[okfn-discuss] Defining open data - blog post

Fri Oct 4 13:18:03 UTC 2013

I like this conversation. I've never quite made a decision about which to
use, but I think based on the Guardian's summary I would go with "is" from
now on. More accessible and normal. Be warned, all ye who submit blog
posts.

t

On 4 October 2013 13:50, Paula Graham <paula at fossbox.org.uk> wrote:

>  Latin's no longer taught much in UK schools so the current generation of
> GB English speakers must be forgiven for ignoring Romantic declension and
> conjugation. In the age of machine data [they are] [it's] largely
> uncountable anyway and English is primarily understood by word-order so I'm
> with the 'mass noun' contingent. To a contemporary native GB English
> speaker, using a plural verb sounds very odd.
>
>  Paula Graham
> Director | Fossbox
> Mobile: +44 (0)7768362795
> Email: paula at fossbox.org.uk
> www.fossbox.org.uk
> skype: bastubis
>  ------------------------------
>
>  On 04/10/13 01:23, Basili Carla wrote:
>
> The latin term "data" is the plural of the latin  term "datum" and
> therefore the verb should be used accordingly. While this is quite clear in
> Italian, I don't know if it can help with English.
>
> Carla Basili
>
>
> Il 2013-10-04 01:03 Aaron Wolf ha scritto:
>
> Found via DuckDuckGo:
>
>
> http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/jul/16/data-plural-singular[30]
>
> But in _this_ case it is more clearly "is" in terms of the way we're
> using "data" in the definition. It's a mass noun like "software" not
> "softwares" but clearly there's debate.
>
> I agree the simple one-sentence definition is good
>
> --
> Aaron Wolf
> wolftune.com [31]
>
> On Thu, Oct 3, 2013 at 3:30 PM, Gene Shackman <eval_gene at yahoo.com><eval_gene at yahoo.com>wrote:
>
> "Open data is data that can be freely used, shared and built-on by anyone,
> anywhere for any purpose."
>
>
> This says it all. This is the best definition, it is clear and easy to
> understand. Everything else is just details.
>
> All the stuff about how the data should be available (e.g., machine
> readable, human readable, should have clear dictionaries, etc), where it
> should be, who should present it, how much of it should be available, etc.,
> all that stuff is detail.
>
> Any documents about open/free/libre data should start with this simple,
> clear, short statement.
>
> Just one comment. Should it be "Open data are" rather than "Open data is"?
> Let's see, "the open internet is" but "free websites are"
>
> Gene
>
> -------------------------
> FROM: Luis Villa <luis at lu.is> <luis at lu.is>
> TO: Open Knowledge Foundation discussion list
> <okfn-discuss at lists.okfn.org> <okfn-discuss at lists.okfn.org>
> SENT: Thursday, October 3, 2013 11:29 AM
> SUBJECT: Re: [okfn-discuss] Defining open data - blog post
>
> Nifty. Anything in particular motivate this now?
>
> Luis
>
> On Thu, Oct 3, 2013 at 7:17 AM, Laura James <laura.james at okfn.org><laura.james at okfn.org>wrote:
>
> ALL,
>
> WE JUST POSTED ABOUT "DEFINING OPEN DATA" ON THE OPEN KNOWLEDGE FOUNDATION
> BLOG - SETTING OUT A CLEAR AND ACCESSIBLE EXPLANATION (HOPEFULLY!).  THERE
> WILL BE MORE POSTS ABOUT THE OPEN DEFINITION AND HOW IT RELATES TO OTHER
> OPEN PRINCIPLES IN THE NEXT FEW DAYS.
>
> http://blog.okfn.org/2013/10/03/defining-open-data/ [1]
>
> Laura
>
> OPEN DATA IS DATA THAT CAN BE FREELY USED, SHARED AND BUILT-ON BY ANYONE,
> ANYWHERE FOR ANY PURPOSE. This is the summary of the full Open Definition
> [2] which the Open Knowledge Foundation [3] created in 2005 to provide both
> a succinct explanation and a detailed definition of open data [4].
> As the open data movement grows, and even more governments and
> organisations sign up to open data, it becomes ever more IMPORTANT THAT
> THERE IS A CLEAR AND AGREED DEFINITION for what “open data” means if we are
> to realise the full benefits of openness, and avoid the risks of creating
> incompatibility between projects and splintering the community.
> _
> Open_ can apply to information from any source and about any topic. Anyone
> can release their data under an open licence for free use by and benefit to
> the public. Although we may think mostly about government and public sector
> bodies releasing public information such as budgets or maps, or researchers
