COLUMN: Open data supports transparency accountability, and economic development - Summerland Review

"Open data is important for transparency and accountability, and for promoting informed public participation in the decision-making process. This in turn improves the responsiveness of the municipality to new ideas, demands and needs.

Not only should people have free access to public data, they should also be able to use that data any way they see fit.

In the 21st Century, data drives innovation and economic development. People need to be able to access information, learn from it, reuse it, build on it, and ultimately profit from it. The more data can be used, and combined with other data (from public or private sources), the more valuable it becomes.

Analyzing and harnessing data in novel ways to serve new purposes requires a shift in the way we think about public information.

Traditionally, public data is latent. It is collected for a specific purpose after which it is discarded or filed away and forgotten."