Some Observations on the Practice of “Open Data” As Opposed to Its Promise

Abstract

This note is a contribution to the continuing debates and analyses about what can and should be done to make public data “open.” In this note, I share some observations about current practices surrounding public data. In general, these observations lead to the insight that “absolutely open” public data is and will continue to be rare. Instead, various types of data are apt to be more or less open, and the reasons for the degree of openness may vary from one situation to another, that is  type of data, by country, by type of institution, etc.