[okfn-discuss] protocols of open data, business models, open data orientation, beginning to end

Thu Oct 10 03:02:43 UTC 2013

There is already a well accepted data curation lifecycle model that 
applies to data whether open or not:
http://www.dcc.ac.uk/resources/curation-lifecycle-model

The issue of the business model is different: how does one support the 
infrastructure, people, and resources needed to properly manage data 
throughout its lifecycle? The private sector model is clear: the data 
or derived products are valuable enough that users are willing to pay 
for access and support, which funds the underlying system (note that 
this can apply to both for-profit and non-profit data providers). The 
public sector model is clear: the data are valuable enough as a public 
good that governments or tax dollars can be justified to support the 
underlying system. Some of the studies mentioned by others discuss 
public-private hybrids whereby private sector businesses build on 
basic public sector infrastructure, allowing the original or "raw" 
data to be open but not necessarily the derived products.

What is less clear, at least to me, is how new Internet-inspired 
funding models can be harnessed to fund not just the incremental 
open-ness of data, but also the real costs of long-term data 
management and stewardship. The costs may be coming down because of 
technology etc., but they are not negligible. Until these sorts of new 
business models can be developed and tested, many of the traditional 
institutions that rely on traditional business models are not going to 
want to take chances with not only their own survival, but also the 
survival of their data.

Cheers, Bob

*****
Dr. Robert S. Chen
Director, Center for International Earth Science Information Network
  (CIESIN), The Earth Institute, Columbia University
Manager, NASA Socioeconomic Data and Applications Center (SEDAC)
P.O. Box 1000, 61 Route 9W, Palisades, NY 10964 USA
tel. +1 845-365-8952; fax +1 845-365-8922
e-mail: bchen at ciesin.columbia.edu
CIESIN web site: http://www.ciesin.columbia.edu
SEDAC web site: http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu

On Wed, 9 Oct 2013, Gene Shackman wrote:

> Date: Wed, 9 Oct 2013 14:27:40 -0700 (PDT)
> From: Gene Shackman <eval_gene at yahoo.com>
> To: "okfn-discuss at lists.okfn.org" <okfn-discuss at lists.okfn.org>
> Subject: [okfn-discuss] protocols of open data, business models,
>     open data orientation, beginning to end
> 
> "The third, which I'm more concerned with, is how to support the entire life cycle of open data, from creation to preservation"

This definition would certainly encompass protocols of open data.  And how to get businesses or any other organization or person to open their data, and how to get people to think about 'open' even before they create data, and everything from beginning to end.

I'm not sure
  'business model' is the right term, because what Bob is talking about is so much more, the life cycle. I'd like to see some kind of model covering all this: planning, creating, distributing, maintaining, using, all with open in the plan.

So, before you start, what do you need to think about when planning data that's going to be open. As you gather data, what do you need to think about in making the data open. and so on.

Gene