Conference Paper by Christine Meschede and Tobias Siebenlist: “Since the adoption of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in 2015 – an ambitious agenda to end poverty, combat environmental threats and ensure prosperity for everyone – some effort has been made regarding the adequate measuring of the progress on its targets. As the crucial point is the availability of sufficient, comparable information, open data can play a key role. The coverage of open data, i.e., data that is machine-readable, freely available and reusable for everyone, is assessed by several measurement tools. We propose the use of open governmental data to make the achievement of SDGs easy and transparent to measure. For this purpose, a mapping of the open data categories to the SDGs is presented. Further, we argue that the SDGs need to be tackled in particular at the city level. For analyzing the current applicability of open data for measuring progress on the SDGs, we provide a small-scale case study on German open data portals and the embedded data categories and datasets. The results suggest that further standardization is needed in order to be able to use open data for comparing cities and their progress towards the SDGs….(More)”.
An open platform centric approach for scalable government service delivery to the poor: The Aadhaar case
Paper by Sandip Mukhopadhyay, Harry Bouwman and Mahadeo PrasadJaiswal: “The efficient delivery of government services to the poor, or Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP), faces many challenges. While a core problem is the lack of scalability, that could be solved by the rapid proliferation of platforms and associated ecosystems. Existing research involving platforms focus on modularity, openness, ecosystem leadership and governance, as well as on their impact on innovation, scale and agility. However, existing studies fail to explore the role of platform in scalable e-government services delivery on an empirical level. Based on an in-depth case study of the world’s largest biometric identity platform, used by millions of the poor in India, we develop a set of propositions connecting the attributes of a digital platform ecosystem to different indicators for the scalability of government service delivery. We found that modular architecture, combined with limited functionality in core modules, and open standards combined with controlled access and ecosystem governance enabled by keystone behaviour, have a positive impact on scalability. The research provides insights to policy-makers and government officials alike, particularly those in nations struggling to provide basic services to poor and marginalised. …(More)”.
Disinformation Rated As Significant of a Problem As Gun Violence and Terrorism
Report by the Institute for Public Relations: “Sixty-three percent of Americans view disinformation—deliberately biased and misleading information—as a “major” problem in society, on par with gun violence (63%) and terrorism (66%), according to the 2019 Institute for Public Relations Disinformation in Society Report.
The 2019 IPR Disinformation in Society Report surveyed 2,200 adults to determine the prevalence of disinformation, who is responsible for sharing disinformation, the level of trust in different information sources, and the parties responsible for combatting disinformation.
“One surprising finding was how significant of a problem both Republicans and Democrats rated disinformation,” said Dr. Tina McCorkindale, APR, President and CEO of the Institute for Public Relations. “Unfortunately, only a few organizations outside of the media literacy and news space devote resources to help fix it, including many of the perceived culprits responsible for spreading disinformation.”
More than half (51%) of the respondents said they encounter disinformation at least once a day, while 78% said they see it once a week. Four in five adults (80%) said they are confident in their ability to recognize false news and information. Additionally, nearly half of Americans (47%) said they “often” or “always” go to other sources to see if news and information are accurate….(More)”.
Access to Data in Connected Cars and the Recent Reform of the Motor Vehicle Type Approval Regulation
Paper by Wolfgang Kerber and Daniel Moeller: “The need for regulatory solutions for access to in-vehicle data and resources of connected cars is one of the big controversial and unsolved policy issues. Last year the EU revised the Motor Vehicle Type Approval Regulation which already entailed a FRAND-like solution for the access to repair and maintenance information (RMI) to protect competition on the automotive aftermarkets. However, the transition to connected cars changes the technological conditions for this regulatory solution significantly. This paper analyzes the reform of the type approval regulation and shows that the regulatory solutions for access to RMI are so far only very insufficiently capable of dealing with the challenges coming along with increased connectivity, e.g. with regard to the new remote diagnostic, repair and maintenance services. Therefore, an important result of the paper is that the transition to connected cars will require a further reform of the rules for the regulated access to RMI (esp. with regard to data access, interoperability, and safety/security issues). However, our analysis also suggests that the basic approach of the current regulated access regime for RMI in the type approval regulation can also be a model for developing general solutions for the currently unsolved problems of access to in-vehicle data and resources in the ecosystem of connected driving….(More)”.
