scholarly journals Protecting Privacy and Transforming COVID-19 Case Surveillance Datasets for Public Use

2021 ◽  
pp. 003335492110268
Author(s):  
Brian Lee ◽  
Brandi Dupervil ◽  
Nicholas P. Deputy ◽  
Wil Duck ◽  
Stephen Soroka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Data Use ◽  
Open Data ◽  
Data Generation ◽  
The Public ◽  
Management Platform ◽  
Public Data ◽  
Control And Prevention ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Data Elements ◽  
Public Datasets

Objectives Federal open-data initiatives that promote increased sharing of federally collected data are important for transparency, data quality, trust, and relationships with the public and state, tribal, local, and territorial partners. These initiatives advance understanding of health conditions and diseases by providing data to researchers, scientists, and policymakers for analysis, collaboration, and use outside the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), particularly for emerging conditions such as COVID-19, for which data needs are constantly evolving. Since the beginning of the pandemic, CDC has collected person-level, de-identified data from jurisdictions and currently has more than 8 million records. We describe how CDC designed and produces 2 de-identified public datasets from these collected data. Methods We included data elements based on usefulness, public request, and privacy implications; we suppressed some field values to reduce the risk of re-identification and exposure of confidential information. We created datasets and verified them for privacy and confidentiality by using data management platform analytic tools and R scripts. Results Unrestricted data are available to the public through Data.CDC.gov, and restricted data, with additional fields, are available with a data-use agreement through a private repository on GitHub.com. Practice Implications Enriched understanding of the available public data, the methods used to create these data, and the algorithms used to protect the privacy of de-identified people allow for improved data use. Automating data-generation procedures improves the volume and timeliness of sharing data.

scholarly journals OpenFDA: an innovative platform providing access to a wealth of FDA’s publicly available data

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 596-600 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taha A Kass-Hout ◽  
Zhiheng Xu ◽  
Matthew Mohebbi ◽  
Hans Nelsen ◽  
Adam Baker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Open Data ◽  
The United States ◽  
Important Food ◽  
The Public ◽  
New Public ◽  
Application Programming ◽  
Public Datasets ◽  
Programming Interfaces ◽  
Apparent Association

Objective The objective of openFDA is to facilitate access and use of big important Food and Drug Administration public datasets by developers, researchers, and the public through harmonization of data across disparate FDA datasets provided via application programming interfaces (APIs). Materials and Methods Using cutting-edge technologies deployed on FDA’s new public cloud computing infrastructure, openFDA provides open data for easier, faster (over 300 requests per second per process), and better access to FDA datasets; open source code and documentation shared on GitHub for open community contributions of examples, apps and ideas; and infrastructure that can be adopted for other public health big data challenges. Results Since its launch on June 2, 2014, openFDA has developed four APIs for drug and device adverse events, recall information for all FDA-regulated products, and drug labeling. There have been more than 20 million API calls (more than half from outside the United States), 6000 registered users, 20,000 connected Internet Protocol addresses, and dozens of new software (mobile or web) apps developed. A case study demonstrates a use of openFDA data to understand an apparent association of a drug with an adverse event. Conclusion With easier and faster access to these datasets, consumers worldwide can learn more about FDA-regulated products.

scholarly journals The story of the sixth myth of open data and open government

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann-Sofie Hellberg ◽  
Karin Hedström
Keyword(s):  
Local Level ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Open Data ◽  
Data Reuse ◽  
Open Government ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Data ◽  
Competition Process ◽  
Public Organisations

