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EU mandates that public sector information be shared as open data
- zbuc 15y agoThe article doesn't really say what kind of information this would affect... Would this remove research articles from public universities from paywalls?
- benwerd 15y agoSadly, I don't think it extends to universities, although there's also work being done there in some European countries. I think it's mostly government services. Although, as archives and museums are included to an extent, I could be wrong about this.
- rmc 15y agoTo expand, in the USA most (all?) of the data produced by the US Federal government is public domain (things like map data, nasa results etc.). In EU this is not the case. As a result lots of governments, say, map the country using tax payer money, then charge for access to this data. You can't make mashups or derived works.
- Someone 15y agoIronically, dutch mapmakers take the state to court because it intends to make mapping data public (http://www.z24.nl/economie/artikel_248410.z24/Protest_tegen_openbaar_maken_wegenbestand.html http://www.z24.nl/economie/artikel_248410.z24/Protest_tegen_...), claiming it constitutes unfair competition.
- sgrove 15y agoI believe we have similar issues here, e.g. with the National Weather Service being accused of the same thing - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Weather_Service#Controversy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Weather_Service#Contro... Personally speaking, it seems horrifically absurd that we're paying for the information to be gathered for absolutely essential services, but then are expected to pay again for similar data collected from a separate source.
- kiloaper 15y agoYes. It's extremely annoying and can be very expensive. Correct maps are needed for applications in planning, agriculture etc and aren't free.
- toyg 15y agoIf I may play devil's advocate for a minute, it's also true that some of these access fees were originally introduced to recoup costs. The idea was that some of these services would pay for themselves, relying on general taxation only for funds necessary to bootstrap, then run "forever" with zero impact on public finances. So, once we say that all public data should be free, we should also accept that the economic burden of creating that data will also be entirely covered by general taxation, year after year. Personally I'm not against the idea, but I bet a lot of people would be, probably even many of those now complaining that they're "taxed twice".
- kiloaper 15y ago>probably even many of those now complaining that they're "taxed twice". In this case I'm the one being taxed twice. I pay my taxes to the government which creates detailed maps that it then charges me to photocopy so I can submit their paperwork back to them.
- rmc 15y agoA lot of the customers of this mapping data are other government departments! If you want to make a planning map of something, etc. you need to pay for a licence from the other government department.
- rospaya 15y ago> To expand, in the USA most (all?) of the data produced by the US Federal government is public domain I doubt it's all, since there's a lot of confidential stuff in there.
- NonEUCitizen 15y agoHow do we get the UN to free up its data as well?
- nemoniac 15y agoThe EU is making some surprisingly good decisions lately when it comes to matters such as data and "intellectual property". I'm glad to be living here.
- twelvechairs 15y agoWhilst this is positive, first we have to see that it is just a 'strategy', not an enforceable policy (i think the title of this article as 'EU mandates' is slightly misleading). Secondly, as a 'strategy', it is missing any pointed reference to the difficult issues - for instance QANGOs, which often hold much information that has been government funded, however can be resistant to releasing their data - sometimes for good reasons... The idea is, of course, a good one - lets hope it filters down into real positive action soon....