[od-discuss] Fwd: Compliance of the Kenyan Open Data Policy with the Open Definition

Mon Dec 3 15:57:06 UTC 2012

Dear all,

I have send this request to the people from the Kenyan Open Data Portal on 15th August and resend it on 15th September, with no response. I will send again today by trying to add some contacts in cc and lets see if they react.

All the best
Daniel

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Daniel Dietrich <daniel.dietrich at okfn.org>
> Subject: Compliance of the Kenyan Open Data Policy with the Open Definition
> Date: 15 August 2012 11:07:14 CEST
> To: contact at opendata.go.ke
> Cc: opendefinition at okfn.org
> 
> Dear all,
> 
> my name is Daniel Dietrich, Open Data evangelist of the Open Knowledge Foundation [1] and Project coordinator of the Open Definition [2]. I am contacting you today, on behalf of the Open Definition Advisory Council, because of the compliance of the Kenyan Open Data Policy with the Open Definition.
> 
> The group agreed that the Kenyan Open Data Policy [3] does not conform to the Open Definition because of it's non-commercial restrictions.  Specifically, the restrictions are found in this paragraph taken from the license:
> 
> <quote>
> As such, and subject to any minor restrictions that may be imposed by the law of copyright regarding the use of public information, the Kenya ICT Board and the government agencies whose information is provided on this website impose no restrictions to the non-commercial reproduction, re-publication and re-distribution of any information published on its website.
> </quote>
> 
> While the explicit lack of restriction on non-commercial use is welcome, this also implies that commercial use is restricted or prohibited. The Open Definition requires that the data be freely usable for any purpose including commercial ones. We think this is an important issue since this affects the Open Data Ecosystem; the ability for commercial businesses to add value by building products and services using open data is key to building a sustainable open data ecosystem.
> 
> The Open Definition sets out principles to define ‘openness’ in relation to content and data and is widely recognized as the international standard to evaluate license compliance.
> 
> We would be please if we could discuss this issue and explore possibilities how we could help you make the Kenyan Open Data Policy compliant with the Open Definition. It would be great if we could have a call by phone or skype at any time soon.
> 
> Kind regards
> Daniel Dietrich
> on behalf of the Open Definition Advisory Council
> 
> 
> --
> Daniel Dietrich
> Open Data evangelist at the OKF
> Open Government Data WG coordinator 
> 
> Open Knowledge Foundation
> Promoting Open Knowledge in a Digital Age
> www.okfn.org | www.opendefinition.org
> 
> www.ddie.me
> twitter.com/ddie
> +49 176 327 685 30
> 
> 
> 
> 1. http://okfn.org
> 2. http://opendefinition.org/okd/
> 3. http://opendata.go.ke/page/terms-of-service