IASSIST 2007 Montreal, May 16 - 18, 2007 Session A2 Open Data and the Common Good Technology Solutions for Difficult Challenges Pascal Heus Open Data Foundation pheus@opendatafoundation.org http://www.opendatafoundation.org

Managing open data is challenging! We are in charge of the data. We support our users but also need to protect our respondents! We have an information management problem We want easy access to high quality and well documented data! We need to collect the information from the producers, preserve it, and provide access to our users! General Public Policy Makers Sponsors Media/Press Academic Business Government Producers Users Librarians Many actors & communities with different needs and perspectives Users: want open access to high quality and well documented data. Need discovery tools. Public sector, private sector, academics Producers: prepare the data and need to comply with privacy laws Data Archives: need to interface with both communities Policy Makers: need data to measure results and impact and to plan ahead Sponsors: want to support the most relevant data collection Public and Media: want access to simple, easy to understand statistics Solving Information management issues is what ICT & XML are for http://www.opendatafoundation.org Open Data Foundation – IASSIST 2007

Open Data Foundation – IASSIST 2007 What is open data? Answer the needs of producers and users Fit for use and purpose (high quality): coherent, consistent, exhaustive, timely, relevant, etc. Accessible Discovery, Retrieval Safe and Secure Physical access is under control / log Respondents are protected Well documented High quality metadata for casual users, researchers, producers and policy makers Meets the replication standard Based on accepted standards / specifications http://www.opendatafoundation.org Open Data Foundation – IASSIST 2007

Open Data Foundation – IASSIST 2007 XML Solutions XML Specs Well documented data, here we come! Great, I can provide public metadata! Academic Use our specifications and your will be happy! It will harmonize everything. Producers Users Now we can talk to each other! Government Sponsors Librarians Business A new actor: the specification/standard settings agencies, consortiums, alliances, etc. Use XML specifications will solve your problems User, Producers and Librarians have many reasons to cheer But…. Policy Makers General Public Media/Press http://www.opendatafoundation.org Open Data Foundation – IASSIST 2007

Open Data Foundation – IASSIST 2007 The need for Tools We set specifications and standards. Tools are not our mandate We produce data not tools! We don’t have the expertise. XML Specs Open Data Foundation Producers Users Librarians We preserve and disseminate data not software! We don’t have the expertise Software application and guidelines are crucial for the adoption of XML specifications But very few organizations are developing such tools: Lack of mandate: most of the agencies are not in the business of developing software Lack of expertise: even if the would want to, they seldom have the ICT capacity to do so Lack of coordination: agencies are often locked into their own world and are not particularly interested in the big picture. Someone must be there to coordinate efforts and ensure compatibility Lack of funding: since the mandate is not there, the money rarely follows. We need a way to raise awareness and funding for tool development Liability issues: agencies do not want to be held responsible  Open Data Foundation Coordinated development of open source tools in an harmonized framework We use data and software but we don’t build tools! We don’t have the expertise http://www.opendatafoundation.org Open Data Foundation – IASSIST 2007

The need for Tools Mandated to develop tools Provide cross-domain expertise in ICT and statistics Provide umbrella for coordinated development Ensure inter-operability Outline harmonized architecture and environment Promote open source / maximize reusability Build global registries Assume liability Resources/Fund raising … Open Data Foundation Software application and guidelines are crucial for the adoption of XML specifications But very few organizations are developing such tools: Lack of mandate: most of the agencies are not in the business of developing software Lack of expertise: even if the would want to, they seldom have the ICT capacity to do so Lack of coordination: agencies are often locked into their own world and are not particularly interested in the big picture. Someone must be there to coordinate efforts and ensure compatibility Lack of funding: since the mandate is not there, the money rarely follows. We need a way to raise awareness and funding for tool development Liability issues: agencies do not want to be held responsible  Open Data Foundation Coordinated development of open source tools in an harmonized framework http://www.opendatafoundation.org Open Data Foundation – IASSIST 2007

Open Data Foundation – IASSIST 2007 ODaF Vision Promote and facilitate the production and use of “open data” Public metadata, high quality, fully documented, respondent protected, easy to find, accessible in accordance to statistical principles and legislations Foster a global harmonized framework Facilitate the flow of data and metadata Promotes dialog between all stakeholders The harmonized framework is the key to unlock the data Unlock the Data! http://www.opendatafoundation.org Open Data Foundation – IASSIST 2007

Open Data and the Common Good Data Confidentiality and the Common Good Julia Lane and Kyle Fennel National Opinion Research Center The Open Data Environment Chuck Humphrey Canada Research Data Center University of Alberta Walking the Wire: How Technology Helps Us Achieve the Correct Balance Arofan Gregory and Jostein Ryssevik Open Data Foundation http://www.opendatafoundation.org Open Data Foundation – IASSIST 2007