[open-development] New Discussion Paper: "Democratising the Data Revolution"
Jonathan Gray
jonathan.gray at okfn.org
Thu Jul 9 11:57:31 UTC 2015
(Apologies for cross-posting!)
Hi all,
We've just published a new discussion paper on "Democratising the Data
Revolution", which is intended to advance thinking and action around civil
society engagement with the data revolution:
- Blog post:
http://blog.okfn.org/2015/07/09/democratising-the-data-revolution/
- Tweet: https://twitter.com/OKFN/status/619109223432126464
As it says in the blog post and in the report, we'd very warmly welcome any
responses or thoughts via the following channels:
- Join the discussion at: http://bit.ly/ourdatarev-forum
- Fill in the form at: http://bit.ly/ourdatarev
- Tag your responses with the #ourdatarev
<https://twitter.com/search?q=%23ourdatarev> hashtag on Twitter
Any help in sharing with colleagues or organisations who might be
interested would be very much appreciated!
All the best,
Jonathan
NEW DISCUSSION PAPER: “DEMOCRATISING THE DATA REVOLUTION”
“New technologies are leading to an exponential increase in the volume and
types of data available, creating unprecedented possibilities for informing
and transforming society and protecting the environment. Governments,
companies, researchers and citizen groups are in a ferment of
experimentation, innovation and adaptation to the new world of data, a
world in which data are bigger, faster and more detailed than ever before.
This is the data revolution.” – UN Data Revolution Group, 2014
<http://www.undatarevolution.org/>
[image: Inline images 1]
What will the “data revolution” do? What will it be about? What will it
count? What kinds of risks and harms might it bring? Whom and what will it
serve? And who will get to decide?
Today we are launching a new discussion paper on “Democratising the Data
Revolution”
<https://assets.okfn.org/files/reports/DemocratisingDataRevolution.pdf>,
which is intended to advance thinking and action around civil society
engagement with the data revolution. It looks beyond the disclosure of
existing information, towards more ambitious and substantive forms of
democratic engagement with data infrastructures.1
<http://blog.okfn.org/2015/07/09/democratising-the-data-revolution/#fn-17981:1>
It concludes with a series of questions about what practical steps
institutions and civil society organisations might take to change what is
measured and how, and how these measurements are put to work.
You can download the full PDF report here
<https://assets.okfn.org/files/reports/DemocratisingDataRevolution.pdf>, or
continue to read on in this blog post.
What Counts?
How might civil society actors shape the data revolution? In particular,
how might they go beyond the question of what data is disclosed towards
looking at what is measured in the first place? To kickstart discussion
around this topic, we will look at three kinds of intervention: changing
existing forms of measurement, advocating new forms of measurement and
undertaking new forms of measurement.
Changing Existing Forms of Measurement
Rather than just focusing on the transparency, disclosure and openness of
public information, civil society groups can argue for *changing what is
measured with existing data infrastructures*. One example of this is recent
campaigning around company ownership in the UK. Advocacy groups wanted to
unpick networks of corporate ownership and control in order to support
their campaigning and investigations around tax avoidance, tax evasion and
illicit financial flows.
While the UK company register recorded information about “nominal
ownership”, it did not include information about so-called “beneficial
ownership”, or who ultimately benefits from the ownership and control of
companies. Campaigners undertook an extensive programme of activities to
advocate for changes and extensions to existing data infrastructures
<http://:%20http//ssrn.com/abstract=2610937> – including via legislation,
software systems, and administrative protocols.2
<http://blog.okfn.org/2015/07/09/democratising-the-data-revolution/#fn-17981:2>
Advocating New Forms of Measurement
As well as changing or recalibrating existing forms of measurement,
campaigners and civil society organisations can make the case for the
*measurement
of things which were not previously measured*. For example, over the past
several decades social and political campaigning has resulted in new
indicators about many different issues – such as gender inequality, health,
work, disability, pollution or education.3
<http://blog.okfn.org/2015/07/09/democratising-the-data-revolution/#fn-17981:3>
In
such cases activists aimed to establish a given indicator as important and
relevant for public institutions, decision makers, and broader publics – in
order to, for example, inform policy development or resource allocation.
Undertaking New Forms of Measurement
Historically, many civil society organisations and advocacy groups
have *collected
their own data* to make the case for action on issues that they work on –
from human rights abuses to endangered species.
Recently there have been several data journalism projects which highlight
gaps in what is officially counted. The Migrant Files
<https://www.detective.io/detective/the-migrants-files/> is an open
database containing information about over 29,000 people who died on their
way to Europe since 2000, collated from publicly available sources. It was
created by a network of journalists who were concerned that this data was
not being systematically collected by European institutions. In a similar
vein The Counted
<http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/series/counted-us-police-killings>project
from *The Guardian* records information about deaths in police custody in
the US, explicitly in response to the lack of official data collection on
this topic.
