are going to get value from this, we would like to see some
reflection of that.”
Andrew Nicklin, technology and open government strat-
egist at Johns Hopkins University Center for Government
Excellence, in Baltimore, says that revenue from data col-
lection might be necessary for governments to sustain and
improve their open data strategies.
“Open data programs can be operated at very low costs
compared to other government services, but the cost is
never zero. Setting up public data programs with payment
components may be just one of several ways to ensure sus-
“
If a developer creates
a highly successful
business based on
free government data,
governments could
negotiate a percentage
of the profits.
”
tainability, especially in times of austerity,” Nicklin wrote
recently on medium.com. “The case can be made that
charging for the data will also force quality and documen-
tation to significantly improve as well.” In short, developers
will get better data, and more of it, if it is funded.
As the open data ecosystem grows, municipal govern-
ments are discovering increasing costs to meet demands,
says Robert Giggey, program manager of web services at
the City of Ottawa. “Offering data is a good business ser-
vice. But to the level that some are looking for it, systems
can’t always cope. It’s one thing to have some spreadsheets
up online that are occasionally downloaded. But when you
have an API (application program interface) that is contin-
ually being hit — if Google integrates something and you
are getting hundreds or thousands of users and it’s eating
your systems — you have to buy a new server.”
Giggey says some municipalities in their open data
infancy are balking at the costs. “I agree with a lot of what
Andrew Nicklin is saying. It’s not one or the other. The two
can co-exist. Now it is figuring out what that means.”
Giggey says one option is a quid-pro-quo system, such
as allowing car-sharing companies to set up in your
city in exchange for the data they collect. Longo agrees.
Car-sharing companies like Car2Go, for instance, have
transponders showing where their vehicles are picked up,
how they are being used and minute details like how much
gas is in the tank. “Knowing who is going where and when
is a really powerful tool to help revolutionize how you plan
a city,” Longo said.
One oft-cited example of a profitable business model
built on free government data is TV weather channels and
private weather websites. “They are entirely based on free
public data,” Longo said. “They are adding a lot of value,
there’s no doubt there, but at what point are they taking
advantage of a lot of work that is available from govern-
ment open data?”
Longo says he is sympathetic to independent devel-
opers who say they need free open data to innovate and
create. “But if there’s no business there because you have
to pay for something, then there’s no business. I think the
argument for cities is that ‘We can’t continue to do this
in a quality way if we have no way to make sense of it.’ I
would have trouble as a politician saying ‘we will provide
open data’ without asking ‘how are we going to make it
sustainable?’ I would think developers eventually will
come around to the point that if the quality is improved
because there’s more revenue funding it, then that’s a good
thing.”
Our Municipal Group
L to R: Gregory Sills, Stephen D’Agostino,
David Germain, Al Burton, Denitza Koev, Jeff Wilker
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