Open Data Research Symposium builds evidence base for opening up

By: Alex Howard.

Freedom of information advocates have been pushing government to open up for centuries. Over the past decade, advocacy around improving public access to public information has expanded to include publishing government information online in a structured format as open data.

In 2018, however, many people are hungry for more evidence about what effect opening and publishing government data online has had upon the world, from good governance to social impact to improved service delivery to public trust and economic outcomes.

The Open Data Research Symposium is one response to that demand, convening researchers and social scientists prior to the International Open Data Conference to share what they’ve learned.

The first paper presented — by World Bank researcher Michael Jelenic — will be of particular interest for people seeking evidence about the impact of open data. After analyzing African countries in the Web Foundation’s Open Data Barometer, Jelenic found that open data improved accountability, but it’s not sufficient on its own: publicity (press freedom, freedom of expression, freedom of information laws) and political agency (free and fair elections) both matter.

This year’s symposium featured 11 academic papers, all which can be downloaded and read under open access. All of the research is worth reading, spanning issues of gender, privacy, ethics and more.

In the video below, Stefaan Verhulst, co-founder, chief research and development officer of the Governance Laboratory at New York University, shares some key takeaways from this year’s symposium.

For more real-time reflections, read the tweets on the #ODRS18 hashtag from the attendees, and keep an eye out for takeaways and what’s coming next from the GovLab — including the potential resurrection of the Open Data Research Network.