[open-civil-society] Introducing open-civil-society

Thu Aug 4 11:30:23 UTC 2011

Hello David et al,

Thanks for sorting this list out. In the interest of getting a feel for
who is on here (and because it is a rainy Thursday in early August, so I
have time to!), I thought I would throw in my penny's worth.

I'm working on the policy side of things, concerned mainly with
charitable giving, philanthropy, CSR, and social investment. The open
data agenda hasn't necessarily had a major impact on this yet, but I
think it will become increasingly relevant in the future, and it is
something I am personally interested in so I have taken it upon myself
to keep a watching brief. 

I am primarily interested in what open data will mean for the voluntary
sector in terms of the information it collects and uses itself. That
isn't to say that I'm not interested in how we use open data from other
sources (corporates, govt etc), as there is definitely potential for
using freely-available data in far more imaginative ways and combining
it with the information we collect ourselves. As part of what CAF does,
we collect a whole bunch of primary data about giving habits and trends
(amongst other things), which at the moment is only published in
resolutely closed formats and is not particularly cross-referenced with
other data sets. I'm hoping that in the future we will take on board an
open data approach both in terms of our own data and the way that we use
data gathered by others. Although I hasten to add that it isn't
necessarily in my power to do more than nudge the organisation in that
direction!

A few of the issues I'm considering at the moment are:

- What does open data mean for the competitive advantage of charities?
(I know in an ideal world this wouldn't be an issue, as all charities
would be willing to subsume their own interests under the "struggle for
the common good", but in reality, when there is funding at stake, this
isn't the case). How do you convince organisations to share their data
when knowledge might be their main asset?

- How do you allay the fears of organisations that worry about losing
ownership of data, and having it used in ways they don't agree with? Can
you convince people that the benefits of open data outweigh the
potential downsides of data being used to support arguments you don't
agree with?

- Are there issues around loss of trust if charities openly publish
data? Even if data can be effectively anonymised, is there an impact on
the relationship a charity has with its supporters or beneficiaries if
they have concerns about how collected data might be used?

I'll be really interested to find out what other people's areas of
interest are, and to be pointed in the direction of any good examples of
interesting open data approaches in the sector. Looking forward to
seeing where this goes!

Rhodri

Rhodri Davies

Policy Manager

<http://www.cafonline.org/Default.aspx?page=17286&WT.mc_id=911> 

Tel: 03000 123 221

Mob: 07827 938 972 

Web: www.cafonline.org <http://www.cafonline.org> 

Twitter: @Rhodri_H_Davies, @cafonline

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Registered Charity Number 268369 
<http://www.cafonline.org/Default.aspx?page=17286&WT.mc_id=911> 

-----Original Message-----
From: open-civil-society-bounces at lists.okfn.org
[mailto:open-civil-society-bounces at lists.okfn.org] On Behalf Of Tim
Davies
Sent: 04 August 2011 11:50
To: List for Open Civil Society
Subject: Re: [open-civil-society] Introducing open-civil-society

Hello David and all,

Thanks for getting the list active. It would be great to hear
introductions from people on the list on what brings them here - always
useful to know who is in the discussion. 

My main focus in this space at the moment is via a cross-over with the
open-development working group, looking at Aid Information through 
http://www.aidinfolabs.org - but I'm also really interested in how open
data plays a role in civil society campaigning and political action, and
the role civil society has to play as an intermediary, enabling citizens
to make use of data and use it to be more empowered in their
interactions with governments, companies and communities. 

Another thing for useful discussion here might be how the governments
open data consultation published today could impact civil society
organisations, particularly those working with government. You can find
the consultation here: 
http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/making-open-data-real-p
ublic-consultation

Looking forward to future list discussions,

All the best

Tim

On Thu, Aug 4, 2011 at 10:53 AM, David Kane <David.Kane at ncvo-vol.org.uk>
wrote:

Hello - if you're receiving this email, it's because you've signed up to
the open-civil-society email discussion list.

A little background to the list - it came about as the result of a
conversation between myself and Jonathan from the Open Knowledge
Foundation. We talked about how there seemed to be a growing community
of people coming together who were interested in open data/open
knowledge and charities/civil society/social enterprise.

Jonathan very kindly offered OKFN's services in terms of hosting an
email discussion list - and so open-civil-society was born, as an
attempt to connect those people. But with no greater masterplan than
that.

What the list is specifically for is up to the list members. I think I'm
particularly interested in a few things:

 - how do open data and civil society work together? - what happens when
the practical collides with the technical? I'd be really interested in
case studies that people have of open data working for charities-
whether that's helping them become more accountable or improve their
services, or how they use open data to hold others to account.

 - sharing any events, reports, websites or data sets that are released
- it's always useful to be kept up to date with *relevant* material.

 - 'theoretical' discussion - what does open data mean for civil
society? Does civil society have an obligation to be more open? Where
are the boundaries between being a private organisation and being
accountable? Do the arguments for government becoming more open apply to
civil society or are there different ones? Are the benefits the same?
What are the downsides?

That's my starter for 10 - but I'm sure there are lots of other ideas.
Interested in thoughts that you have.

I'd also encourage you all to promote the list to others who might be
interested. It's been very informal and twitter-based so far (and the
list has actually been set up for a long time without any promotion!)
I'm the only moderator on the list so far - so any other volunteers for
that are welcome!

Thanks

David

David Kane
Research Officer
National Council for Voluntary Organisations
david.kane at ncvo-vol.org.uk | 020 7520 2579 <tel:020%207520%202579> 
www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/almanac | @kanedr

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-- 

http://www.timdavies.org.uk
07834 856 303.
@timdavies

Co-director of Practical Participation: 
http://www.practicalparticipation.co.uk
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