Researching the emerging impacts of open data: revisiting the ODDC conceptual framework

Open data has rapidly moved from being a niche interest, to being part of the global policy mainstream. Government-led open data initiatives have spread across the globe, and civil society or technologist experiments using data to improve governance have been spreading organically, from budget monitoring in Nigeria, to court transparency projects in Argentina. It is increasingly seen as enabler of a “data revolution” in the process of decision-making and accountability.  However, understanding how experience of open data will vary from country to country and context to context, and, understanding the common features of open data that are shaping its implementation in these diverse settings, requires broad-based research framework. It requires research that can engage with both existing realities of decision-making in sectors, acknowledging the growing complexity of this process in an increasingly networked society. In this paper we have reviewed the framework of the “Open Data in Developing Countries”(ODDC) project, the largest research project on the impact of open data in developing countries to date.  The framework was designed to help explore the link between openness in the data ecosystem, decentralized changes in decision-making, and positive and negative emerging impacts such as transparency and accountability, inclusion and empowerment as well as innovation and economic development.  It was tested to generate cross-learning from 17 in-depth cases studies in 14 countries, as well as generate policy-relevant findings.  This paper reviews and updates the original framework based on the findings and reflections developed during the research project

Organising innovation between multinational companies and innovation systems: the Brazilian ICT sector in the late 1990s and early 2000s

This thesis is concerned with the organisation of innovation in the interaction between multinational companies and host-country innovation systems. It proposes a framework for characterising the decentralised governance of innovation projects in sectors and identifying emerging organisational configurations in this specific context. The general characteristics of the project-based knowledge networks are examined in terms of (i) the shifting boundaries between subsidiaries and technological partners, (ii) the specialisation of actors in types of activities and (iii) the speed of change in the collaborations between multinational companies and technological institutes. The emerging configurations are classified in terms of (i) the knowledge and resources flows in different innovation projects and (ii) the common aims of the different groups of stakeholders. This framework is applied on the decentralised networks of innovation projects in the Brazilian ICT sector promoted by tax incentives to innovation activities (―Brazilian ICT Law‖). The empirical analysis combines the data of more than 10,000 innovation projects and in-depth case studies on the organisation of innovative activities in 11 R&D laboratories in subsidiaries of multinational companies and 11 of their main technological partners. The analysis of the project-based knowledge networks and emerging configurations is recognised as a useful tool for examining the dynamics promoted by the sectoral policy. This research provides insights on how the institutional framework such as the Brazilian ICT Law provided the space for the decentralised interaction between different organisations with very different interests. The analysis also shows that the regulation may support higher investments in R&D, but it does not necessarily enforce a project portfolio that promotes a sustainable knowledge flow between multinational companies and the sectoral innovation system. Finally, the thesis includes specific recommendations for addressing key challenges such as the organisational development of the subsidiaries, the emergence of private research institutes and the coordination of sectoral policies. Keywords: sectoral innovation systems, knowledge network, organisation of innovation, economic sociology, R&D policy, innovation projects, project-based learning, interorganisational networks

New records of Odocoileus virginianus Zimmermann 1780 (Artiodactyla: Cervidae) from northern Brazil

We report new records of the White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in Brazil based on specimens deposited in scientific collections. These new records expand the known geographic distribution of the species in Brazil southwards in the states of Roraima and Amapá, the latter the first record of the species below the equator line in Brazil, and register it for the first time in the state of Amazonas. These records contribute to increase the knowledge of the geographical distribution of O. virginianus in Brazil and highlights the importance of museum collections as a source of biogeographic and ecological data.Reportamos nuevos registros del Venado Cola Blanca (Odocoileus virginianus) en Brasil basados en especímenes depositados en colecciones científicas. Estos nuevos registros amplían la distribución geográfica conocida de la especie en Brasil hacia el sur en los estados de Roraima y Amapá, este último el primer registro de la especie abajo de la línea del ecuador en Brasil, y lo registran por primera vez en el estado de Amazonas. Estos registros contribuyen a aumentar el conocimiento de la distribución geográfica de O. virginianus en Brasil y destacan la importancia de las colecciones de los museos como fuente de datos biogeográficos y ecológicos

From innovation projects to knowledge networks : the sectoral organisation of innovation in the Brazilian ICT sector

This paper explores the structure of the project-based innovation networks promoted by tax incentives to innovation activities in the Brazilian ICT sector (Brazil ICT Law 1997-2003). The results show a strong re-organization of the innovation networks in the sector during this period, attributed mainly to a shift from investments in middleware to software-related innovation activities, the re-specialization of the subsidiaries of multinational companies, and the emergence of private research institutes as central nodes inside the sectoral innovation system. Innovation projects can be used as data to overcome weaknesses in the indirect measurements of knowledge creation and knowledge flows

