#IODC15 Day 1: Is there a need to reframe the open data discourse?

"The International Open Data Conference 2015 (IODC 2015) kicked off this morning with an opening plenary that featured prominent speakers with different viewpoints (the optimists, the critical), roles (evangelists, suppliers, intermediaries, users), and from different sectors (government, media, INGO, private sector, research institute).  The opening plenary, and the sessions within the day, raised very important issues. Despite the fact that we have travelled long enough as an open data community, we still struggle with definitions, questions about what open data is, what can be made open, and how we define and operationalise data ownership....From a developing country perspective, the opening plenary struck me significantly in terms of how we frame the open data discourse. To an extent, the discussion highlighted the differences that do not only exist in the open data sphere but also elsewhere – differences between countries, differences within countries, differences across disciplines....North or South, countries that are developed and developing....It’s quite disturbing that often we forget that these differences exist...  "