[image: The Migrant Files]
<https://www.detective.io/detective/the-migrants-files/>
The Role of the Open Data Movement
The nascent open data movement has often focused on the release of
pre-existing information about things which are already routinely measured
by public institutions. Advocates have pushed for the release of datasets
under open licenses in machine-readable formats to facilitate widespread
re-use – whether to develop new applications and services, or to facilitate
new forms of journalism and advocacy. Datasets are often published via data
portals, of which there are now hundreds around the world
<http://dataportals.org/> at local, regional, national and supranational
levels.
As well as opening up new datasets, some public institutions have
implemented mechanisms to gather input and feedback on open data release
priorities, such as:
- *Advisory panels and user groups* – e.g. as the UK’s Open Data User
Group (ODUG) <https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/open-data-user-group>;
- *Dedicated staff* – e.g. community management or “Chief Data Officer”
positions;
- *User engagement channels* – e.g. social media accounts, forums and
mailing lists;
- *Data request mechanisms* – e.g. Data.gov.uk’s dataset request service
<http://data.gov.uk/data-request> or the EU Open Data Portal’s “Suggest
a Dataset” <https://open-data.europa.eu/en/suggestDataSet> form;
- *Consultation processes* – e.g. Open Government Partnership National
Action Plans;
- *Solicitation for input around data standards* – e.g. the US’s Federal
Spending Transparency issue tracker
<https://fedspendingtransparency.github.io/> on GitHub.
In principle these kinds of mechanisms could be used not just to inform
priorities for the release of existing datasets – but also in order to
facilitate engagement between institutions and civil society actors around
what should be measured by the public sector and how.
To use a metaphor, if data can be compared to photography, then might the
open data movement play a role in intervening not just around access and
circulation of snapshots taken by public institutions, but also around what
is depicted and how it is shot?
Questions for Discussion
We would like to catalyse discussion and gather input about how to increase
civil society engagement around the data revolution and questions about
*what* should be measured and*how*. To this end, we invite advocacy groups,
journalists, public institutions, data users, researchers and others to
respond to the following questions.
What Can Civil Society Groups Do?
- What can civil society organisations do to engage with the data
revolution?
- What role might the nascent open data movement play in mediating
between civil society organisations and public institutions around what
should be measured?
- What opportunities does the data revolution present for civil society
organisations?
- What are the best examples of democratic interventions to change,
advocate or create new forms of measurement (both present and past)?
- What are the biggest obstacles to greater civil society engagement
with the data revolution? How might these be addressed?
- Which kinds of transnational challenges and issues (e.g. climate
change, tax base erosion) are currently inadequately dealt with by national
data infrastructures?
- What areas might new kinds of measurement make the biggest difference,
and how?
- What factors are most important in ensuring that data leads to action?
- What might civil society groups do to flag potential risks and
unwanted consequences of data infrastructures as well as their benefits?
What Can Public Institutions Do?
- What can public institutions do to better understand the interests and
priorities of civil society organisations around what should be measured?
- Are there examples of where open data initiatives have facilitated
significant changes to existing datasets, or the creation of new kinds of
datasets?
- Which kinds of mechanisms might be most effective in understanding and
responding to the interests of civil society organisations around what is
measured and how?
- What are the biggest obstacles to public institutions responding more
effectively to the data needs and interests of civil society groups? How
might these be addressed?
How to Respond
We welcome responses on these and other topics via the channels below:
- Join the discussion at: http://bit.ly/ourdatarev-forum
- Fill in the form at: http://bit.ly/ourdatarev
- Tag your responses with the #ourdatarev
<ps://twitter.com/search?q=%23ourdatarev> hashtag on Twitter
------------------------------
1.
In this context we understand data infrastructures as composites of
technical, legal and social systems (e.g. software, laws, policies,
practices, standards) involved in the creation and management of data.
<http://blog.okfn.org/2015/07/09/democratising-the-data-revolution/#fnref-17981:1>
2.
See: Gray, J. & Davies, T (2015) “Fighting Phantom Firms in the UK: From
Opening Up Datasets to Reshaping Data Infrastructures?”. Working paper
available at:http://ssrn.com/abstract=2610937
<http://blog.okfn.org/2015/07/09/democratising-the-data-revolution/#fnref-17981:2>
3.
See: Bruno, I., Didier, E., and Vitale, T. (eds) (2014) Statistics and
Activism. Special issue of *Partecipazione e conflitto. The Open Journal
of Sociopolitical Studies.* Available at:
http://siba-ese.unisalento.it/index.php/paco/issue/view/1248
<http://blog.okfn.org/2015/07/09/democratising-the-data-revolution/#fnref-17981:3>
--
Jonathan Gray
Director of Policy and Research | *@jwyg <https://twitter.com/jwyg>*
Open Knowledge <http://okfn.org/>
*okfn.org <http://okfn.org/> | @okfn <http://twitter.com/OKFN>*
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