Vivek Kundra on open data as 'Digital Fuel for the 21st Century'
Posted on 27 January 2012 by Cheryl Foong
Vivek Kundra, the first United States Chief Information Officer, has released a paper based on interviews and research that Kundra conducted while serving as a Fellow at the Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics and Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School.
In a paper entitled "Digital Fuel of the 21st Century: Innovation through Open Data and the Network Effect", Kundra states that:
In today's world, open data leveraged by networks is the fuel that powers important decisions at each level of society—from government, to business, to community, to households—but it is also a product of our every activity at every level of our existence. Channeling the power of this open data and the network effect can help:
1. Fight government corruption, improve accountability and enhance government services
2. Change the default setting of government to open, transparent and participatory
3. Create new models of journalism to separate signal from noise to provide meaningful insights
4. Launch multi-billion dollar businesses based on public sector data
Kundra also highlights the importance of legislative action:
The biggest threat to the open data movement is the desire for governments to operate in a closed, secretive and opaque manner and to create a mirage of openness by releasing low value datasets. It is critical to hardwire the open data policy through legislation.
Kundra concludes his paper with four recommendations which 'can help to ensure that our society continues to build on and benefit from the power of open data and the network effect'.