[wdmmg-discuss] Open Misinformation and the Illusion of Transparency

Thu Jul 21 14:36:30 UTC 2011

Will:

On Thu, Jul 21, 2011 at 3:22 PM, William Waites <ww at styx.org> wrote:
> * [2011-07-20 01:11:42 +0100] Jonathan Gray <jonathan.gray at okfn.org> écrit:
>
>> I think that generally when we receive some data in OpenSpending.org -
>> we could start to blog more about, e.g.:
>>
>>   * our impressions of the data,
>>   * questions about the data,
>>   * analysis of the data quality,
>>   * comments on the data,
>>   * suggestions for how the data could be improved,
>>   * requests for further information about the data.
>
> Have received from Jason Kitkat the OKF side of the accounts,
>
>    http://lists.okfn.org/pipermail/okfn-discuss/2011-July/007890.html
>
> not only is 181955 GBP [1] missing but what the Cabinet Office *has*
> reported doesn't match anything in OKF's books.
>
> I don't know where their information comes from, perhaps a random number
> generator, but as far as I can tell from the limited analysis that is
> possible, and trusting OKF's numbers since they actually have a legal
> requirement to keep books, what the CO has provided is complete rubbish.
>
> Sorry to be harsh, but I don't see the point of this fiscal transparency
> exercise if even the ones responsible for the policy aren't going to
> do it right.

I agree, but note - we would not know there were errors if we could
not see it. The advantage of open data is that many eyes will make
errors easier to find. But you have to accept that we will start with
lots of errors! Now we can move on with discussing ways to improve the
state of the data, better ways to collect and share, and make the
whole system better; whereas before, we had no way of even beginning
to try to find ways to improve, because we did not know what was
wrong.

You also have to accept that the people sharing this data are scared -
if they are seen to be "doing it wrong" they will feel inadequate and
fear for their livelihoods. We must be clear that we are offering help
to make things better, rather than looking to point out failings -
most people lack confidence (which is also why most people will not
admit they lack confidence).

Whereas "they" may not do it right, and "we" can't do it right without
access, perhaps we - us and them - will find a way to do it right
together.

(apologies for being some sort of hippy)

Mark

>
> -w
>
> [1] This number is the sum of all payments over 25k less the 70600 that
> was reported.
>
> --
> William Waites                <mailto:ww at styx.org>
> http://river.styx.org/ww/        <sip:ww at styx.org>
> F4B3 39BF E775 CF42 0BAB  3DF0 BE40 A6DF B06F FD45
>
> _______________________________________________
> wdmmg-discuss mailing list
> wdmmg-discuss at lists.okfn.org
> http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/wdmmg-discuss
>