[euopendata] Terminology: PSI-data vs Open Data

Wed Jan 12 11:34:46 UTC 2011

Hi Peter,

Congrats for the new born!

The question of Open Data vs. PSI is very relevant.

In Berlin last year we drafted this picture: 
http://picasaweb.google.com/antti.poikola/Open_Data#5561247540812199682

Instead of PSI in the picture there is Government Data. PSI as a term 
relates to the PSI directive (EU) and in my understanding in not so much 
used outside of Europe (correct me if I'm wrong).

Idea in the picture is that there exists:
A: Government Data (including also sensitive data and data that fall 
under the data protection laws etc.)
- Some part of the Gov. Data is allready Open -> Open Government Data
- Some part of the Gov. Data is not Open even if it could (not sensitive 
data, for example data that can be accessed according to the Freedom of 
Information laws) -> Public Government Data
- Some part of the Gov. Data can never be Open.
B: Open Data (that includes Open Government Data and also open data 
outside of the Gov, for example wikipedia)

It's very true that many PSI related discussions are not discussions 
about open data ( I understand by open data something along the lines of 
Open Knowledge Definition OKD ). On the contrary what comes to the 
pricing for example, many 'traditional' re-users say that data should 
not allways be free of charge, it's more important to be able to buy 
data with reasonable price and get some sort of contract with the data 
provider.

The basic benefit categories of Open Government Data in my mind are:
1. Transparency and democracy
2. Innovation and economy
3. Efficiency of the government

The PSI directive mostly focuses on number 2. which may well be achieved 
even if the data is not "Open" as long as there are easy ways to find 
data and pricing is not too high etc. In Finland there is ongoing 
legislation work to make data more usable "first between the 
governmental bodies (nr. 3.)" and later on "for businesses (nr 2.)" the 
discussion of Open Data related to Transparency and Democracy is not 
very strong (maybe because transparency is not considered to be a 
problem in Finland).

Personally I allways speak for the Open Government Data, because I 
believe that in the long run that is the way to acchieve all benefits 
1,2, and 3. Of course the Government Data can be made easier to re-use 
even if it for some reason is not be made Open. Increasing 
accessibility, making the re-use licensing clear, reducing prices, 
transforming it to better formats, providing it trough robust 
interfaces, increasing the data quality etc.

What I am worried about is that the term "Open" is misunderstood and 
dilluted. People think that when they are building good APIs they would 
be "opening the data" even if the licencing and pricing models are not 
in line with the definition of Open Data.

There is nothing wrong in building the Gov. APIs and doing all other 
possible enhancements for increasing the re-usability of PSI, but when 
there is no intension of making the Data Open then the word "Open" 
should not be used.

-Antti "Jogi" Poikola

On 12.1.2011 10:32, Peter Krantz wrote:
> Hi!
>
> I am back at work from parental leave and started digging into
> Sweden's approach to open data. Initial findings suggest that there
> are many who confuse the terms "open data" and "PSI". It mainly boils
> down to the concept of "free".
>
> The PSI directive does not require data to be free of charge (it has
> provisions to deal with transparent pricing though). Although there is
> not a universally accepted formal definition of "Open data" most
> people who are working in this area consider a price of 0 to be a
> requirement.
>
> How can we make sure more people understand these differences? The
> term "PSI" is getting a lot of traction within the government sector
> and it is easy for people to believe that thay are dealing with "open
> data" when, in fact, they may be far from it.
>
> Regards,
>
> Peter Krantz
> http://www.opengov.se
>
> _______________________________________________
> euopendata mailing list
> euopendata at lists.okfn.org
> http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/euopendata

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