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to describe a local government effort to realise an open government agenda. This is done using a storytelling approach. Design/methodology/approach – The empirical data are based on a case study. The authors participated in, as well as followed, the process of realising an open government agenda on a local level, where citizens were invited to use open public data as the basis for developing apps and external Web solutions. Based on an interpretative tradition, they chose storytelling as a way to scrutinise the competition process. In this paper, they present a story about the competition process using the story elements put forward by Kendall and Kendall (2012). Findings – The research builds on existing research by proposing the myth that the “public” wants to make use of open data. The authors provide empirical insights into the challenge of gaining benefits from open public data. In particular, they illustrate the difficulties in getting citizens interested in using open public data. Their case shows that people seem to like the idea of open public data, but do not necessarily participate actively in the data reuse process. Research limitations/implications – The results are based on one empirical study. Further research is, therefore, needed. The authors would especially welcome more studies that focus on citizens’ interest and willingness to reuse open public data. Practical implications – This study illustrates the difficulties of promoting the reuse of open public data. Public organisations that want to pursue an open government agenda can use these findings as empirical insights. Originality/value – This paper answers the call for more empirical studies on public open data. Furthermore, it problematises the “myth” of public interest in the reuse of open public data.

scholarly journals TYPES OF PUBLIC INFORMATION IN THE FORM OF OPEN DATA AND THEIR CLASSIFICATION

2020 ◽  
pp. 33-37
Author(s):  
D. Nesterova
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Open Data ◽  
Public Information ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Data Discovery ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Data

The concept of public information in the form of open data and its main features are studied. It is determined that due to the possible wide application of open data, the definition of the main grounds for the classification of open data is an insufficiently covered issue. The purpose of this study is to determine the types and criteria for the classification of public information in the form of open data. This is necessary for their widespread use in order to solve socially important tasks and to use their full potential in unusual directions. The author has analyzed international reports on open data and identified the problems of the quality of such data and the possibility of using them to solve socially important tasks. The classification of open data is formed on the following grounds: 1. by data type; 2. by data format; 3. by subject. The article determines the value of open data to society and the possibility of its wide use in the example of other countries. The problems that complicate the implementation of the government data discovery initiative in Ukraine include the underdeveloped culture of open government; insufficient level of training of public authorities to work with open data; insufficient funding for the public data discovery initiative; low level of public awareness and interest in public data and the benefits of using it. Unfortunately, most citizens are still satisfying their curiosity by using open data. The author notes that using data that describes the patterns we live in can help us solve problems in ways we may not have anticipated. As a rule, public sector systems do not respond too quickly on changes. With open data, they could track, predict and respond to real-time changes. This would allow the public sector to streamline its processes and services and it would be possible to clearly identify areas for improving and increasing productivity, to develop specialized solutions based on various demographic indicators and other factors. This would be a huge transformational leap in attracting open data to the public sector, as it opens up a number of areas for innovation. The author substantiates the importance of open data for public sector transformation, economic benefits and their use as an instrument for creating an information society.

Open data, trials and new ethics of using others' work

2020 ◽  
pp. medethics-2019-105898
Author(s):  
Nicholas W Carris ◽  
Byron Cheon ◽  
Jay Wolfson
Keyword(s):  
Blood Pressure ◽  
Data Analysis ◽  
Systolic Blood Pressure ◽  
Research Productivity ◽  
Preliminary Analysis ◽  
Data Use ◽  
Open Data ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Intervention Trial ◽  
Using Data

Data and ideas are the capital of research productivity. Is it ethical to preempt the publication of another researcher’s unpublished data or preliminary analysis, perhaps without citation? The long-established answer is ‘certainly not’—but recent ‘open data’ use suggests otherwise. A research competition was held using data from The Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT). This SPRINT Data Analysis Challenge created a novel environment for using open data as data became open early. This allowed third-party researchers the opportunity to assess some of the trial’s outcomes before trialists. Could this infringe on trialists’ right to analyse their data? Simultaneously, trialists had access to analyses from submissions to the competition that were not formally ‘published’ with a typical author credit or citation. Therefore, trialists had the opportunity to view the competition submissions and published on those ideas first without a typical way to cite the source of that idea. Could this infringe on researchers’ right to be credited for their ideas? This is not intended as a criticism of open data, the SPRINT Data Analysis Challenge, or similar systems/ventures, but is an effort to objectively note what may be remediable flaws in the worthwhile, growing and dynamic uses of open data. We offer preliminary analytics to shed more light and provide fodder for additional discussion.

