[Aust-NZ] FYI: challenge of open data

[Hamish]

Ross wrote:
> FYI:
> The challenge of open data
>
> 20 February 2013
>
> If Alan Noble had his way, all publicly funded information,
> including scientific data, would be released under permissive
> licencing.
> Alan, the Engineering Director for Google Australia and New
> Zealand, challenged the audience at the TERN symposium dinner
> last night, speaking about the need to unleash our public
> information assets.
> ‘If we want to optimise our economic and social assets, the
> best way to do that is by making it open. After all, the public
> have paid for it,’ he said.
> ‘Oftentimes the barriers aren’t technical, they’re cultural –
> a tendency to horde information.'
>
> Read more: http://www.tern.org.au/Newsletter-2013-Feb-Symposium-
> Data-Infrastructure-pg25281.html


When thinking about open gov't data, it often occurs to me that the best argument is considering the secondary effect of making the economy more efficient. If the delivery guy has better maps and routing he saves petrol, has higher productivity, and the roads aren't as clogged. At the same time people get their goods sooner, industries can lower turn-around & lead times, and generally get more out the door.

On top of that you have an army of funding-starved grad students and academics who can suddenly churn out much higher quality research (the opposite of garbage in-garbage out) and provide essentially free and hitherto impossible R&D for the country.


The cost is the loss of old government dept. profit centres, and I he's right: it does take a top-down cultural shift for that to happen. But the economics are staggeringly in favour of creating
new and unthought of markets, so it should be a bit of a no-brainer.


best,
Hamish

ps- LINZ/Geospatial Office, you're doing a brilliant job of it.
    thanks!