> sharing their results data and publications, any organisation can open
> information (corporations, universities, NGOs, startups, charities,
> community groups and individuals).
> There is open information in transport [5], science [6], products
> [7], education [8], sustainability [9], maps [10], legislation
> [11], libraries [12], economics [13], culture [14], development
> [15], business [16], design [17], finance [18] …. So the explanation of
> what open means applies to all of these information sources and types. Open
> may also apply both to data – big data and small data [19] – or to content,
> like images, text and music!
> _
> So here we set out clearly what open means, and why this agreed definition
> is vital for us to collaborate, share and scale as open data and open
> content grow and reach new communities.
>
> WHAT IS OPEN?
>
> The full Open Definition [2] provides a precise definition of what open
> data is. There are 2 important elements to openness:
>
> * LEGAL OPENNESS: you must be allowed to get the data legally, to build on
> it, and to share it. Legal openness is usually provided by applying an
> appropriate (open) license [20] which allows for free access to and reuse
> of the data, or by placing data into the public domain.
> * TECHNICAL OPENNESS: there should be no technical barriers to using that
> data. For example, providing data as printouts on paper (or as tables in
> PDF documents) makes the information extremely difficult to work with. So
> the Open Definition has various requirements for “technical openness,” such
> as requiring that data be machine readable and available in bulk.
>
> There are a few key aspects of open_ which the Open Definition
> [21] explains in detail. Open Data is useable by anyone, regardless of who
> they are, where they are, or what they want to do with the data; there must
> be no restriction on who can use it, and commercial use is fine too.
> Open data must be available in bulk (so it’s easy to work with) and it
> should be available free of charge, or at least at no more than a
> reasonable reproduction cost. The information should be digital, preferably
> available by downloading through the internet, and easily processed by a
> computer too (otherwise users can’t fully exploit the power of data – that
> it can be combined together to create new insights).
> Open Data must permit people to use it, re-use it, and redistribute it,
> including intermixing with other datasets and distributing the results.
> The Open Definition [21] generally doesn’t allow conditions to be placed
> on how people can use Open Data, but it does permit a data provider to
> require that data users credit them in some appropriate way, make it clear
> if the data has been changed, or that any new datasets created using their
> data are also shared as open data.
> There are 3 important principles behind this definition of _open_, which
> are why Open Data is so powerful:
>
> * AVAILABILITY AND ACCESS: that people can get the data
> * RE-USE AND REDISTRIBUTION: that people can reuse and share the data
> * UNIVERSAL PARTICIPATION: that anyone can use the data
>
> GOVERNANCE OF THE OPEN DEFINITION
>
> Since 2007, the Open Definition has been governed by an Advisory Council
> [22]. This is the group formally responsible for maintaining and developing
> the Definition and associated material. Its mission is to take forward Open
> Definition work for the general benefit of the open knowledge community,
> and it has specific responsibility for deciding on what licences comply
> with the Open Definition.
> The Council is a community-run body. New members of the Council can be
> appointed at any time by agreement of the existing members of the Advisory
> Council, and are selected for demonstrated knowledge and competence in the
> areas of work of the Council.
> The Advisory Council operates in the open and anyone can join the mailing
> list [23].
>
> ABOUT THE OPEN DEFINITION
>
> The Open Definition [2] was created in 2005 by the Open Knowledge
> Foundation with input from many people. The Definition was based directly
> on the Open Source Definition [24] from the Open Source Initiative [25] and
> we were able to reuse most of these well-established principles and
> practices that the free and open source community had developed for
