scholarly journals End User Licence to Open Government Data? A Simulated Penetration Attack on Two Social Survey Datasets

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 329-348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Elliot ◽  
Elaine Mackey ◽  
Susan O’Shea ◽  
Caroline Tudor ◽  
Keith Spicer
Keyword(s):  
Open Data ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
End User ◽  
Online Data ◽  
Social Survey ◽  
Multiple Data ◽  
Open Government Data ◽  
Government Data ◽  
Open Datasets ◽  
The Uk

Abstract In the UK, the transparency agenda is forcing data stewardship organisations to review their dissemination policies and to consider whether to release data that is currently only available to a restricted community of researchers under licence as open data. Here we describe the results of a study providing evidence about the risks of such an approach via a simulated attack on two social survey datasets. This is also the first systematic attempt to simulate a jigsaw identification attack (one using a mashup of multiple data sources) on an anonymised dataset. The information that we draw on is collected from multiple online data sources and purchasable commercial data. The results indicate that such an attack against anonymised end user licence (EUL) datasets, if converted into open datasets, is possible and therefore we would recommend that penetration tests should be factored into any decision to make datasets (that are about people) open.

scholarly journals A Fuzzy Logic-Based Approach for Modelling Uncertainty in Open Geospatial Data on Landfill Suitability Analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 737
Author(s):  
Neema Nicodemus Lyimo ◽  
Zhenfeng Shao ◽  
Ally Mgelwa Ally ◽  
Nana Yaw Danquah Twumasi ◽  
Orhan Altan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
Fuzzy Logic ◽  
Population Distribution ◽  
Open Data ◽  
Open Government ◽  
Suitability Analysis ◽  
Modelling Uncertainty ◽  
Open Government Data ◽  
Government Data ◽  
Open Datasets

Besides OpenStreetMap (OSM), there are other local sources, such as open government data (OGD), that have the potential to enrich the modeling process with decision criteria that uniquely reflect some local patterns. However, both data are affected by uncertainty issues, which limits their usability. This work addresses the imprecisions on suitability layers generated from such data. The proposed method is founded on fuzzy logic theories. The model integrates OGD, OSM data and remote sensing products and generate reliable landfill suitability results. A comparison analysis demonstrates that the proposed method generates more accurate, representative and reliable suitability results than traditional methods. Furthermore, the method has facilitated the introduction of open government data for suitability studies, whose fusion improved estimations of population distribution and land-use mapping than solely relying on free remotely sensed images. The proposed method is applicable for preparing decision maps from open datasets that have undergone similar generalization procedures as the source of their uncertainty. The study provides evidence for the applicability of OGD and other related open data initiatives (ODIs) for land-use suitability studies, especially in developing countries.

scholarly journals The Daily Shaping of State Transparency: Standards, Machine-Readability and the Configuration of Open Government Data Policies

2016 ◽  
Vol 29 (4) ◽  
pp. 10-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Goëta ◽  
Tim Davies
Keyword(s):  
Open Data ◽  
Open Government ◽  
Invisible Work ◽  
Open Government Data ◽  
History Of ◽  
Open Standards ◽  
Government Data ◽  
Open Datasets ◽  
Participant Observer ◽  
Infrastructure Studies

While many governments are now committed to release Open Government Data under non-proprietarystandardized formats, less attention has been given to the actual consequences of these standardsfor knowledge workers. Unpacking the history of three open data standards (CSV, GTFS, IATI), thispaper shows what is actually happening when these standards are enacted in the work practices ofbureaucracies. It is built on participant-observer enquiry and interviews focussed on the back rooms ofopen data, and looking specifi cally at the invisible work necessary to construct open datasets. It showsthat the adoption of open standards is increasingly becoming an indicator of the advancement of opendata programmes. Enacting open standards involves much more than simple technical operations, itoperates a quiet and localised transformation of bureaucracies, in which the decisions of data workershave substantive consequences for how the open government data and transparency agendas areperformed.Keywords: Open Government Data; Open Standards; Enactment; Infrastructure Studies; DataAssemblages

scholarly journals From Toddler to Teen: Growth of an Open Data Ecosystem

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maximilian Heimstädt
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Open Data ◽  
Open Government ◽  
Open Government Data ◽  
Government Data ◽  
Data Ecosystem ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Depth Interviews

