Posted by
Heather Morrison-2 on
Feb 26, 2013; 8:37pm
URL: http://civicaccess.416.s1.nabble.com/The-case-for-context-in-defining-Open-Data-tp5474p5491.html
As the open data movement evolves, I think that we will find that there are degrees of openness and the optimal degree will depend on the context (to draw a little from Ted's post).
Thanks to Glen for pointing out that the Weenusk case really isn't open data. The whole point of opening up data for reuse is to facilitate reuse. This would open up data for the use by the Weenusk - but it would also open up access to many more mining companies and others that might wish to exploit the land.
I'm not familiar with the situation for the Weenusk, but overall I believe that there is still considerable geographic inequity in access to internet, computers, and education. If we want everyone to enjoy the benefits of open data, then everyone needs to have access to the tools to make use of it. Simply opening up the data without addressing this inequity increases the probability of exploitation.
best,
Heather
On 2013-02-26, at 12:27 PM, Michael Mulley wrote:
> > Given that there is an underlying bias that open is desirable,
> > shouldn't there be a discussion about what conditions make
> > openness desirable or not.
>
> Oh, for sure!
>
> We've had a bunch of discussions here before about whether specific examples of released data were good or bad, and these are usually very interesting. An attempt to formulate a broader list of conditions that might make openness undesirable could likewise be interesting.
>
> My & others' objections, I think, were to muddying definitional waters, and to the Weenusk example, which seems to me not a question of whether data should be open but whether it should've been collected in the first place (and then, if one answers no to this question, whether it should be kept private -- its licensing doesn't seem like the relevant question here).
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