[wsfii-discuss] Europe's GeoData belongs to the public?

Tue Nov 14 03:55:04 UTC 2006

Hi Tracy - it's not my speciality but has anyone looked at this important
issue from the standpoint of the UK 'Freedom of Information Act
2000<http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/20000036.htm>'?
Might be worth it.
Regards (from Pakistan where I am with Vickram and colleagues)

Malcolm

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On 14/11/06, Tracey P. Lauriault <tlauriau at magma.ca> wrote:
>
>  A few people at WSFII Dharamsala asked me about access to Geographic Data
> (e.g. maps, census, environment data & maps, radar images, satellite
> images, air photos etc.) for their countries and cities in Europe.
>
> These data are hard to access for a number of reasons and I would like to
> point you to an important what is happening in Europe that will eventually
> determine how all European Member Nations address issues of access and cost
> of these important civic data sets.  The UK position on full cost recovery
> is the worst and it is influencing others.  If you want *open and free -
> as in no cost - access to the GeoData your national governments collect with
> your tax dollars, and you do not want to pay for it twice - i recommend you
> act on the following:*
> Open GeoData - http://publicgeodata.org/
>
> On 23 January 2006, the Council of European Union has formally adopted a
> common position on the Inspire Directive, which stipulates that *Geographic
> Data collected by National Mapping Agencies all over Europe should be owned
> by such agencies and not by the Public*
>
> *The Open Knowledge Foundation Open Data Manifesto -
> http://okfn.org/geo/manifesto.php*
>
> Geodata is a public good. Open access to it, under a 'Commons'
> (ShareAlike) license, is the best way to see its full benefits realized by
> industry and citizens. At the same time such an arrangement, by requiring
> users to redistribute updates and improvements to the data, promises to
> deliver more and better data for less.
>
> *Free Our Data : The Blog* - http://www.freeourdata.org.uk/blog/
>
> Free Our Data is the campaign started by Guardian Technology<http://technology.guardian.co.uk/weekly/>beginning with the article Give
> us back our crown jewels<http://www.guardian.co.uk/Technology/weekly/story/0,,1726229,00.html>.
> The argument is simple: by charging for data that is collected (sometimes
> with the force of law) by government-owned bodies, the government is holding
> back the growth in public and private use of that data which could benefit
> the UK overall. That is, a short-term "gain" hides a much bigger loss in
> terms of entrepreneurship, jobs created and competitive edge lost.
>
>
>
>
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> http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/wsfii-discuss
>
>
>
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