[@OKau] A Missing Link

Fri May 8 00:25:51 UTC 2015

Great discussion Steven…..

At a macro scale I totally agree with you….no argument on the points you are making.  But, I understand how the mind of a Director level manager in a department such as Health would respond.  The arguments you use would have no influence on this manager.  if they were in a situation where they could influence increased or decreasing taxes, they would have no genuine interest.  It would not impact them in any real way, at least not in the period of a few years.  The only thing that influences them is their direct responsibilities and the budgets allocated to their specific tasks and I can assure you that apart from having ‘Open Data’ as part of an organisational interest, as individual managers, there is no incentive, in fact there are generally dis incentives…

I am not meaning to be harsh here, just realistic in how a government organisation and its people operate.   I have had contact with many different levels of people across all levels of government both here and overseas.  While most appreciate open data concepts and benefits, they struggle to support the initiative if it means the diversion of their own scarce resources to meet open data objectives.

We all know that cars produce significant pollution, but most of us keep driving…. public good is great, but only if it doesn’t impact me….and this is the situation in government agencies…

Sorry for raving on….

Ben Searle

Email:    bensearle54 at gmail.com
Mobile:  +61 (0) 400 453 601

> On 8 May 2015, at 10:12 am, Steven De Costa <steven.decosta at linkdigital.com.au> wrote:
> 
> Oh, I should add that an econometric model should also demonstrate how value is shifted in other ways. For example, if there were incumbent contracts and monetary flows tied to an existing data paradigm then you'd want to model how that changes with the release of that same data in an open manner. An existing agency may lose direct revenue from a few contracts with data barons, but if it grows a new market segment that raises tax revenues via growing trade and employment then there is a net win for the jurisdiction (a mix of federal and state revenue). Unfortunately, if you just left the cost-benefit analysis to the agency then they would not see the bigger picture and may not not release the data.
> 
> STEVEN DE COSTA | EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
> www.linkdigital.com.au <http://www.linkdigital.com.au/>
> 
>    
> 
> On 8 May 2015 at 09:47, Steven De Costa <steven.decosta at linkdigital.com.au <mailto:steven.decosta at linkdigital.com.au>> wrote:
> No!
> 
> Don't get drawn into a hostage negotiation ;)
> 
> That argument is one where the data holder will say, "Show me proof I'll get value, then I'll release the data".
> 
> Instead, we need to keep the conversation on the data itself.  
> 
> However, if you must preemptively demonstrate value I think there are two sensible and non distracting ways to do it.
> 
> 1. The macro economic argument. Talk about the economy, information goods, theory of the firm and transaction costs - all in broad terms. When you do this you can then find evidence of other changes in the (information) economy to cite as examples. 
> 
> 2. The micro economic argument. Talk about the shift in government-citizen dynamics brought about by modern communication mediums and the learned behaviors of digital natives. You can then cite examples of large changes in consumer behaviour born from peer to peer networks, social networks and consolidated consumer markets (amazon, app stores, etc). 
> 
> If a government agency is serious about working out the best areas where the release of data will improve the economy within their jurisdiction, or enable more effective G2C and C2G interactions then they should consider employing economists and statisticians to develop econometric models which demonstrate the likely value of releasing data. They should also consider what stimulation they'd need to provide to ensure that a supply-demand relationship emerges to maintain the long term value they expect to create.
> 
> Cheers,
> Steven
> 
> 
> STEVEN DE COSTA | EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
> www.linkdigital.com.au <http://www.linkdigital.com.au/>
> 
>    
> 
> On 8 May 2015 at 09:10, Ben Searle <bensearle54 at gmail.com <mailto:bensearle54 at gmail.com>> wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> An open data related thought based on a number of years working in the data management space across different levels of government.
> 
> Most government organisations and individuals in those organisations understand the benefits of making their data available to the public.  That debate has generally been won.  But, most organisations are suffering reduced budgets and appreciate that they must expend some resources to comply with the open data philosophy.  This costs their organisation.  But what benefit do they get back from releasing their data?
> 
> Generally not much direct benefit, other than complying with broad government objectives.  So, what is their answer to the question of “whats in it for me?”….generally not much.  Until we can effectively answer that question the supply side of open data will continue to be limited and we will continue to have data released purely to increase data set numbers and meet KPI’s but will that data be useful?  Based on current activities, much of the existing open data would not be consumed by organisations wishing to generate digital products.
> 
> What is missing? 
> 
> 
> Ben Searle
> 
> <PastedGraphic-15.tiff>
> 
> Email:    bensearle54 at gmail.com <mailto:bensearle54 at gmail.com>
> Mobile:  +61 (0) 400 453 601 <tel:%2B61%20%280%29%20400%20453%20601>
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> okfn-au mailing list
> okfn-au at lists.okfn.org <mailto:okfn-au at lists.okfn.org>
> https://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/okfn-au <https://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/okfn-au>
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.okfn.org/mailman/options/okfn-au <https://lists.okfn.org/mailman/options/okfn-au>
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> okfn-au mailing list
> okfn-au at lists.okfn.org
> https://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/okfn-au
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.okfn.org/mailman/options/okfn-au

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.okfn.org/pipermail/okfn-au/attachments/20150508/35899a9d/attachment-0004.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: PastedGraphic-15.tiff
Type: image/tiff
Size: 9570 bytes
Desc: not available
URL: <http://lists.okfn.org/pipermail/okfn-au/attachments/20150508/35899a9d/attachment-0004.tiff>