Open data barometer global report

Highlights the lack of open and accessible data on the performance of key public services. If the political and social impacts of open data are to be realised, work to increase the supply of datasets from right across government will be needed, alongside sustained investment in capacity building, training and support for effective data use. Introduction The core idea behind Open Government Data (OGD) is a simple one: public data should be a shared resource. Making data open is valuable not only for the government departments that collect and release the data, but also for citizens, entrepreneurs and other parts of the public sector. The implementation of OGD takes dedicated and sustained policy attention. Affecting widespread impact through the release of OGD relies not only upon the supply of high-quality data, but also upon the capacity of users to work with the data, and the ability of government to engage proactively with those users. In our complex world, access to OGD has the power to secure enhanced government accountability, empower coordinated action to improve public services and civil society, and inspire new business ideas. Yet far too often, access to data, along with the skills to understand and make use of it, are distributed unequally, and would-be users frequently encounter unnecessary technical and legal restrictions that prevent data re-use. Calls for a “Data Revolution” — led by the United Nations — have placed renewed attention on ensuring the collection and management of high-quality data around the world through strengthened statistical capacity, and are driving a focus on the use of new “big data” resources in policy making. Against this backdrop, questions concerning who has access to data, and whether citizens have the capability and freedoms to create, access, and analyse data about their own communities and concerns, become ever more important for securing a fair balance of power in our societies

Creating a conceptual framework to improve the re‐usability of open geographic data in cities

Open data has a profound effect on the working environment within which information is created and shared at all levels. At the local government level, open data initiatives have resulted in higher transparency in policy, a greater engagement between decision‐makers and citizens, and have changed the culture about how data analysis and evidence are used to support local governance. This article, based on data collected through an on‐line survey, participatory workshops with data user communities in four cities (in Colombia and Spain), and interviews with Valencia good‐government office, identifies four elements for a conceptual framework to improve the re‐usability of open geographic data in cities. The essential elements defined in this research are the definition of data user communities and their needs, the creation of the community of reuse, user‐focused metadata, and reuse‐focused legal terms. The definition of these indicators provides a framework for authorities to re‐shape their current open data strategy to include data user requirements. At the end of this article, a roadmap for future research and implementation is presented, considering some reflections on the conceptual framework

Global partnership on open data for development : IDRC technical report

The report outlines work completed to date and draws attention to further steps needed to ensure that efforts will benefit the ongoing work of the International Open Data Charter as well as the Joinedup Data Alliance, as part of broader Open Data for Development (OD4D) programming. A key focus for future research would be the interoperability of these open data policy and technical standards

Exploring the Emerging Impacts of Open Data in Developing Countries network meeting report, 24-26 April 2013, The Open Data Institute, London

Version 1.0The network meeting in London was an opportunity for project leaders to explore shared research issues in understanding emerging impacts of open data. For instance: Should open data be seen as a tool to address specific issues? Or as a public good that can support innovative problem solving? What criteria can be used to assess good quality of data? This report captures key discussions from the event while providing a record for participants. The Open Data Institute was established to build capacity and increased demand for open data, by furthering innovators, companies and skills in their work with open data

Women’s rights online: translating access into empowerment

New research by the Web Foundation shows that the dramatic spread of mobile phones is not enough to get women online, or to achieve empowerment of women through technology. The study, based on a survey of thousands of poor urban men and women across nine developing countries*, found that while nearly all women and men own a phone, women are still nearly 50% less likely to access the Internet than men in the same communities, with Internet use reported by just 37% of women surveyed. Once online, women are 30-50% less likely than men to use the Internet to increase their income or participate in public life. Key Findings Lack of know-how and high cost are the two main barriers keeping women offline. Women are 1.6 times more likely than men to report lack of skills as a barrier to Internet use, while one gigabyte of data costs as much as 76% of monthly poverty line incomes in the countries in the study. Women’s access to education is a strong determinant of Internet use. Controlling for other variables, urban poor women with at least some secondary education were six times more likely to be online than urban poor women with lower levels of schooling. Maintaining existing family and neighbourhood ties through social media is the main Internet activity for urban poor women, with 97% of male and female Internet users surveyed using social media. Only a small minority of women Internet users surveyed are tapping into technology’s full empowering potential. Controlling for other variables, women are 25% less likely to use the Internet for job-seeking than men,and 52% less likely than men to express controversial views online. However, the research also identified a group of women digital trailblazers. Women who are active in offline community life are three times more likely than others to speak out online on important issues, controlling for education, age and income. Young people were most likely to have suffered harassment online, with over six in 10 women and men aged 18 – 24 saying they had suffered online abuse

Fostering a Critical Development Perspective on Open Government Data : workshop report

There is a lack of empirical evidence underlying implementation of Open Data initiatives that might guide better practice and policy formulation, particularly as they spread to developing countries. The objective of the meeting was to discuss a policy-oriented research agenda that would enable Open Government Data programs in the Global South to foster a greater quality of openness and to support citizens’ rights. The key issue is how Open Data - particularly in the developing world – may work to challenge democratic deficits, create economic value and foster inclusion

Linked-Data based Constraint-Checking (LDCC) to support look-ahead planning in construction

This is a substantially extended and enhanced version of the paper presented at the CIB W78 Annual Conference held at Northumbria University in Newcastle UK in September 2019. We would like to acknowledge the editorial contributions of Professor Bimal Kumar of Northumbria University and Dr. Farzad Rahimian of Teesside University in the publication of this paper. The first author's PhD research is co-funded by Bentley systems the UK and through a Skempton Scholarship, the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College London. During this work, the first author was also supported by the PhD enrichment scholarship from The Alan Turing Institute. The authors acknowledge the supervisory inputs offered by Dr. David Birch and Dean Bowman and also acknowledges the guidance offered by Prof. Jakob Beetz. The second author is supported by the European Commission (H2020 MSCA-IF ga. No. 754446). The third author acknowledges the support of Laing O'Rourke and the Royal Academy of Engineering for cosponsoring her Professorship.In the construction sector, complex constraints are not usually modeled in conventional scheduling and 4D building information modeling software, as they are highly dynamic and span multiple domains. The lack of embedded constraint relationships in such software means that, as Automated Data Collection (ADC) technologies become used, it cannot automatically deduce the effect of deviations to schedule. This paper presents a novel method, using semantic web technologies, to model and validate complex scheduling constraints. It presents a Linked-Data based Constraint-Checking (LDCC) approach, using the Shapes Constraint Language (SHACL). A prototype web application is developed using this approach and evaluated using an OpenBIM dataset. Results demonstrate the potential of LDCC to check for constraint violation in distributed construction data. This novel method (LDCC) and its first prototype is a contribution that can be extended in future research in linked-data, BIM based rule-checking, lean construction and ADC.Bentley systems the UKSkempton Scholarship, the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College LondonAlan Turing InstituteEuropean Commission 754446Laing O'RourkeRoyal Academy of Engineering - U