Abstract: In this paper, the authors conceptualize Open Data ecosystems byanalysing the major stakeholders in the UK. The conceptualization is basedon a review of popular Open Data definitions and business ecosystemtheories, which are applied to qualitative empirical data. The work isinformed by a combination of discourse analysis and a content analysis ofin-depth interviews, undertaken during the summer of 2013. Drawing on theUK as a best practice example, the authors examine a set of structuralbusiness ecosystem properties: circular flow of resources, sustainability,demand that encourages supply, and dependence developing between suppliers,intermediaries, and users. The authors identify that gaps and shortcomingsremain. Most prominently, demand is not yet fully encouraging supply andactors have yet to experience fully mutual interdependence.Keywords: Open Data, Ecosystem, Open Government Data, Case Study, UnitedKingdom

scholarly journals Mitigating Challenges of Open Government Data

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nim Dvir
Keyword(s):  
Open Data ◽  
Open Government ◽  
End User ◽  
Policy Changes ◽  
Open Government Data ◽  
Data Consumption ◽  
Government Data ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
New Procedures

The Release of government dataset for public use can potentially strengthen the relationship between the government and its constituents. However, research shows that there are several challenges for open data effectiveness. This paper reviews current determents and issues associated with the open government data (OGD) procedures. The review concentrates on two ends of the spectrum: First, from the perspective of the preparation by the government, focusing on the organization of traditional governmental datasets and how the recording of the data is administered. Second, from the perspective of the users, focusing on the way in which the data is released to the general public and on human-computer interaction (HCI) issues between end-user and data-consumption interfaces. Following a thorough analysis of these two opposing challenges, the paper proposes approaches to mitigate them. This review and subsequent recommendations contribute and expand current understanding of open government data effectiveness and can lead to public policy changes, development of new procedures and strategies, and ultimately improvements at both ends of the federal open data endeavor.

scholarly journals Evaluating Civic Open Data Standards

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renee Sieber ◽  
Rachel Bloom
Keyword(s):  
Open Data ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Data Standards ◽  
Data Interoperability ◽  
Party Development ◽  
Qualitative Systematic Review ◽  
Open Government Data ◽  
Multiple Meanings ◽  
Government Data ◽  
Open Datasets

In many ways, a precondition to realizing the promise of open government data is the standardization of that data. Open data standards ensure interoperability, establish benchmarks in assessing whether governments achieve their goals in publishing open data, can better ensure accuracy of the data. Interoperability enables the use of off-the shelf software and can ease third party development of products that serves multiple locales. Our project aims to determine which standards for civic data are “best” to open up government data. We began by disambiguating the multiple meanings of what constitutes a data standard by creating a standards stack. The empirical research started by identifying twelve “high value” open datasets for which we found 22 data standards. A qualitative systematic review of the gray literature and standards documentation generated 18 evaluation metrics, which we grouped into four categories. We evaluated the metrics with civic data standards. Our goal is to identify and characterize types of standards and provide a systematic way to assess their quality.

scholarly journals Mitigating Challenges of Open Government Data

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nim Dvir
Keyword(s):  
Open Data ◽  
Open Government ◽  
End User ◽  
Policy Changes ◽  
Open Government Data ◽  
Data Consumption ◽  
Government Data ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
New Procedures

The Release of government dataset for public use can potentially strengthen the relationship between the government and its constituents. However, research shows that there are several challenges for open data effectiveness. This paper reviews current determinants and issues associated with the open government data (OGD) procedures. The review concentrates on two ends of the spectrum: First, from the perspective of the preparation by the government, focusing on the organization of traditional governmental datasets and how the recording of the data is administered. Second, from the perspective of the users, focusing on the way in which the data is released to the general public and on human-computer interaction (HCI) issues between end-user and data-consumption interfaces. Following a thorough analysis of these two opposing challenges, the paper proposes approaches to mitigate them. This review and subsequent recommendations contribute and expand current understanding of open government data effectiveness and can lead to public policy changes, development of new procedures and strategies, and ultimately improvements at both ends of the federal open data endeavor.

scholarly journals Smarter Open Government Data for Society 5.0: Are Your Open Data Smart Enough?

