[open-government] Fwd: Reply article to Yu & Robinson (open govt/open data)

Tue Dec 11 19:05:38 UTC 2012

FYI, this is an interesting followup to Yu and Robinson's paper earlier
this year.
tvol

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Patrice McDermott <pmcdermott at openthegovernment.org>
Date: Tue, Dec 11, 2012 at 7:02 AM
Subject: Reply article to Yu & Robinson (open govt/open data)
To: "ogp--us-civil-society-working-group- at googlegroups.com" <
ogp--us-civil-society-working-group- at googlegroups.com>, "
FOI-L at LISTSERV.SYR.EDU" <FOI-L at listserv.syr.edu>

Please excuse cross-postings.

http://www.freedominfo.org
10 December 2012
Viewpoints: Stanford University professor Jeremy Weinstein and Princeton
University professor Joshua Goldstein, write an article<
http://www.uclalawreview.org/pdf/discourse/60-3.pdf>, "The Benefits of a
Big Tent: Opening Up Government in Developing Countries," as a reply to
Harlan Yu and David Robinson's The New Ambiguity of "Open Government."<
http://www.uclalawreview.org/?p=3663>

The abstract says
Bringing open data and open government under a single banner, Yu and
Robinson argue, leads to conceptual muddling that ultimately impedes
progress for both projects. They express a concern that superficial
commitments to open data "can placate the public's appetite for
transparency." Drawing on our experiences with the Kenya Open Data
Initiative and the Open Government Partnership, we argue that this need not
be the case for three reasons. First, a commitment to open data involves
reorienting the production of information in a public bureaucracy in ways
that have the potential to institutionalize a commitment to openness.
Second, an open data campaign can accelerate demand for information and
generate a public conversation about what kind of data matter for
accountability. Finally, the two movements may be stronger together. The
open data movement helps open government advocates focus on the end user's
needs and the possibilities of new technologies, while open government
campaigners challenge open data advocates to focus on how transparency and
technology can be leveraged for civic accountability. While it is too early
to tell how these movements will play out, we believe that bringing these
movements under the same big tent, coherently aligning their strategies,
goals, and priorities, might ultimately be helpful for citizens interested
in promoting openness in their own countries.

Patrice McDermott, Executive Director
OpenTheGovernment.org<http://www.openthegovernment.org/>
202.332.6736
Read our 2012 Secrecy Report<
http://www.openthegovernment.org/sites/default/files/Secrecy2012_web.pdf>
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