[open-economics] Anyone interested? Creating an "Open Knowledge Index"

Mon Jul 4 08:00:10 UTC 2011

As you say, the first step is to create a prototype. I don't have any
experience creating indices, but this sounds like a good idea. Could you
possibly talk a bit more about what you would expect to be in that
prototype? I think that might enable more people to chime in.

This would be a very helpful resource. I'm all for it - I just don't know
what I can do at the moment to help with it. Suggestions welcomed.

Richard

On Mon, Jul 4, 2011 at 8:48 AM, Anders Pedersen <anderspeders at gmail.com>wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> The idea of an index is a great one. Would be glad to follow and
> contribute to such a thing.
>
> Anders
>
> On Sun, Jul 3, 2011 at 11:08 PM, Guo Xu <digitalepourpre at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Hi Jesús,
> >
> > First, thanks a lot for joining the list - it's great to see some
> > senior researchers here. We can certainly need expert advice :)
> >
> > I will have a look at the paper you wrote. It is quite compelling to
> > see that you are focusing on the determinants of voluntary disclosure.
> > Anders - who has joined the list very recently and is an enthusiastic
> > data journalist - has been looking at a database of EU lobbyists. We
> > have been brainstorming over the possibilities of using the dataset
> > for analysis but the main problem here was that registration to the
> > database was voluntary - maybe you have some suggestions.
> >
> > The preliminary idea for the index was to create it on the country
> > level, even though a disaggregation by municipalities would obviously
> > be incredibly valuable (but hard to operationalized). Let's wait for
> > more feedback - we will also discuss this in our next Skype meeting
> > end of July (where you are warmly invited to join in). It would be
> > great to have some suggestions on which dimensions to measure.
> > Currently, the idea was to capture both the governmental side and the
> > citizen side in the index. But this is of course still not fixed -
> > what is clear, however, is that there is no such index yet and it
> > would be a great tool for future research.
> >
> > I'll go back read your paper for now - and again, welcome to the list!
> >
> > Guo
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On 3 July 2011 19:46, JESUS GARCIA GARCIA <jesgar at uniovi.es> wrote:
> >> Hi everybody!
> >>
> >> Since this is my first post on the list, let me introduce myself
> shortly.  I
> >> work as senior lecturer at University of Oviedo (Spain). Main topics of
> >> research recently have been financial reporting on open source software
> and
> >> e-gov/o-gov on municipalities.
> >>
> >> I have been working in the idea exposed by Guo focused on disclosure of
> >> financial and budgetary information by Spanish municipalities and their
> >> determinants
> >> (http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03003930.2010.506980). An
> Open
> >> Data Index would be a great idea, especially if offering a simple
> >> measurement of transparency and accountability. You can count me on if
> any
> >> help is needed!
> >>
> >> Regards,
> >>
> >> --
> >> *************************************************************
> >> Jesús García García
> >> Departamento de Contabilidad.
> >> Edificio Departamental de Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales
> >> Avda. del Cristo, s/n
> >> 33071 Oviedo (España)
> >>
> >> jesgar at uniovi.es
> >> www.unioviedo.es/jesgar
> >>
> >> Tfno: +34 985 10 3904
> >> Fax: +34 985 10 2812
> >> ************************************************************
> >>
> >> El 03/07/11, Guo Xu <digitalepourpre at gmail.com> escribió:
> >>
> >> Dear list(s),
> >>
> >> The OKCon has passed and generated many ideas for exciting future
> projects.
> >>
> >> One of the promising ideas I discussed with several participants was
> >> to compile an index to track progress in opening data - both over time
> >> and across countries. This would serve several purposes:
> >>
> >> 1) Enable the public to make cross-country comparisons (i.e. which
> >> country performs well?) and track longitudinal developments (i.e.
> >> which country has improved on opening data?)
> >> 2) Serve as a useful tool for conducting open knowledge research (e.g.
> >> correlating the index with socio-economic variables - does open
> >> knowledge really foster innovation and growth?)
> >> 3) Ideally, increase impact of OKF in public - making the "Open
> >> Knowledge Index" a citable measure of open government
> >>
> >> There are many indices out there - for tracking democracy, corruption,
> >> innovation and human development - so why not a measure to track
> >> progress in opening government? Such an index (leaving aside
> >> methodological problems for now) could greatly increase visibility of
> >> OKF's work: A success case here is Transparency International - before
> >> Ti published its corruption index, journalists had a hard time reading
> >> and understanding all the reports - with the creation of the
> >> Corruption Perception Index, Ti has become one of the most known NGOs
> >> in fighting corruption.
> >>
> >> So why not have an Open Knowledge Index, released annually in a report
> >> and during the OKCon? This would greatly increase media attention!
> >>
> >> I have some professional experience in creating indices (my research
> >> institute has been compiling the German innovation index for a while
> >> and we are currently drafting the funding proposal for an index of IT
> >> infrastructure resilience). The Open Economics WG itself has developed
> >> some experience with creating composite indices with the Yourtopia app
> >> we submitted previously at the Apps4Development competition. I would
> >> therefore volunteer to coordinate such an index within the Open
> >> Economics group, mainly as an open academic project. The first step
> >> would be to construct a prototype; in the longer run, we might also
> >> consider applying for research grants in order to create the index
> >> annually.
> >>
> >> Just wanted to start a discussion and see who would be interested - we
> >> are planning to discuss this in greater detail during our regular
> >> Skype meetups.
> >>
> >> Guo
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> open-economics mailing list
> >> open-economics at lists.okfn.org
> >> http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/open-economics
> >>
> >> --
> >> *************************************************************
> >> Jesús García García
> >> Departamento de Contabilidad.
> >> Edificio Departamental de Ciencias Jurídicas y Sociales
> >> Avda. del Cristo, s/n
> >> 33071 Oviedo (España)
> >>
> >> jesgar at uniovi.es
> >> www.uniovi.es/jesgar
> >>
> >> Tfno: +34 985 10 3904
> >> Fax: +34 985 10 2812
> >> ************************************************************
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
> >> open-economics mailing list
> >> open-economics at lists.okfn.org
> >> http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/open-economics
> >>
> >>
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
>
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