Open data and its effects on society are always woven into
infrastructural legacies, social relations, and the political economy.
This raises questions about how our understanding and engagement with
open data shifts when we focus on its situated use.
To shed light onto these questions, Situating Open Data provides several
empirical accounts of open data practices, the local implementation of
global initiatives, and the development of new open data ecosystems.
Drawing on case studies in different countries and contexts, the
chapters demonstrate the practices and actors involved in open
government data initiatives unfolding within different socio-political
settings.
The book proposes three recommendations for researchers, policy-makers
and practitioners. First, beyond upskilling through 'data literacy'
programmes, open data initiatives should be specified through the kinds
of data practices and effects they generate. Second, global visions of
open data implementation require more studies of the resonances and
tensions created in localised initiatives. And third, research into open
data ecosystems requires more attention to the histories and legacies of
information infrastructures and how these shape who benefits from open
data flows.
As such, this volume departs from the framing of data as a resource to
be deployed. Instead, it proposes a prism of different data practices in
different contexts through which to study the social relations,
capacities, infrastructural histories and power structures affecting
open data initiatives. It is hoped that the contributions collected in
Situating Open Data will spark critical reflection about the way open
data is locally practiced and implemented. The contributions should be
of interest to open data researchers, advocates, and those in or
advising government administrations designing and rolling out effective
open data initiatives.
