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Open by default

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Open by Default, as widely used in the contexts of Open Government and Open Data, is the principle in which government makes its data accessible to the public by default, unless there is a sufficient justification to explain that greater public interest may be at stake, as a result of disclosure. Since the principle empowers the public's right to know and capacity to oversee government activities, it is closely associated with government transparency, civic engagement, and e-governance in organizing public life. In many cases, the principle is accompanied with the technological commitment to create "metadata standardization for all datasets, publication of a machine-readable data catalogue or inventory of both released and to-be released datasets ... (and) use of open licenses."[1]

Definition

International Open Data Charter defines Open by Default as one of the six key principles that enable society to enjoy the full benefits of open government data. [2] The other five principles are Timely and Comprehensive Data, Accessible and Usable Data, Comparable and Inter-operable Data, Data for Improved Governance and Engagement, and Data for Inclusive Development and Innovation.[3] While each principles share some overlapping backgrounds, they each strive to propose different deliverable qualifications for government entities. The qualifications under Open By Default, as proposed by International Open Data Charter, are roughly as follows:

1) Data that are open must be government data and have significant benefit to the public

2) Government data should be made accessible, clearly communicated, and usable without restriction for the public

3) Government should promote the open data practices

4) Disclosure of government data should not infringe citizens' privacy

5) Government develop and adopt policies and practices to ensure all government data is made open; provide clear justifications as to why certain data cannot be released; establish a culture of openness; develop leadership, management, oversight, performance incentives, and internal communication policies necessary" in "all government departments and agencies; observe and update appropriately domestic laws and internationally recognized standards regarding security, privacy confidentiality, and intellectual property; and anonymity data at its disclosure, to remove sensitive, personally-identifiable data get removed in accordance with privacy legislation and standards.[4]

In the mean time, there are other scholars and institutions that advocate for more rigorous standards, such as disclosure of data collection methodologies[5], and publishing processes, as they provide more contextual information for measuring the quality of data.[6]

Principles and Policies at National Governments

US

In the United States, the early forms of open government data have largely been the weather data released by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Global Positioning System released by Air Force Space Command. However, through the continuing amendments to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), particularly the Electronic Freedom of Information Act Amendments of 1996, various government transparency advocates were able to press the federal government to disclose more public data online.[7] With the growing advocacy calling for the fundamental shift towards government transparency, a liberal think tank OMB Watch, joined with 100 other advocacy groups to submit open government data recommendations to then President-elect Barack Obama and the United States Congress in 2008.[8] Taking account of these recommendations, the President Barack Obama issued an Open Government Directive to create "unprecedented and sustained level of openness and accountability" in every federal agencies in his first day at the office in 2009.[9] The directive included 120-day deadline for Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra to implement the open government data portal, with the civic consultations openly submitted through National Archives and Records Administration.[10] As a result, Data.gov was launched in late May 2009. The development of the portal focused on centralizing data-sets widely scattered across different federal agencies, releasing previously unavailable data, and enhancing machine-readability, with civic experts and academic consortium.[11][12] The open government scholars have pointed that the US model of open data policy was largely driven by transparency and democratic control perspectives, but lacked value-creation for the private sector.[13] However, OECD's 2013 research has acknowledged the Obama Administration to effort to open government data in "default setting."

Over the years, Data.gov provided one-point access to thousands of public data-sets, which in turn were ranked and refined with increasing civic participation.[14] However these ongoing efforts were thought to have stalled under President Donald Trump's administration, in regards to the fact it has not appointed Chief Technology Officer that should oversee the management of the portal and data quality advocated by civil society.[15] During the transition period, there were active movements among the transparency advocacy groups and researchers to save the public data from the federal websites, in a fear that these data will no longer be open by default.[16] The Open Government Plan documents of National Archives and Records Administration have since moved from its website to GitHub as well.[17]

Canada

https://www.theguardian.com/world/datablog/2011/dec/13/eu-open-government-data

Italy

Italy was one of the firsts to use the term Open By Default in its policy framework. Explicitly stated in Decree No. 170 of 2012, the government of Italy required all national agencies to follow the principle in catering public information, and it manifested into the actual policy, which required agencies to provide justifiable grounds when they fail to open up their data. Italy was also one of the founding signatories of the International Open Data Charter that has as its first mandate to adopt the Open By Default principle. 

Other countries

  • Australia
  • Austria
  • Argentina
  • Chile
  • Colombia
  • Costa Rica
  • France
  • Guatemala
  • Italy
  • Mexico
  • Sweden
  • Panama
  • Paraguay
  • Philippines
  • Sierra Leone
  • South Korea
  • Ukraine
  • United Kingdom
  • Uruguay
  • EU (European Union)

References

  1. ^ OECD (2015). Open Government Data Review of Poland: Unlocking the Value of Government Data. Paris: OECD Publishing. p. 89.
  2. ^ "Principles - International Open Data Charter". International Open Data Charter. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  3. ^ "Principles - International Open Data Charter". International Open Data Charter. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  4. ^ "Principles - International Open Data Charter". International Open Data Charter. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  5. ^ Dawes, Sharon (2012). "A Realistic Look at Open Data" (PDF). Center for Technology in Government at University at Albany/SUNY. {{cite journal}}: no-break space character in |journal= at position 7 (help)
  6. ^ Team, Ontario Open Government Engagement (2014). Open by Default: A New Way Forward for Ontario. ISBN 9781460639269.
  7. ^ "The 8 Principles of Open Government Data (OpenGovData.org)". opengovdata.org. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  8. ^ "Moving Toward a 21st Century Right-to-Know Agenda | Center for Effective Government". www.foreffectivegov.org. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  9. ^ "Open Government Directive". The White House. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  10. ^ "White House launches open government initiative". Nextgov.com. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  11. ^ Bell, J (February 2009). "Government Transparency via Open Data and Open Source". Open Source Business Resource.
  12. ^ "Milestones". National Archives. 2016-08-15. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  13. ^ Janssen, Katleen (2012-06-12). "Open Government Data and the Right to Information: Opportunities and Obstacles". The Journal of Community Informatics. 8 (2). ISSN 1712-4441.
  14. ^ Lathrop, Daniel; Ruma, Laurel (2010-02-08). Open Government: Collaboration, Transparency, and Participation in Practice. "O'Reilly Media, Inc.". ISBN 9781449388805.
  15. ^ "Today in OpenGov: How you can help preserve open government data in 2017". Sunlight Foundation. 2016-12-22. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  16. ^ "Researchers race to copy Obamacare data for fear it will vanish". POLITICO. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
  17. ^ "Open Government Plan". usnationalarchives.github.io. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
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