WHAT IT IS
According to the Open Knowledge Foundation, Open Data are data that “anyone is free to use, reuse, and redistribute without restrictions, being subject at most to the requirement for attribution and/or sharing in the same way”.
WHY IT IS USED
Open Data is used to cure various pathologies:
Corruption. As has been scientifically (unfortunately, not very widely, ed.) demonstrated, the transparency of data (especially if they concern businesses and public and private bodies) hinders ”strange movements”: “making data available to everyone highlights dyscrasias and emphasizes discrepancies”.
Ignorance. The opening of data should foster knowledge, in-depth analysis, the non-superficiality typical of data which, like heat, are those “perceived” and not measured. The publication of raw data should encourage people to read, understand, interpret and analyze. Not only to rely on how others see, interpret and recount information.
Centering of power. Open Data published by Public Administrations lead people to participate proactively in public affairs, to be concerned with what happens and, above all, to become an active part of the process of continuous improvement that should be within institutions.
Disservices and inefficiency. The reading of a datum leads to an assessment of the efficiency of a service rendered by a PA, an institution, an association or a company with the purpose of making corrections to how it does not work or works badly.
Immobility. Through the use of Open Data, companies, associations, but also PAs themselves can build (and place on the market in the case of companies) new services that may be of collective interest.
WHEN NOT TO BE USED
Avoid using Open Data if you want to relax and appease anxiety. In this case, it is preferable to resort to generic positive storytelling on the work of PAs, companies, associations, possibly to be selected from those with no real references, numbers, evidence. In fact, by making it easy for everyone to know and understand phenomena, the use of Open Data is all the more damaging the more real data deviate from those that you want to prepare and serve up to others.
Open Data is to be avoided in all cases where you do not want to participate, when you prefer a fake transparency to working with active citizens, when you do not want to share management of public affairs. In particular, during election periods, the use of Open Data seriously jeopardizes the ability to unconsciously follow others, trusting and relying on the words of those who recount rather than on those who demonstrate.
Carefully avoid the use of Open Data if you do not want to know things you do not want to know, if there is no interest in the honest and clear conduct of companies, associations or institutions.
WHAT THE EFFECT OF THE DRUG CAN CHANGE
Collaboration by who reads the data, the desire to contribute to improvement of a process through data analysis and the reuse of data in favor of others may have a significant impact on the effects of Open Data, increasing their effectiveness.
HOW TO USE THIS MEDICINE
How much
Open Data can be taken in considerable quantities. It is not harmful to health (except in the cases described in “When not to be used”).
When and for how long
Open Data should be taken regularly, even in small doses for a long period. In fact, the benefits of reading and analyzing data cannot be immediate but can be detected after a medium-long period of time, useful for understanding the evolution of a phenomenon. The effectiveness of the active substance also emerges as a result of systemic intake. If taken properly, it creates dependence in the citizen.
How
Open Data can be taken at any time of day, week, month or year. It is ideal if read raw, not “prepared” by others, not pre-cooked, not chewed. It is ideal if consumed and reused with license and open format that allows the circulation and thus the expansion of public information assets.
WHAT TO DO IF YOU HAVE TAKEN AN EXCESSIVE DOSE OF THE DRUG
If Open Data becomes uncomfortable and creates stomach acidity due to an excess of realistic information on how the world works, just stop taking it with immediate effect, returning once again to the inevitable pre-cooked storytelling that others will certainly make available.
INTERACTION WITH OTHER DRUGS
Open Data produces positive effects when used in conjunction with participation and collaboration, of which it is a catalyst. It can be taken together with other anti-corruption measures to strengthen the effect of the cure and increase its effectiveness. It does not conflict with other active substances.
SIDE EFFECTS
Gastritis, irritability, strong acidity of the stomach, abdominal pain in subjects who are sensitive to information without filters. Should it become intolerable, it is advisable to suspend the drug to return to the serenity that only “sweetened” information can give.
Sonia Montegiove – Stefano Epifani
