open PSI initiatives: Focus on Europe

by Daniel Dietrich, www.okfn.org

the sources of PSI where does it come from?

Courts

Parliaments

Ministries

EU level

Public Sector

Federal levelLocal level

Regional level

Government Agencies

public sector information what data are we talking

about?

Statistics

Traffic data

Wether data

Geo data

Environment dataPublications

Budget data

Finance data

Regulations

Protocols

Laws

what is the problem? if there is so much useful data - why is it not been used widely?

Statistics

Traffic data

Weather data

Geo data

Environment dataPublications

Budget data

Finance data

Regulations

Protocols

Laws

challenges for PSI re-use what are the factors that

support or limit PSI re-use?

a fragmented picture PSI re-use in Europe...

open PSI in Europe a look at the status quo of...

although the picture is fragmented,lets identify some key factors

the factors that enable the public to re-use PSI:

- discoverable- legally open- technically open- free of charge; with the only acceptable exception of “marginal cost” charges

challenges on the way to open psi

discoverability

as a problem

- who has the information that I am looking for?

- where to search?

- whom to ask?

challenges on the way to open psi

discoverability

as a problem

- IARs information asset registers (simple lists)

- data catalogues

- promotion of re-use

- competitions

solution!

challenges on the way to open psi

legal openness

- implementation of the PSI directive

-inefficient freedom of information legislations

- restrictive licenses and terms of use

- missing or unclear licenses or terms of use

challenges on the way to open psi

legal openness

- efficient and comprehensive freedom of information legislations

- easy and coherent licensing and terms of use

solution!

challenges on the way to open psi

technical openness

PSI available but NO:

- raw data and no structured data, no APIs and no open standards and no open formats

- worst: Paper, PDF, ...

challenges on the way to open psi

technical openness

- raw data

- structured data

- open formats & open standards

- linked data

solution!

challenges on the way to open psi

pricingas a problem

- this is a tricky one!

- the benefits of psi re-use will realize at a different time and a different place than the costs.

challenges on the way to open psi

pricingas a problem

- economic analysis

- why “gratis” is a good price

- possible exception: pricing on a model of “marginal costs”

solution!

the 3 laws of open government data

- if it can’t be spidered or indexed, it doesn’t exist- if it isn’t available in open and machine readable format, it can’t engage- if a legal framework doesn’t allow it to be repurposed, it doesn’t empower

www.eaves.ca/2009/09/30/three-law-of-open-government-data/

Open PSI as part of Open Government “a government of the people, by

the people and for the people” -

a common based information society

Open Data is a source for..

transparency accountability and

trust confidenceOpen Data changes democracy..

dialog, participation and collaboration

Open Data enables..

innovationand development Open Data unleashes..

a forsa study from August 2010

ask the people!

a recent study unveiled that 88 % of the german citizens opt for a more transparent government

psi re-usebottom up a look at the status quo of...

analysis, apps, visualizations

some examples

www.mapnificent.de

Analysis Application

Visualization

www.frankfurt-gestalten.de

Analysis Application

Visualization

www.offenerhaushalt.de

Analysis Application

Visualization

flowering landscapes

so if psi would be open, how would the future look like?

• PSI needs to be legally & technically open

• Open Data is nothing by itself, it needs to be used to become valuable

• there are tree key rules we recommend following in opening up data:

• keep it simple

• engage early and often

• address common fears and misunderstandings

conclusions

www.w3.org/TR/gov-data/

forgovernments

- all PSI should be published in way that ensures that it is legally and technically open for re-use and free of charge.

www.opendata.hackday.net

forcitizens

- get active & engage

- organize bar camps, hack days & competitions

- build apps & tools that add value to psi

* add your ideas here ;)

this is just the

beginning

- much more projects- let’s be creative *- let’s create a world of commons, of open knowledge & open data

OKlet’s go!

“it’s up to our community to respond, with our ideas, with our voices, with our creativity and our code”.

- Tim O’Reilly

www.okfn.org

Thank you!

Daniel Dietrich

Open Knowledge Foundation