Researching the emerging impacts of open data

Through the Open Government Partnership, governments from more than 50 countries have committed to promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governance, emphasizing open data as a means to achieve this. Yet reliable evidence on the impact of open data initiatives remains scarce. This paper argues we can only understand open data in general if there’s detailed understanding of how it operates in specific situations. Only a very small proportion of government datasets are currently openly licensed and accessible online, highlighting the need to develop clear evidence and research approaches towards better informed dialogue

Bats of the state of Minas Gerais, southeastern Brasil

Minas Gerais (MG) é o maior estado da região sudeste e sua localização em área de transição entre a faixa super úmida da costa e os ecossistemas mais áridos do centro-oeste brasileiro propicia a ocorrência de um rico mosaico de biomas e ecossistemas, incluindo o Cerrado, a Caatinga, a Mata Atlântica e áreas cársticas. Embora se saiba que a mastofauna de Minas Gerais é rica em espécies, não há uma lista de espécies de morcegos publicada, sendo esta a primeira compilação da fauna de quirópteros de MG. São aqui reunidos dados originais de inventários realizados independentemente pelos autores, informações da literatura e levantamento de espécimes depositados em várias coleções. Os resultados indicam a ocorrência de 77 espécies distribuídas em sete famílias em Minas Gerais, o que coloca o estado como o mais rico do sudeste brasileiro em número de espécies de morcegos. Essa riqueza surpreende também, devido ao fato constatado da escassez de dados disponíveis, conforme detectado no presente estudo. Grandes áreas do estado permanecem pouco conhecidas ou completamente desconhecidas em termos de sua quiropterofauna, incluindo ecossistemas frágeis associados à Caatinga, ao Cerrado e à Mata Atlântica, como os campos rupestres e áreas cársticas e não há sequer um estudo de longa duração. As coleções estudadas têm pouca representatividade em termos de espécimes oriundas do estado de Minas Gerais e são raras as séries sistemáticas oriundas de coletas no estado.Minas Gerais is the largest state in the Southeastern of Brazil, and its location in the transition between the humid coastal Atlantic Forest and the drier Western and central Brazilian countryside allows the occurrence of a rich mosaic of biomes and ecosystems that includes the Cerrado, the Caatinga, the Atlantic Forest, and karstic environments. This work is the first comprehensive compilation of the bat fauna of Minas Gerais state, Southeastern Brazil, including original data from surveys conducted independently by the authors, and published information documented with data from several museum collections. Although large areas of MG remains unsampled, unknown and/or unprotected, long term studies are virtually inexistent, and systematic inventories have not been documented to date, our results reveal high bat species richness for the state, with 77 species distributed in seven families. This indicates that MG has more bat species recorded than other Southeastern Brazilian states, a result that contrasts with the noticeable paucity of data for the state. The bat diverstity kept in museums does not mirror the actual bat diversity of MG, which thus urges to be properly acessed. Additionally, the collections examined were poorly represented in specimens from Minas Gerais and systematic series are rare

On the Supposed Presence of Miocene Tayassuidae and Dromomerycinae (Mammalia, Cetartiodactyla) in South America

The earliest record of North American mammals in South America is significant for constraining the timing of intercontinental faunal interchange. At present, the oldest securely dated remains of a North American terrestrial mammal in South America pertain to a late Miocene procyonid; a few other North American mammal groups are present in late Miocene and early Pliocene outcrops in South America, but most are not recorded until the late Pliocene or Pleistocene, after the complete emergence of the Panamanian Isthmus. This long-established pattern has recently been called into question by reports of a proboscidean, two tayassuids, and a dromomerycine cervoid in supposed late Miocene deposits of Peruvian Amazon. In this contribution, we analyze the taxonomic identities and stratigraphic provenances of the tayassuid and dromomerycine fossils in detail. We conclude that these specimens are not distinguishable from modern tayassuids (Tayassu pecari and Dicotyles tajacu) and cervids, and that previous taxonomic identifications are based on misinterpretation of characters or inadequate specimens. In addition, there is insufficient evidence to support a late Miocene age for these terrestrial cetartiodactyl fossils; the stratigraphic provenance of the specimens is highly dubious, and the fossils are likely Quaternary in age.Fil: Gasparini, Germán Mariano. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - La Plata; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División Paleontología Vertebrados; ArgentinaFil: Parisi Dutrá, Rodrigo. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; BrasilFil: Perini, Fernando A.. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; BrasilFil: Croft, Darin. Case Western Reserve University; Estados UnidosFil: Cozzuol, Mario Alberto. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; BrasilFil: Missagia, Rafaela V.. Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; BrasilFil: Lucas, Spencer G.. New Mexico Museum Of Natural History And Science; Estados Unido