[okfn-discuss] [open-science] Charging for Open Data

Sun Dec 11 12:01:51 UTC 2011

On Sun, Dec 11, 2011 at 11:35 AM, David Hirst <david at davidhirst.com> wrote:

> Science has a news item
> http://www.sciencemag.org/content/334/6061/1337.summary reporting that
> NOAA,
> a major source of open data, has been asked to consider charging for data.
> I do not know what licences they use now, but this may be an opportunity to
> open a dialogue with them about the benefits of open data and licences.
> NOAA
> would no doubt wish for evidence of the harmful effects of restricting
> data,
> and the additional costs arising from managing it all as a private
> resource.
> David
>

Thanks David,
To clarify:
from the article "When an admiral needs to know where the U.S. Navy can
keep its ships safe from an onrushing hurricane, or a government forester
wants to pinpoint dry woodlands at risk of bursting into flame, both turn
to specialized data collected by satellites operated by the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). For decades, NOAA scientists
have been carving the data into customized chunks that help other federal
agencies solve some unusual problems—at no cost to the users. "

NOAA is a government-funded organization that funds its own experiments and
data collection. In this it's different from the long-tail of science where
individuals collect data and where the costs of data management and
archival are also being discussed. The long tail is common in bioscience,
medicine, chemistry, materials and computerscience and perhaps requires a
different discussion

The closest analogy I have personal involvement with (2011) is the UK NERC
(Nat Env. Res. Council). I won't speak authoritatively but they have a
position where raw data (e.g. weather measurements) should be fully Open
and that this gives the opportunity for others to create downstream added
value including commercially. Requiring payment and restricting downstream
use of raw data effectively kills much if not all innovation in this
market. The position is similar to UK Ordnance Survey (government maps)
which requires payment and restricts redistribution and catalysed Open
Streetmap. It will be harder to build an Open satellite, but who knows?

I would suggest also contacting the Brit. Atmos. Data Centre (BADC) and the
Brit Ocean. Data Centre (BODC) to get UK views on charging for data.

P.

-- 
Peter Murray-Rust
Reader in Molecular Informatics
Unilever Centre, Dep. Of Chemistry
University of Cambridge
CB2 1EW, UK
+44-1223-763069
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