[p2p-research] Empoering the Empowered or Public Data for Everyone

[Nicholas Roberts]

How Open Data is Used Against the
Poor<http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/when_open_data_is_bad.php>
By Marshall Kirkpatrick<http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/author/marshall-kirkpatrick.php>
 / September 6, 2010 4:07 PM / 3
Comments<http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/when_open_data_is_bad.php#comments>
2

[image: michaelgurstein%20]Open data is all the rage these days, but is
simply opening up aggregate public information for outside analysis enough
to change the world for the better? A new article by Mike Gurstein, Editor
of the influential Journal of Community Informatics <http://ci-journal.net/>,
argues that open data may merely make the rich richer and the poor poorer,
unless the "open access" paradigm is extended with what he calls "effective
use."

Here at ReadWriteWeb, we often write about the potential for innovation
created by aggregate online and public data. Leading technology publisher
Tim O'Reilly is a big, open data proponent as well (his newest conference is
 all about big data <http://strataconf.com/strata2011>), but he called
Gurstein's article a "sobering account of how open data is used against the
poor..." "We need to think deeply about the future," O'Reilly
said<https://twitter.com/timoreilly>
 this afternoon.

Here's a long excerpt from Gurstein's post, Open Data: Empowering the
Empowered or Effective Data Use for
Everyone?<http://gurstein.wordpress.com/2010/09/02/open-data-empowering-the-empowered-or-effective-data-use-for-everyone/>



-- 
Nicholas Roberts
US 310 402 3513
http://Permaculture.TV
http://permaculture.coop
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