[geo-discuss] fw:[GIS-UK] - GI policy light - towards a sustainable spatial data infrastructure

[Rufus Pollock]

This talk is today and it looks like it could be very interesting. 
Unfortunately I've got a prior commitment and won't be able to attend. 
Is there anyone on the list who will be going and who might be able to 
give a short report of what happens?

I am particularly intrigued by what he means by this being a policy 
matter rather than an economic one:

 > In this talk Bob Barr will explain the rationale behind cost recovery 
and the reason it is seen by some organisations as the only way in which 
geographic information can be funded sustainably. He will also suggest 
that there are flaws in this thinking and argue that this is really a 
policy matter rather than one of economics.

In my opinion this clearly is an 'economic' matter as well as being a 
policy one -- the vast majority of the economic theory and empirics 
indicate that cost-recovery (aka monopoly pricing) is a really bad idea 
both for industry in particular and society in general.

Regards,

Rufus Pollock

Timothy Waters wrote:
>  From the GIS-UK mailing list.
> -----Original Message-----
> 
> 
> *RICS Geomatics evening lecture series 2006 - Thursday 11th May 2006*
> GI policy light - towards a sustainable spatial data infrastructure
> *Speakers :* Dr Robert Barr, Manchester Geomatics / School of 
> Environment and Development The University of Manchester
> *Location*
> RICS GGS, 12 Great George Street, SW1P 3AD
> 
> *Time*
> 1745 for 1830, lecture scheduled to finish at 1930.
> The lecture is free of charge and open to all. The RICS bar is open 
> afterwards
> *Background:* The pricing of geographical information produced by, and 
> for government, by agencies and other organisations has been 
> controversial since concepts of tradable information and cost recovery 
> began to drive Treasury thinking in the 1980s. Recently this controversy 
> has reached a crescendo with the Guardian newspaper weighing in with its 
> "Free our data" campaign and the re-use of public information becoming a 
> matter for debate across Europe.
> 
> In this talk Bob Barr will explain the rationale behind cost recovery 
> and the reason it is seen by some organisations as the only way in which 
> geographic information can be funded sustainably. He will also suggest 
> that there are flaws in this thinking and argue that this is really a 
> policy matter rather than one of economics. He will then propose 
> principles that should guide a government geographic information policy.
> 
> Robert Barr is managing director of Manchester Geomatics a university 
> spin-out company that specialises in projects involving the management 
> and use of geographic information in the public sector. He is an 
> Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Environment and Development at 
> the University of Manchester, having retired from full-time academic 
> life after a thirty year career. He is well known as a columnist in the 
> geographic information press and a speaker at conferences and meetings 
> around the world.
> 
> 
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