1.
Pros and Cons of Open Data:
A Global South Perspective
Presentation to the International Committee for Scientific and Technical Information (ICSTI) roundtable :
"Actual Problems of Production and International Exchange of Scientific and Technical Information –
Solutions and Challenges”
Cape Town, 12 December 2016
Michelle Willmers
ROER4D Curation and Dissemination Manager
CC BY

2.
One of the primary drivers for
Open Data is that it has the
potential to save and improve
lives.
• Open clinical data for the past 20 years accelerating identification of
biomarkers for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimers and
aiding drug development processes.
• Open government data helping the work of community organisations
and small and medium enterprises (SMMEs), as well as promoting a
more informed citizenry.
• The rise of citizen science initiatives playing a significant role in
environmental and conservation efforts across the globe.

3.
It also good for science.
• Sharing data reduces the data collection overhead.
• Preparing data for publication entails scrutiny, which promotes scientific
rigour.
• Preparing data for publication requires data stewardship, which evolves
the field of data management and promotes a more professional
approach to data practice on the part of researchers.
• We have a more democratic global base of data contributors, turning
research “consumer” communities into data producers.
• Intrinsically drives collaboration, inter-disciplinarity, and reproducibility,
and increases the potential for science to address real-world issues.

4.
The rise of Open Data takes place against a
global backdrop in which …
• Higher education and the artefacts of research and teaching are being
increasingly commodified (and disaggregated). We see the rise of “Open”
outputs as a new commodity.
• The academic community is starting to see “everything as data”, blurring
traditional divides between the research and teaching process.
• New roles and professions are being established in the research production
lifecycle.
• Academics, projects and institutions increasingly function as self-publishers,
particularly in context of serving Open Research and Open Data mandates
and agendas.
• Access to data support services, e-infrastructure, and resources is a
principle differentiating factor in terms of who gets to “play in the sand pit”.
• Researchers and academics require support and resourcing to participate in
emerging scholarly communication processes.

5.
There is an abundance of information online. No longer single source of
scholarship (journal, book). No longer just about scholar-to-scholar
communication. This changes how we locate, verify and measure new
information.
“Rather than finding information, it is the
filtering of relevant information that is hard to
do on the internet.”
(David Weinberg)

6.
Some tough questions and
concerns regarding Open Data
activity
• What about global representation?
• What about ownership?
• What about quality?
• What about privacy?
• What about the challenges of stewardship, standards, and interoperability?
(We cannot assume “sameness”.)
• How do we attribute and track usage?
• What are the reward and incentive systems that will govern activity in
emerging areas of scholarly activity?
• What are the implications for how we think about the scholarly record?
• Who will play the role of aggregation, and who will decide the principles
upon which this is done? There is a need to acknowledge global power
dynamics and neo-colonial legacy.

7.
“Open access to this knowledge is critical if it is to be
shared between individuals and groups. But sharing alone
is not enough.
Knowledge only becomes useful when we can distinguish
between relevant and less relevant information, when we
can discuss aspects of the information, when we can
annotate and improve on ideas, when we can devise new
approaches and collaborate online.”
(Olijhoek 2012)

8.
The Global South (developing
country) context has particular
considerations…
• Differing research cultures and protocols.
• Differing understandings of ethics and consent approval processes.
• Challenge of working in multi-lingual contexts.
• Imperative to curate and disseminate in a manner that is accessible in
resource-constrained environments.
• Strategies required to overcome research infrastructure and policy framework
deficits.

9.
Growing global participation in Open
Data activity requires …
• Research capacity strengthening. Growing capacity in how to collect,
manage, curate, and publish data.
• The development of publishing and curatorial expertise within institutions,
organisations, and research projects.
• A collaborative approach towards establishment and sharing of e-
infrastructure that is multi-lingual, trans-disciplinary, and agnostic in its
approach. (Not just for the Life Sciences and not just about “Big Data”.)
• Cohesive approach to establishing a policy and intellectual property
framework.

10.
References
Olijhoek T (2012) Scientific social networks are the future of science.
http://access.okfn.org/2012/03/20/scientific-social-networks-are-the-future-of-
science/ [Posted 20 March 2012]
Weinberg D (2012) http://www.toobigtoknow.com/