[open-government] New post Open Data, Technology and Government 2.0 – What Should We, And Should We Not, Expect

Thu Sep 13 18:29:26 UTC 2012

On 13 September 2012 15:44, Josh Tauberer <tauberer at govtrack.us> wrote:
> There’s a danger if open data is seen as a panacea that will magically solve
> climate change or eliminate corruption because it will inevitably fail to do
> so and hope and enthusiasm will be replaced by disappointment and
> dis-engagement.
>
>
> I agree entirely with the conclusion. But...
>
> There has been a lot of writing on this lately (the Crooked Timber series w/
> the Tom [S]lee's etc. [1], John Wonderlich's response [2]). All of this so
> far, including your post, has worked through tough issues and I've learned a
> lot from it all. But where is open data actually seen as a panacea? Where is
> this problem coming from?
>
> Open data advocates almost never make big promises. We know that data !=
> change. Who is raising expectations too high?

I think it is absolutely correct that open data advocates rarely do
this (make big promises). But I think it is easier for people at one
remove, like the civil servant who I mentioned coming to ask me about
Government 2.0, who hear buzzwords and can form exaggerated
expectations (I'm pretty sure that one didn't btw!).

I also think that we are at a sensitive point in the cycle of "new"
policies, at least on political side, where things are becoming less
"shiny and new". The danger is at this point people go (with
pardonable exaggeration): "OK the whole world wasn't revolutionized in
the 2 years we've been trying this let's give up and try something
else" and that would be a big shame -- as I said in the sentence
immediately after the excerpt you quoted: "This would be a tragedy as
open data is valuable to us socially, commercially and culturally." (I
believe Tom Lee is making a similar point, perhaps rather better :-),
in his response!)

I should also emphasize that the expectations point was the start of
this piece *not* its central point (I acknowledge the title harks on
about this, in part because the piece evolved in the writing -- I
wrote the first version in March 2011 but it takes so darn long to
finish things!).

The central point for me was about providing a structure for thinking
about where we think open data might be most effective and the  key
other (complementary) changes that we might want to emphasize / focus
on to get maximum impact from open data (and IT).

Thanks for your feedback Josh -- it's always very much appreciated.

Regards,

Rufus

> [1] http://crookedtimber.org/2012/07/17/open-data-seminar-2/
> [2]
> http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2012/07/06/open-data-creates-accountability/
>
> - Josh Tauberer (@JoshData)
>
> http://www.govtrack.us | http://razor.occams.info
>
> On 09/13/2012 09:25 AM, Rufus Pollock wrote:
>
> Hi All,
>
> I've just put up post on Open Knowledge Foundation blog entitled
> "Managing Expectations: Open Data, Technology and Government 2.0 –
> What Should We, And Should We Not Expect":
>
> <http://blog.okfn.org/2012/09/13/managing-expectations-ii-open-data-technology-and-government-2-0/>
>
> <https://twitter.com/OKFN/status/246219882436378625>
>
> This distils some accumulated thinking (over the last couple of
> years!) and I'd very much welcome any thoughts or feedback people
> have.
>
> Regards,
>
> Rufus
>
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>

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Promoting Open Knowledge in a Digital Age
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