Sensors ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (15) ◽  
pp. 5204
Author(s):  
Anastasija Nikiforova
Keyword(s):  
Industry 4.0 ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Open Data ◽  
Digital Data ◽  
Open Government ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Time Data ◽  
Open Government Data ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Government Data

Nowadays, governments launch open government data (OGD) portals that provide data that can be accessed and used by everyone for their own needs. Although the potential economic value of open (government) data is assessed in millions and billions, not all open data are reused. Moreover, the open (government) data initiative as well as users’ intent for open (government) data are changing continuously and today, in line with IoT and smart city trends, real-time data and sensor-generated data have higher interest for users. These “smarter” open (government) data are also considered to be one of the crucial drivers for the sustainable economy, and might have an impact on information and communication technology (ICT) innovation and become a creativity bridge in developing a new ecosystem in Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0. The paper inspects OGD portals of 60 countries in order to understand the correspondence of their content to the Society 5.0 expectations. The paper provides a report on how much countries provide these data, focusing on some open (government) data success facilitating factors for both the portal in general and data sets of interest in particular. The presence of “smarter” data, their level of accessibility, availability, currency and timeliness, as well as support for users, are analyzed. The list of most competitive countries by data category are provided. This makes it possible to understand which OGD portals react to users’ needs, Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0 request the opening and updating of data for their further potential reuse, which is essential in the digital data-driven world.

scholarly journals Geospatial Open Data Usage and Metadata Quality

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 30
Author(s):  
Alfonso Quarati ◽  
Monica De Martino ◽  
Sergio Rosim
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Information ◽  
Open Data ◽  
Poor Quality ◽  
Data Usage ◽  
Open Government Data ◽  
Metadata Quality ◽  
Geospatial Datasets ◽  
Government Data ◽  
Determining Factor

The Open Government Data portals (OGD), thanks to the presence of thousands of geo-referenced datasets, containing spatial information are of extreme interest for any analysis or process relating to the territory. For this to happen, users must be enabled to access these datasets and reuse them. An element often considered as hindering the full dissemination of OGD data is the quality of their metadata. Starting from an experimental investigation conducted on over 160,000 geospatial datasets belonging to six national and international OGD portals, this work has as its first objective to provide an overview of the usage of these portals measured in terms of datasets views and downloads. Furthermore, to assess the possible influence of the quality of the metadata on the use of geospatial datasets, an assessment of the metadata for each dataset was carried out, and the correlation between these two variables was measured. The results obtained showed a significant underutilization of geospatial datasets and a generally poor quality of their metadata. In addition, a weak correlation was found between the use and quality of the metadata, not such as to assert with certainty that the latter is a determining factor of the former.

scholarly journals Data ideologies of an interested public: A study of grassroots open government data intermediaries

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 205395171769075 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Schrock ◽  
Gwen Shaffer
Keyword(s):  
Open Data ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Software Developers ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Landscape ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
Open Government Data ◽  
Government Data ◽  
A Site ◽  
Institutional Actors

Government officials claim open data can improve internal and external communication and collaboration. These promises hinge on “data intermediaries”: extra-institutional actors that obtain, use, and translate data for the public. However, we know little about why these individuals might regard open data as a site of civic participation. In response, we draw on Ilana Gershon to conceptualize culturally situated and socially constructed perspectives on data, or “data ideologies.” This study employs mixed methodologies to examine why members of the public hold particular data ideologies and how they vary. In late 2015 the authors engaged the public through a commission in a diverse city of approximately 500,000. Qualitative data was collected from three public focus groups with residents. Simultaneously, we obtained quantitative data from surveys. Participants’ data ideologies varied based on how they perceived data to be useful for collaboration, tasks, and translations. Bucking the “geek” stereotype, only a minority of those surveyed (20%) were professional software developers or engineers. Although only a nascent movement, we argue open data intermediaries have important roles to play in a new political landscape.

Enhancing transparency through open government data: the case of data portals and their features and capabilities

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Lněnička ◽  
Renata Machova ◽  
Jolana Volejníková ◽  
Veronika Linhartová ◽  
Radka Knezackova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Open Data ◽  
Open Government ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Web Content ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Domain Experts ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
Open Government Data ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Government Data

PurposeThe purpose of this paper was to draw on evidence from computer-mediated transparency and examine the argument that open government data and national data infrastructures represented by open data portals can help in enhancing transparency by providing various relevant features and capabilities for stakeholders' interactions.Design/methodology/approachThe developed methodology consisted of a two-step strategy to investigate research questions. First, a web content analysis was conducted to identify the most common features and capabilities provided by existing national open data portals. The second step involved performing the Delphi process by surveying domain experts to measure the diversity of their opinions on this topic.FindingsIdentified features and capabilities were classified into categories and ranked according to their importance. By formalizing these feature-related transparency mechanisms through which stakeholders work with data sets we provided recommendations on how to incorporate them into designing and developing open data portals.Social implicationsThe creation of appropriate open data portals aims to fulfil the principles of open government and enables stakeholders to effectively engage in the policy and decision-making processes.Originality/valueBy analyzing existing national open data portals and validating the feature-related transparency mechanisms, this paper fills this gap in existing literature on designing and developing open data portals for transparency efforts.

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