‘‘ I
With today’s huge increase in data volumes, the ability to link data from different sources, and new data analytics tools, the dividend from open data is increasing.
’ve decided not to risk predictions for 2018. Instead I’ve chosen to explore an opportunity that’s been beckoning for
a while – open data. At the 2016 CILIP Conference, Sir Nigel Shadbolt inspired the audience with the power of open data – a topic that really matters to our profession.
Data that anyone can access, use and share
The concept sounds simple but it opens up unexplored opportunities to stimulate innovation and solve significant problems. In short, open data has the power to transform the world. It’s not a new idea. In 1996, an International Agreement that “all human genomic sequence information should be distributed into the public domain, within 24 hours of completion” 1
meant that
researchers could freely use any genomic data with the consequent dividends in new medical treatments.
With today’s huge increase in data volumes, the ability to link data from different sources, and new data analytics tools, the dividend from open data is increasing. If more organisations and countries can be persuaded to share data sets, new open data opportunities will transform their data into actionable knowledge, insight and services.
The Open Data Institute (ODI) Founded by Sir Nigel Shadbolt and Sir Tim Berners-Lee in 2012 to realise the potential of the web of data, the ODI’s mission is “to equip, connect and inspire people around the world to innovate with data thus bringing the benefits of open data to society and industry”. The ODI is transforming the data landscape stimulating institutions and sectors to exploit data for transforming operations, creating value, and increasing their impact. The ODI develops standards, tools, and is also concerned with data ethics, working on measures to help organisations build trust in how they collect, use and share data, and fostering its better use. Data literacy is vital. If you want to learn how to work with open data, the ODI’s training materials and toolsets are excellent and an example of the benefits
December-January 2017/18
of sharing expertise. See
https://theodi.org/ The importance of focus
Currently, the ODI concentrates effort in open data for innovation in agriculture/ nutrition, finance, global development, open cities, and data infrastructure. Two examples to illustrate:
1. Open Active – an ODI partnership with Sports England to generate open data about sport and physical activity opportunities in England from the private and public sector. This ‘open opportunity data’ makes data available on what, where and when physical activity sessions happen. Its services are already inspiring folk to get active. (
https://theodi.org/tags/sport-england)
2. Open Corporates – the largest open database of companies with data for 49 million companies across many jurisdictions. It aims to have an entry for every company in the world (https://theodi. org/case-studies/opencorporates-case-study). Using company registers and other data sets and news, the goal is to make company information more usable, accurate and more widely available for public benefit, particularly for tackling the use of companies for criminal or anti-social purposes.
Quality information management is essential
Information professionals will identify instantly with the principles under which open data are used: People who use the data must credit its publisher (attribution) and people who mix the data with other data must release their results as open data (share-alike). Data quality assurance is essential.
Good data: l can be linked to, so that it can be easily shared and talked about
l is available in a standard, structured format, so that processing is easy
l has guaranteed availability and consistency over time, so it can be relied on
l is traceable, through any processing, right back to where it originates, so others can work out whether to trust it.2
These are all common sense IM practices, applied to data so that it can be shared, combined, processed and analysed to yield new insights.
Sandra Ward (
s.e.ward@btinternet.com) is Principal Consultant at Beaworthy Consulting.
Open data and the information professional The value of our skills is being recognised. New levels of data literacy require our skills to train colleagues. Ensuring organisations use open data standards is just a step away from work with information standards. Securing good data management practice and data governance is essential to maintain data quality and preserve its integrity. Indexing and classification aid location of datasets; information architects can become data architects; and information analysts can transform themselves into data analysts. New roles beckon. The ODI website provides a skills framework. Even if the thought of acquiring data analytics skills seems tough, the roles of explorer, strategist, and pioneer are definitely ones we can aspire to. (https://theodi. org/blog/introducing-the-open-data-skills- framework). See also the World Bank’s toolkit, http://opendatatoolkit.
worldbank.org/en/
Why not use 2018 as an opportunity to consider open data as a skills development opportunity? Who’s looking out for open data opportunities in your organisation? It could be you! IP
References
1 Human Genome Project, 1996. Summary of Principles Agreed Upon at the First International Strategy Meeting on Human Genome Sequencing. Bermuda, 25–28 February 1996.
2
https://theodi.org/ INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL 19
KM
pp18-19.indd 3
07/12/2017 13:14
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60
