movement.