Government Spending Transparency on the Internet

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evika Karamagioli ◽  
Eleni-Revekka Staiou ◽  
Dimitris Gouscos
Keyword(s):  
Government Spending ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Open Data ◽  
Economic Recession ◽  
Political Crisis ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Public Data ◽  
Greek Government ◽  
Using Data

The objective of this article is to present four civil society initiatives that attempt to scrutinize government spending using open data from the Greek government OpenGov initiative Diavgeia project (“diavgeia”, in Greek, standing for lucidity). In a period of strong economic recession, Greece is facing one of the most intense social and political crisis of its history, with citizens characterized by substantial disenchantment with politics and a cynical stance about their government and representatives. The Diavgeia project was launched in 2010 by the Greek government with the objective to bring back transparency and trust in the political process, enabling online insights into government spending. By reviewing current bottom-up initiatives in Greece that are using data from Diavgeia in an effort to serve the principles of transparency, openness, and offering public data in a manner easy to understand, evaluate and re-use, we discuss the role of open government mechanisms in introducing a new relation between citizens and policy-makers, tackling contemporary political challenges of democratic societies and reconnecting ordinary people with politics and policy-making.

Open Data from Authoritarian Regimes: New Opportunities, New Challenges

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Ruth D. Carlitz ◽  
Rachael McLellan
Keyword(s):  
Open Data ◽  
Research Integrity ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
Open Government ◽  
The Public ◽  
Fine Grained ◽  
Open Government Data ◽  
Public Data ◽  
New Challenges ◽  
Government Data

Data availability has long been a challenge for scholars of authoritarian politics. However, the promotion of open government data—through voluntary initiatives such as the Open Government Partnership and soft conditionalities tied to foreign aid—has motivated many of the world’s more closed regimes to produce and publish fine-grained data on public goods provision, taxation, and more. While this has been a boon to scholars of autocracies, we argue that the politics of data production and dissemination in these countries create new challenges. Systematically missing or biased data may jeopardize research integrity and lead to false inferences. We provide evidence of such risks from Tanzania. The example also shows how data manipulation fits into the broader set of strategies that authoritarian leaders use to legitimate and prolong their rule. Comparing data released to the public on local tax revenues with verified internal figures, we find that the public data appear to significantly underestimate opposition performance. This can bias studies on local government capacity and risk parroting the party line in data form. We conclude by providing a framework that researchers can use to anticipate and detect manipulation in newly available data.

Government Spending Transparency on the Internet

2015 ◽  
pp. 1149-1165
Author(s):  
Evika Karamagioli ◽  
Eleni-Revekka Staiou ◽  
Dimitris Gouscos
Keyword(s):  
Government Spending ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Open Data ◽  
Economic Recession ◽  
Political Crisis ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Public Data ◽  
Greek Government ◽  
Using Data

The objective of this article is to present four civil society initiatives that attempt to scrutinize government spending using open data from the Greek government OpenGov initiative Diavgeia project (“diavgeia”, in Greek, standing for lucidity). In a period of strong economic recession, Greece is facing one of the most intense social and political crisis of its history, with citizens characterized by substantial disenchantment with politics and a cynical stance about their government and representatives. The Diavgeia project was launched in 2010 by the Greek government with the objective to bring back transparency and trust in the political process, enabling online insights into government spending. By reviewing current bottom-up initiatives in Greece that are using data from Diavgeia in an effort to serve the principles of transparency, openness, and offering public data in a manner easy to understand, evaluate and re-use, we discuss the role of open government mechanisms in introducing a new relation between citizens and policy-makers, tackling contemporary political challenges of democratic societies and reconnecting ordinary people with politics and policy-making.

