Open Data
value to data that are just sitting there,
such as transit or traffic information,
eliminating a costly endeavour that a
municipality need not undertake or
be ill-prepared to develop. Open data
also cuts down on time-consuming
and costly access-to-information
requests.
Another oft-cited free open data
argument is collaborative analysis
— the more people there are looking
at a problem, the more likelihood a
solution will be found. “The notion
is that policy analysts should not be
just inside government, policy ana-
lysts should be everywhere — more
people looking at more data and
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coming up with solutions
Suggested models include
will be better for society.
free access for NGOs,
But I have never seen
the media or individual
good evidence to say that
citizens, and charging
much of that happens,”
high-volume users with
says Justin Longo, the
tiered monthly access
Cisco Systems Research
fees, subscriptions or
Chair in Big Data and
metered access.
Open Government in
Perhaps
a
better
the Johnson Shoyama
system would be looking
Graduate School of Public Robert Giggey
at commercial results,
Policy at the University of
Longo says. If a devel-
Regina.
oper creates a highly
successful business based on free
Longo believes an argument can
be made for underfunded, cash-
government data, governments could
strapped cities to get some financial
negotiate a percentage of the profits.
“Municipalities could say that if you
benefit from the data they collect.