SMW Introduction: Difference between revisions

The simple reasons are it will make our society more authentically inclusive, representative and efficient by creating new levels participation. Data collected by the government (and other public institutions) is invaluable when creating information on features (built and natural resources and infrastructure), spending and partnerships. Governments have critical short and long term funding problems, and it's impossible and undesirable for the government to address every requirement. Non profit and social economy organizations exist, which can sometimes obtain public data, but the number of addressable niches aren't practically served by silo institutions. Opening data up with intentional access techniques and policies leads to more participation — more ability for individual citizens to understand, organize and analyze, including exchanging with professionals. Much like [http://techastronomy.com/article.asp?articleid=58065&7-Great-Discoveries-by-Amateur-Astronomers hobbyist astronomers can be key to important breakthroughs], there is tremendous potential in public data if it is shared.

Based on the ease and minimal cost of gathering and organizing data functionality and interested parties on the Internet, an as yet unnamed new sector of public participation, including loosely affiliated individuals and groups such as http://www.visiblegovernment.ca, http://opengovdata.ru, http://www.mysociety.org and http://open.org.nz, is developing. This sector includes individuals, physical communities, and communities of interest, it includes real experts, dedicated hobbyists and the casually interested. They try to solve problems and better understand their world, but they need real data. These groups can work reciprocally with our existing institutions to efficiently fill gaps and build our systems. They can [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crowdsourcing crowd source] [http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page large] [http://www.wikipedia.org tasks], develop and maintain specialized tools, and build infrastructure services.

There are two main technical requirements to make digital information reusable and available - well known access mechanisms, and the descriptions of how data is organized and detailed for reliable re-use.  Efforts over the years have struggled with complexity and standardization, with major initiatives interfering with each other for technical or market reasons. However, with the value seen through rich information re-use (for example, in banking applications and partnership programs), many practical ad hoc, de facto and standard methods exists.

Another major concern is the incentive to share information. Today it's common for non profit organizations to hoard their information, to create "proprietary databases" they can use to pitch to granting agencies. Another factor is that ignoring standards allows efforts to move ahead on their own terms, without making their systems fit into larger systems which could slow them down. Another factor is insecurity - an organization may have a perfectly useful database, but in implementation it may not compare well to best technical efforts.  

Another factor holding things back is how we use computers today - for the most part, like a typewriter. Not many people embed data from spreadsheets into their email, use automatic facilities for events and contacts, share to-do tasks, and so on. Documents and communications are one-offs, out of date the moment they're sent, and nothing is explicit in them. A semantic approach to computer data will help change this. Data will be more consistent, and when it comes to important statements we should be able to expect more. Increasing [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_literacy digital literacy] is an issue here. Services like Facebook and Twitter introduce participation and embedded data that leads the way, along with the popular idea of 'infotainment.' Mapquest pushed ahead with interactive maps — information about the public environment — and today these services are better designed and more available than facilities produced by the government. The forces of automated, worldwide spam and fraud on the Internet are creating defenses, cultural and technical, suitable for mass participation.