[open-government] [datameet] Is Open Data a Good Idea for the Open Government Partnership?

[Pranesh Prakash]

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Thanks, Laina.

I think we need to ensure that we do not fall prey to techno-triumphalism nor to techno-scepticism. I'm currently writing a note on the centrality of the right to information in the open data movement, and am examining the role of technology and databases in it too. In that I caution against myopic techno-skepticism. I'll post that as soon as I'm done with it.

Cheers,
Pranesh

Laina Emmanuel <laina.emmanuel at gmail.com> wrote:

>Yamini Aiyar was also invited to the 'Power of Open' conference - the
>opening conference for the Open Government Partnership.
>She has blogged about similar issues here-
>http://www.accountabilityindia.in/accountabilityblog/2337-power-open.
>
>Regards
>Laina
>
>On Thu, Sep 29, 2011 at 6:01 AM, Pranesh Prakash
><pranesh at cis-india.org>wrote:
>
>> Dear all,
>> The differences of opinion on this question are captured well in
>Becky
>> Hogge's [Open Data Study][] for the Transparency and Accountability
>> Initiative.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Pranesh
>>
>>  [Open Data Study]: http://goo.gl/oPVVF
>>
>> =====
>>
>> Is Open Data a Good Idea for the Open Government Partnership?
>> Submitted by Global Integrity on 15 September 2011 - 12:41pm
>>
>> As we’ve blogged before, Global Integrity is working to promote the
>new
>> [Open Government Partnership][] by serving as the [OGP’s Networking
>> Mechanism][], which aims to connect aspiring OGP governments with
>> providers of open government expertise (whether governments, civil
>> society organizations, or private companies) to help those aspiring
>> governments develop innovative, “stretch” open government
>commitments.
>>
>> An interesting (though not surprising) trend that has quickly emerged
>in
>> our conversations with the “supply side” providers of open government
>> expertise is the heavy focus on technological interventions. I
>haven’t
>> done a precise count yet, but close to half of the nearly 40
>providers
>> that have already expressed interest in working with governments
>under
>> the OGP Networking Mechanism are software vendors, developers, or
>other
>> providers of technology solutions for open government challenges,
>> particularly web-based solutions. Many of them are involved with
>“open
>> data” projects, which seek to unlock and put online a range of
>> government data in machine readable, mashable formats.
>>
>> The obvious explanation (in my mind) for why “open data” gets so much
>> attention in the context of “open government” is that it is the
>sexiest,
>> flashiest reform of the bunch. It’s much cooler (and frankly less
>> politically controversial) for any government to put government
>health
>> databases online (along with an iPhone app! Android coming soon!)
>than
>> it is for the same government to provide greater transparency around
>the
>> financing of political parties in the country.
>>
>> But it does raise a core concern that we at Global Integrity (and
>others
>> involved in the early discussions around OGP) have voiced several
>times
>> before: does the OGP risk becoming a platform on which to proselytize
>to
>> the world about the virtues of data.gov and similar open data
>projects?
>> We worry that this isn’t enough by itself.
>>
>> Why I mention this in the context of OGP is that there is a concern
>> shared amongst some of us involved that open data provides an easy
>way
>> out for some governments to avoid the much harder, and likely more
>> transformative, open government reforms that should probably be
>higher
>> up on their lists. Instead of fetishizing open data portals for the
>sake
>> of having open data portals, I’d rather see governments incorporating
>> open data as a way to address more fundamental structural challenges
>> around extractives (through maps and budget data), the political
>process
>> (through real-time disclosure of campaign contributions), or budget
>> priorities (through online publication of budget line-items).
>>
>> Granted, you can make a counter argument that open data is the
>“gateway
>> drug” to much deeper and challenging open government reforms, but
>until
>> I see that happen in practice I’ll remain a healthy skeptic.
>>
>> So when I see the [Kenyan government’s new open data portal][] (over
>> which many behind the US and UK data sites are absolutely gushing,
>and
>> at the time of this posting was actually down!), I can only wonder
>> whether the time, expenses, and political capital devoted to building
>> that website were really the best uses of resources. To vastly
>> understate the problem, Kenya has a range of governance and open
>> government challenges that go far beyond the lack of a website where
>> citizens (many of whom are not online) can chart government datasets.
>>
>> We’ve started to hear similar concerns from some of the technical
>> providers involved with building the US and UK open data projects
>(many
>> of these providers have expressed their willingness to work with
>other
>> governments under the auspices of OGP). The basic message has been,
>> “Yeah, there’s been plenty of excitement at political levels for
>these
>> projects, but it’s hard to say how significant the use or uptake [of
>the
>> data] has been.” A similar refrain has been “Everyone expects the
>> private sector to simply jump in and build a bunch of ‘apps.’ But we
>> aren’t really seeing that and don’t expect too much to happen apart
>from
>> apps using geospatial data.”
>>
>> Sobering stuff. The open data movement is clearly still in its
>infancy
>> and major successes may be yet to come. But in the interim, some
>caution
>> may be in order before we launch a global campaign to liberate every
>> last bit of government data out there, especially in lower-income
>> contexts where the opportunity costs may be massive.
>>
>> — Nathaniel Heller
>>
>>  [Open Government Partnership]: http://opengovpartnership.org
>>  [OGP’s Networking Mechanism]:
>> http://www.globalintegrity.org/blog/call-for-ogp-networking
>>  [Kenyan government’s new open data portal]: http://opendata.go.ke/
>>
>> --
>> Pranesh Prakash
>> Programme Manager
>> Centre for Internet and Society
>> W: http://cis-india.org | T: +91 80 40926283
>>
>>

- --
Pranesh Prakash
Programme Manager
Centre for Internet and Society
T: +91 80 40926283 | W: http://cis-india.org

Sent from my Android phone with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity.
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