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Data Licensing Best Practices Guide
posted by Satri
on Thursday November 27, @10:55AM
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from the best-licensing-is-spatial-licensing dept.
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from the best-licensing-is-spatial-licensing dept.
GeoConnections informs us of the availability of their new and improved Government Geographic Data Licensing Best Practices Guide. This is an extensive 184-pages guide. From the introduction: "The first version of the Guide to Best Practices was released in the Winter of 2005. Its
principal objective was to serve as a continually maintained core document detailing
progress in the development of an integrated framework for the licensing of government
geographic data. It reflected the then current understanding of that framework, issues that
needed to be resolved, and provided an assessment of those discussions from the
perspectives of the licensing practitioner and data user.
Continuous dialogue with government data licensing practioners, users and industry
revealed some shortfalls with Version 1 of the Guide to Best Practices. The prevalency of
new distribution models, the impact of technological advances on the dissemination of
government geographic data and the evolutionary nature of government data dissemination
policy, as well as other overarching government policy positions, precipitated the
GeoConnections Secretariat to revive the Data Licensing Guide Working Group and to
commence work, in the Winter of 2007, on Version 2 of the Guide to Best Practices.
Version 2 of the Guide to Best Practices thus builds on its predecessor, augmenting it: 1)
by refining the recommended integrated framework for the licensing of government
geographic data, addressing distribution models that have emerged or increased in
prevalence, and ; 2) through its treatment of issues that are now, in 2008, at the forefront of
matters that are of vivid interest to government data licensing practioners."
Related Stories
Manitoba's Free Spatial Data Policy
[+]
All Points Blog links to a Guardian article on Manitoba's free spatial data policy. From the article: "Under the initiative, geospatial data held by different provincial agencies is harmonised and made available to all comers through internet and intranet sites. This is a vivid contrast to the UK government approach, which encourages state bodies holding data to treat it as intellectual property and to charge for its use, even by other parts of government."
The Role and Value of National Mapping Organisations
[+]
Vector One and Spatial Sustain blogs share their thoughts on the role and value of National mapping organizations. From Vector One: "It is the seed for developing land use developments, managerial strategies for environment, land use, population and other national policy initiatives. Without such data, a country is a collection of places with no real understanding, no basis for national decision making relative to land resources and has no consistent and useful means for protecting and understanding itself. How do you put a value on that? In recent times national mapping agencies have come under debate. More often than not this has originated from those who would like all their data to be free." From Spatial Sustain: "The advent of GIS, with map making tools for the masses, contributed significantly to the downfall of centralized map making. With the advent of GIS, federal agencies each undertook their own mapping initiatives that specifically met their individual objectives." See also related stories below.
Earth Observation Data Policies
[+]
The DataLibre blog runs an entry on earth observation data policies, specifically discussing an April 2004 short summary on Canadian EO data policy. From the blog: "The paper also includes the following which is an excellent way to think about data pricing and its effects:
- A direct association exists between pricing and its effects on public access and commercialisation of government agency information. Current pricing problems are having a deleterious effect on the affordability of spatial data in Canada, France, and the United Kingdom;
- A direct association exists between the application of intellectual property rights and the degree of public access and commercialisation of government agency information. The greater the restrictions on access, the less successful dissemination programs will be;
- Reducing prices and relaxing intellectual property restrictions on government datasets are significant factors improving opportunities for access and commercialization for stakeholders in the geographic information community."
This is a recurring theme, several previous stories copied below.
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