The presentation maps the information collected, generated, stored and preserved by government and public sector bodies in the carrying out of their public task, using as examples geographic information, land registration (or cadastral) data, metadata concerning museums and archives as well as meteorological data. Next, the positive externalities which may potentially derive from access and re-use of these data sets, in an environment which enables mass-digitization of data and the emergence of network driven cooperation, are explored. The institutional reaction to these developments is examined by contrasting the liberal, “open data”, “no strings attached” US model, which federally mandates wide access to and re-use of public sector data, to the more cautious approach prevailing in the EU, where Member States to a large extent resort to IP protection of data sets generated and collected by the public sector and jurisdictional divergences require extensive harmonization. The regime set up for Public Sector Information (PSI) under Directive No 98/2003 is examined, as well as it multiple goals of fostering the emergence of cross-border information services and of contributing to governmental transparency and to participatory democracy. Both the amendment proposals to the Directive and the main outcomes of the consultation and of the studies which have prepared them are further discussed. Five issues are explored in greater detail, two of which (technical standardization and interoperability on the one side; the challenges involved in financing digitization costs) are common to the US and the EU; the other three (the options available to license PSI; ownership issues and charging policy) are looked at from a specifically European perspective. Finally, the presentation attempts to link the – all too often exoteric – debate about PSI and open data to several main strands of contemporary ideological and political debate: the trend towards privatization of public resources and liberalization of formerly regulated markets; the debate about public goods and the different tools (including propertization and public provision) intended to overcome market failures in their supply; the emerging attention to access regimes relating to information commons. Finally, the presentation looks at the possible contribution of an open regime of access to and re-use of public data sets to the emergence of a third innovation and creativity paradigm, based on digital-platform-driven cooperation rather than on contributions by single individuals (first paradigm) and businesses and organizations (second paradigm), which has so far characterized our civilization.
Public Sector Information as open data: access, re-use and the third innovation paradigm
RICOLFI, Marco
2013-01-01
Abstract
The presentation maps the information collected, generated, stored and preserved by government and public sector bodies in the carrying out of their public task, using as examples geographic information, land registration (or cadastral) data, metadata concerning museums and archives as well as meteorological data. Next, the positive externalities which may potentially derive from access and re-use of these data sets, in an environment which enables mass-digitization of data and the emergence of network driven cooperation, are explored. The institutional reaction to these developments is examined by contrasting the liberal, “open data”, “no strings attached” US model, which federally mandates wide access to and re-use of public sector data, to the more cautious approach prevailing in the EU, where Member States to a large extent resort to IP protection of data sets generated and collected by the public sector and jurisdictional divergences require extensive harmonization. The regime set up for Public Sector Information (PSI) under Directive No 98/2003 is examined, as well as it multiple goals of fostering the emergence of cross-border information services and of contributing to governmental transparency and to participatory democracy. Both the amendment proposals to the Directive and the main outcomes of the consultation and of the studies which have prepared them are further discussed. Five issues are explored in greater detail, two of which (technical standardization and interoperability on the one side; the challenges involved in financing digitization costs) are common to the US and the EU; the other three (the options available to license PSI; ownership issues and charging policy) are looked at from a specifically European perspective. Finally, the presentation attempts to link the – all too often exoteric – debate about PSI and open data to several main strands of contemporary ideological and political debate: the trend towards privatization of public resources and liberalization of formerly regulated markets; the debate about public goods and the different tools (including propertization and public provision) intended to overcome market failures in their supply; the emerging attention to access regimes relating to information commons. Finally, the presentation looks at the possible contribution of an open regime of access to and re-use of public data sets to the emergence of a third innovation and creativity paradigm, based on digital-platform-driven cooperation rather than on contributions by single individuals (first paradigm) and businesses and organizations (second paradigm), which has so far characterized our civilization.
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