NEW: Health Data Initiative Affiliate

The Health Data Initiative (HDI), run by the Health Data Consortium, promotes a new health data ecosystem that makes better use of data to improve health. Health Data Innovation as an affiliate of the initiative will support HDI's mission in Washington State. More information here.

opendata

Why the Open Data movement is no joke

Submitted by speyer

on Fri, 05/04/2012 - 06:40

On May Day, Tom Slee wrote a post labeled "Why the "Open Data Movement" is a Joke". While this is quite ridiculous (pun intended), the article prompted a number of very thoughtful responses:

Alex Howard (@digiphile) writes "No joke: Open Data fuels transparency, civic utility, and economic activity"
Tom Lee (@tjl) writes "Defending the Big Tent: Open Data, Inclusivity and Activism"
Kevin Merritt (@kmerritt) writes "Reinventing Government with Open Data Is No Joke"
David Eaves (@deaves) writes "Open Data Movement is a Joke?"

Together, they provide a lot of information about Open Data (see graphic by Justin Grimes on the right) with good examples and additional resources, as well as a great list of arguments for Open Data:

Open Data creates transparency and accountability
Open Data leads to better informed and broader policy debates
Open Data enables innovators and developers to create new products and services
Open Data creates economic opportunities and new data ecosystems
Open Data impacts people's lives through better services, apps and more
Open Data doesn't equal Open Government, but is an important part of it
Open Data helps government become more efficient
Open Data benefits local government

So if you haven't followed the open data movement, here is a chance to get a concise summary. And then engage. Which may just be the opposite of what Tom Slee wanted to achieve ...

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