Government Spending Transparency on the Internet

2015 ◽  
pp. 866-883
Author(s):  
Evika Karamagioli ◽  
Eleni-Revekka Staiou ◽  
Dimitris Gouscos
Keyword(s):  
Government Spending ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Open Data ◽  
Economic Recession ◽  
Political Crisis ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Public Data ◽  
Greek Government ◽  
Using Data

The objective of this article is to present four civil society initiatives that attempt to scrutinize government spending using open data from the Greek government OpenGov initiative Diavgeia project (“diavgeia”, in Greek, standing for lucidity). In a period of strong economic recession, Greece is facing one of the most intense social and political crisis of its history, with citizens characterized by substantial disenchantment with politics and a cynical stance about their government and representatives. The Diavgeia project was launched in 2010 by the Greek government with the objective to bring back transparency and trust in the political process, enabling online insights into government spending. By reviewing current bottom-up initiatives in Greece that are using data from Diavgeia in an effort to serve the principles of transparency, openness, and offering public data in a manner easy to understand, evaluate and re-use, we discuss the role of open government mechanisms in introducing a new relation between citizens and policy-makers, tackling contemporary political challenges of democratic societies and reconnecting ordinary people with politics and policy-making.

scholarly journals Centralne Repozytorium Informacji Publicznej jako tryb ponownego wykorzystywania informacji

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (1 (4)) ◽  
pp. 87-96
Author(s):  
Dominik Sybilski
Keyword(s):  
Open Data ◽  
Public Information ◽  
Data Access ◽  
The Public ◽  
Economic Exploitation ◽  
Public Data ◽  
Data Portal ◽  
The Right ◽  
Council Of Ministers ◽  
Access Program

The Central Public Information Repository (CRIP) was introduced into the legal system by the act of 16 September 2011 amending the act on access to public information. The main goal behind the introduction of CRIP was to support the economic exploitation of information. CRIP’s functions are implemented by the Ministry of Administration and Digitization launching an open public data portal (danepubliczne.gov.pl) in May 2014. So far, CRIP has appeared in the literature in the context of access to public information. However, there is a lack of works on CRIP as a national open data portal to distribute information for re-use. This issue in particular has become increasingly important in view of the adoption by the Council of Ministers of the Public Data Access Program, a government strategy dedicated to public policy in the area of open data. Furthermore, due to the entry into force of the Act of 25 February 2016 on the re-use of public sector information, there is an interesting issue about the scope of the CRIP. The article analyzes CRIP regulations in terms of their effectiveness for the implementation of the right to reuse and the policy of open data. The article concludes the findings of the analysis and attempts to propose de lege ferenda conclusion.  

scholarly journals Reimagining data responsibility: 10 new approaches toward a culture of trust in re-using data to address critical public needs

Data & Policy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefaan G. Verhulst
Keyword(s):  
Data Science ◽  
Open Data ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
The Public ◽  
The World ◽  
Comprehensive Survey ◽  
Data Stewardship ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Internet Of Things

Abstract Data and data science offer tremendous potential to address some of our most intractable public problems (including the Covid-19 pandemic). At the same time, recent years have shown some of the risks of existing and emerging technologies. An updated framework is required to balance potential and risk, and to ensure that data is used responsibly. Data responsibility is not itself a new concept. However, amid a rapidly changing technology landscape, it has become increasingly clear that the concept may need updating, in order to keep up with new trends such as big data, open data, the Internet of things, and artificial intelligence, and machine learning. This paper seeks to outline 10 approaches and innovations for data responsibility in the 21st century. The 10 emerging concepts we have identified include: End-to-end data responsibility Decision provenance Professionalizing data stewardship From data science to question science Contextual consent Responsibility by design Data asymmetries and data collaboratives Personally identifiable inference Group privacy Data assemblies Each of these is described at greater length in the paper, and illustrated with examples from around the world. Put together, they add up to a framework or outline for policy makers, scholars, and activists who seek to harness the potential of data to solve complex social problems and advance the public good. Needless to say, the 10 approaches outlined here represent just a start. We envision this paper more as an exercise in agenda-setting than a comprehensive survey.

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