While governments throughout the world have different approaches to how they make their public sector information (PSI) available and the terms under which the information may be reused, there appears to be a broad recognition of the importance of digital networks and PSI to the economy and to society. However, despite the huge investments in PSI and the even larger estimated effects, surprisingly little is known about the costs and benefits of different information policies on the information society and the knowledge economy. By understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the current assessment methods and their underlying criteria, it should be possible to improve and apply such tools to help rationalize the policies and to clarify the role of the internet in disseminating PSI. This in turn can help promote the efficiency and effectiveness of PSI investments and management, and to improve their downstream economic and social results. The workshop that is summarized in this volume was intended to review the state of the art in assessment methods and to improve the understanding of what is known and what needs to be known about the effects of PSI activities.

While governments throughout the world have different approaches to how they make their public sector information (PSI) available and the terms under which the information may be reused, there appears to be a broad recognition of the importance of digital networks and PSI to the economy and to society. However, despite the huge investments in PSI and the even larger estimated effects, surprisingly little is known about the costs and benefits of different information policies on the information society and the knowledge economy. By understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the current assessment methods and their underlying criteria, it should be possible to improve and apply such tools to help rationalize the policies and to clarify the role of the internet in disseminating PSI. This in turn can help promote the efficiency and effectiveness of PSI investments and management, and to improve their downstream economic and social results. The workshop that is summarized in this volume was intended to review the state of the art in assessment methods and to improve the understanding of what is known and what needs to be known about the effects of PSI activities.

The main objectives of this book are to expose key aspects that have a relevance when dealing with open data viewed from different perspectives and to provide appealing examples of how open data is implemented worldwide. The concept of open data as we know it today is the result of many different initiatives, both of a legislative and non-legislative nature, and promoted by a wide range of actors. Numerous regulatory antecedents to foster the concept of open data and embed it in national and international policy agendas have been undertaken on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as at a supranational level. The book highlights a number of the efforts made to promote open data in Europe, Asia and the United States. In addition to new insights, practical guidance and multiple disciplinary perspectives on open data, the book also addresses the transformation of current developments towards open data, which may be referred to as the democratisation of data. This book will support open data practitioners as well as open data scholars in their endeavours to promote open data implementation and research. Bastiaan van Loenen is associate professor and director of the Knowledge Centre Open Data at the Faculty of Architecture and The Built Environment of Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, as is Glenn Vancauwenberghe, who is a post-doctoral researcher, and Joep Crompvoets is a professor at the Public Governance Institute of the KU Leuven in Belgium.

Massive quantities of information are required to fuel the innovation process in a knowledge-based economy; a requirement that is in tension with intellectual property (IP) laws. Against this backdrop, leading thinkers in the IP arena explore the Šacce

Digital innovation — involving the Internet, its content and ecosystems of global users — is a rapidly evolving way of creating strategic and societal value. The phenomenon of Open data is on the rise and transforming the fundamental nature of how many industries, companies and governments connect with each other and the end-users of products and services — from increased customer-centric innovations, to winning political campaigns, and managing public health concerns. Open data holds the promise of greater transparency, greater accountability and empowerment of stakeholders. Yet curating and publicly sharing data can be difficult, requires substantive investments in knowledge infrastructures and incentives to do so are not well understood. Who is driving and enabling the open data movement? What motivates organizations to release data and how are they using it to create value? What are the current challenges and how are they being mitigated? What are the decision-frames adopted for sharing data? What are the possible applications and lessons to be learnt from current practices? What is the role of organisational ingredients and culture as a catalyst for adopting and facilitating open data practices? What is the possible impact of semantic web application? By exploring the multiple dimensions of open data and the interplay of economic utility, governance, societal values of fairness and trust, this volume seeks to entice readers by providing evidence-based answers to these questions, among others. Readers are tempted to a progressively revealing and enlightening journey from the conceptualisation to cultural proliferation of the latest trends in knowledge management: open data.Digital Innovation: Harnessing the Value of Open Data draws on practical experiences, bringing together widely distributed and latest knowledge of open data practices as case studies from researchers, academics, industry leaders, policy advisors and practitioners. In exploring the economics and technology paradigms, data governance and management practices of digital-centric private and public organizations, this volume sheds light on why there exists a need to embrace open data, what is needed to optimize the value of open data in driving digital innovation and how it is being currently conceived. The book draws a thought-provoking conclusion on open data as a purpose-driven phenomenon, with its disparate applications in a world of where global convergence on information sharing, storing and management are increasingly becoming a norm.Related Link(s)

Because the original and essential value of spatial data ' data that refer to specific geographical locations or areas ' lies in environmental decision-making, such data mostly originate in the public sector and are made available to people,

The Availability of Spatial and Environmental Data in the European Union