> software, and apply them to data and content.
> Thanks to the efforts of many translators in the community, the Open
> Definition is available in 30+ languages [2].
>
> MORE ABOUT OPENNESS COMING SOON
>
> In coming days we’ll post more on the theme of explaining openness,
> including a more detailed exploration of the Open Definition, the
> relationship of the Open Definition to specific sets of principles for
> openness – such as the Sunlight Foundation’s 10 principles [26] and Tim
> Berners-Lee’s 5 star system [27], why having a shared and agreed definition
> of open data is so important, and how one can go about “doing open data”.
> _______________________________________________
> okfn-discuss mailing list
> okfn-discuss at lists.okfn.org
> http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/okfn-discuss [28]
> Unsubscribe: http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/options/okfn-discuss [29]
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> okfn-discuss mailing list
> okfn-discuss at lists.okfn.org
> http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/okfn-discuss [28]
> Unsubscribe: http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/options/okfn-discuss [29]
>
> _______________________________________________
> okfn-discuss mailing list
> okfn-discuss at lists.okfn.org
> http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/okfn-discuss [28]
> Unsubscribe: http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/options/okfn-discuss [29]
>
>
>
>
> Links:
> ------
> [1] http://blog.okfn.org/2013/10/03/defining-open-data/
> [2] http://opendefinition.org/okd/
> [3] http://okfn.org/
> [4] http://okfn.org/opendata
> [5] http://transport.okfn.org/
> [6] http://science.okfn.org/
> [7] http://product-open-data.com/
> [8] http://education.okfn.org/
> [9] http://sustainability.okfn.org/
> [10] http://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=5/51.500/-0.100
> [11] http://legislation.okfn.org/
> [12] http://openbiblio.net/principles/
> [13] http://openeconomics.net/
> [14] http://openglam.org/
> [15] http://open-development.okfn.org/
> [16] http://opencorporates.com/
> [17] http://design.okfn.org/
> [18] http://openspending.org/
> [19]
>
>
> http://blog.okfn.org/2013/04/22/forget-big-data-small-data-is-the-real-revolution/
> [20] http://opendefinition.org/licenses/
> [21] http://opendefinition.org/okd
> [22] http://opendefinition.org/advisory-council/
> [23] http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/od-discuss
> [24] http://opensource.org/osd-annotated
> [25] http://opensource.org/
> [26]
> http://sunlightfoundation.com/policy/documents/ten-open-data-principles/
> [27] http://www.w3.org/DesignIssues/LinkedData.html
> [28] http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/okfn-discuss
> [29] http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/options/okfn-discuss
> [30]
> http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2010/jul/16/data-plural-singular
> [31] http://wolftune.com/
>
> _______________________________________________
> okfn-discuss mailing list
> okfn-discuss at lists.okfn.org
> http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/okfn-discuss
> Unsubscribe: http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/options/okfn-discuss
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> okfn-discuss mailing list
> okfn-discuss at lists.okfn.org
> http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/okfn-discuss
> Unsubscribe: http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/options/okfn-discuss
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> okfn-discuss mailing list
> okfn-discuss at lists.okfn.org
> http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/okfn-discuss
> Unsubscribe: http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/options/okfn-discuss
>
>

-- 
*

Theodora Middleton

Blog Editor  |  skype: theodora.middleton

The Open Knowledge Foundation <http://okfn.org/>

Empowering through Open Knowledge
http://okfn.org/  |  @okfn <http://twitter.com/OKFN>  |  OKF on
Facebook<https://www.facebook.com/OKFNetwork> |
Blog <http://blog.okfn.org/>  |  Newsletter<http://okfn.org/about/newsletter>
*
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.okfn.org/pipermail/okfn-discuss/attachments/20131004/1a9a5f1d/attachment.html>