Are research data a common resource?

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Open Government Data Initiatives: Open by Default or Publishing with Purpose

Over the last decade, after a set of Open Government Data (OGD) principles were developed, governments around the world started to radically change their culture on data governance. However, at the implementation stage of OGD initiatives governments needed to consider whether publishing the massive quantities of open datasets did meet public needs for use and re-use, in view of the enormous investment and resources put into the production of publishable OGD. This research-in-progress adopts an exploratory case study approach combining it with a narrative literature review to investigate how the “Open by default” principle and the “Publishing with purpose” strategy were involved in facilitating OGD usage and public participation. The study’s goal is to overview the current implementation of OGD initiatives and to explore best practices when working with open data. We expect to present a new logic model or to show the modification of existing government organisational logic models by analysing the findings on the nature of the New Zealand government effort in opening data up relates with the possible advantage experienced by the government and the public at large

Understanding How Open Government Data is Used in Capital Accumulation: Towards a Theoretical Framework

This article examines the role of open government data in capital accumulation. Open government data is a relatively new phenomenon that involves the pro-active and regular release of government data, in the form of downloadable records, for use and re-use by anyone. Private capitalist enterprises are among those who make use of such data. Publicly produced data is transferred into the hands of private capital through a non-rivalrous form of enclosure. Capital then uses government datasets to create new commodities by the application of skilled labor to the data, in processes including data mashup and data visualization. Inherent in all commodity production is the extraction of surplus value from labor by capital. This, together with the process of enclosure, provides opportunities for capital accumulation from open government data

The strategic importance of information policy for the contemporary neoliberal state: the case of Open Government Data in the United Kingdom

The article analyses the role of Open Government Data policy as part of the broader public policy agenda of the UK government. A thematic analysis of interview, observational and policy documentation is presented which suggests that since 2010 the Open Government Data agenda has been used strategically by the UK's centre-right coalition government to progress a range of controversial policies, which are aimed at the continuation of the neoliberal form of state through its current crisis. Specifically, the relationship between Open Government Data policy and the neoliberal objectives of the marketisation of public services and privatisation of public assets, the leveraging of financial markets and the pharmaceutical industry, and the embedding of OGD into a broader agenda aimed at rebuilding trust in political elites are analysed. These findings are examined in relation to Braman's (2006, 2011) arguments regarding the strategic implementation of information policy by Governments in the exercising of state power, and the development of the 'informational state'. © 2014 Elsevier Inc

Government-funded Health Research Contracts in Australia: A Critical Assessment of Transparency

Australian governments claim to be committed to improving transparency and democratic accountability. Yet they are increasingly contracting out research to external consultants, ‘think tanks’ and universities and the contractual relationships formed can, in fact, promote secrecy and undermine the goals of transparency and public scrutiny of government actions. This article reports on a first-in-kind study of research contracts between Commonwealth and New South Wales Government entities and external providers. Our analysis reveals that ‘control clauses’ are prevalent: contractually, governments can insist on the rights to determine whether, when and how the results of research are publicly disseminated, to claim intellectual property rights over work produced, and to terminate contractual relationships at will and without cause. These findings have troubling implications for government openness and accountability, for academic freedom when university researchers face restrictions on publication, and for evidence-informed policymaking. We propose solutions for proactive information disclosure to ensure that government transparency promises are realised in practice. We advocate for comprehensive public release of contract details and urge governments to publish the findings of contract research in an online repository

The metric tide: report of the independent review of the role of metrics in research assessment and management

This report presents the findings and recommendations of the Independent Review of the Role of Metrics in Research Assessment and Management. The review was chaired by Professor James Wilsdon, supported by an independent and multidisciplinary group of experts in scientometrics, research funding, research policy, publishing, university management and administration. This review has gone beyond earlier studies to take a deeper look at potential uses and limitations of research metrics and indicators. It has explored the use of metrics across different disciplines, and assessed their potential contribution to the development of research excellence and impact. It has analysed their role in processes of research assessment, including the next cycle of the Research Excellence Framework (REF). It has considered the changing ways in which universities are using quantitative indicators in their management systems, and the growing power of league tables and rankings. And it has considered the negative or unintended effects of metrics on various aspects of research culture. The report starts by tracing the history of metrics in research management and assessment, in the UK and internationally. It looks at the applicability of metrics within different research cultures, compares the peer review system with metric-based alternatives, and considers what balance might be struck between the two. It charts the development of research management systems within institutions, and examines the effects of the growing use of quantitative indicators on different aspects of research culture, including performance management, equality, diversity, interdisciplinarity, and the ‘gaming’ of assessment systems. The review looks at how different funders are using quantitative indicators, and considers their potential role in research and innovation policy. Finally, it examines the role that metrics played in REF2014, and outlines scenarios for their contribution to future exercises

Is altruism dead? A critical case study on the paradigm shift in open government data

The broad and continued success of Free/Libre and Open Source Software (FLOSS) has helped to spread its ideology to many other domains, including Open Government Data (OGD), which has recently gained prominence due to its potential for feeding algorithms. Despite the anti-market and anti-corporation values around free sharing, citizen participation, and unrestricted transparency propagated in particular by a highly idealized academic discourse on OGD, our case study of the development of Switzerland’s national OGD portal suggests that the altruistic and philanthropic notion that is often associated with OGD needs to be reconsidered. We show that low use, on one side, and the practical necessity towards cost-recovery behaviors, on the other side, have led to a compromise of the altruistic ideological beginnings of OGD and paved the way for a pragmatic shift towards a more utilitarian, partly even protectionist, view on liberating and sharing data