The Public Domain
Article by Ilanah Simon Fhima: “…explores whether it is possible to identify and delineate the public domain in intellectual property law.
The article begins with a review of existing IP scholarship on the public domain. Identifying that the prevailing model of the public domain relies upon analogies to the commons, it questions how well a model based upon medieval real property holdings might be expected to capture the nuances of intangible property in the internet age. Additionally, academic focus is predominantly directed on copyright law at the expense of other fields of intellectual endeavour and adopts a US-centric viewpoint, which may not reflective of the different settlement reached in the EU-influenced UK. The article then explores whether an alternative rhetoric in ‘no property’ – tangible objects which cannot be propertised – or a potential analogy with public rights of access to land might provide more suitable alternatives.
Ultimately, the article concludes that it is impossible to draw a complete map of the public domain in terms of what should not be propertised. Instead, it advocates for a positive conception of the public domain, based on individual uses that should always remain free, and the general public interests underlying those uses. This more flexible approach allows the law to evolve in response to specific changes in technology and social conditions, while at the same time maintaining a focus on core non-negotiable freedoms. It also consider whether the same methodology can be applied to tangible property….(More)”.
Transparency in the EU Institutions – An Overview
Paper by Gianluca Sgueo: “The concepts of transparency of the public sector has been in existence, in various forms, for centuries. Academics, however, agree on the fact that transparency should be qualified as a modern concept. The wave of government reforms that occurred in the 1950s and the 1960s fostered the culture of transparent, accessible and accountable bureaucracies. In the 1990s, following on the spread of technologies, terms like “Government 2.0” and “open government” were coined to describe the use that public administrations made of the Internet and other digital tools in order to foster civic engagement, improve transparency, and enhance the efficiency of government services.
Transparency has come to the fore again over the past few years. National and supranational regulators (including the European Union) have placed transparency among the priorities in their regulatory agendas. Enhanced transparency in decision-making is considered to be a solution to the decline of trust in the public sector, a limit to the negative impact of conspiracy theories and fake news, and also a way to revitalise civic engagement.
EU institutions promote transparency across different lines of action. Exemplary are the ongoing debates on reforming the legislative procedure of the Union, regulating lobbying activities, making available data in open format and digitalising services. Also relevant is the role of the European Ombudsman in promoting a culture of transparency at the EU level.
Studies suggest that transparency and participation in public governance are having a positive impact on the accountability of EU institutions, and hence on citizens’ perceptions of their activities. The present briefing offers an overview of the actions that EU institutions are implementing to foster transparency, analyzing the potential benefits and briefly discussing its possible drawbacks…(More)”.
Measuring and Protecting Privacy in the Always-On Era
Paper by Dan Feldman and Eldar Haber: “Datamining practices have become greatly enhanced in the interconnected era. What began with the internetnow continues through the Internet of Things (IoT), whereby users can constantly be connected to the internet through various means like televisions, smartphones, wearables and computerized personal assistants, among other “things.” As many of these devices operate in a so-called “always-on” mode, constantly receiving and transmitting data, the increased use of IoT devices might lead society into an “always-on” era, where individuals are constantly datafied. As the current regulatory approach to privacy is sectoral in nature, i.e., protects privacy only within a specific context of information gathering or use, and directed only to specific pre-defined industries or a specific cohort, the individual’s privacy is at great risk. On the other hand, strict privacy regulation might negatively impact data utility which serves many purposes, and, perhaps mainly, is crucial for technological development and innovation. The tradeoff between data utility and privacy protection is most unlikely to be resolved under the sectoral approach to privacy, but a technological solution that relies mostly on a method called differential privacy might be of great help. It essentially suggests adding “noise” to data deemed sensitive ex-ante, depending on various parameters further suggested in this Article. In other words, using computational solutions combined with formulas that measure the probability of data sensitivity, privacy could be better protected in the always-on era.
This Article introduces legal and computational methods that could be used by IoT service providers and will optimally balance the tradeoff between data utility and privacy. It comprises several stages. The first Part discusses the protection of privacy under the sectoral approach, and estimates what values are embedded in it. The second Part discusses privacy protection in the “always-on” era. First it assesses how technological changes have shaped the sectoral regulation, then discusses why privacy is negatively impacted by IoT devices and the potential applicability of new regulatory mechanisms to meet the challenges of the “always-on” era. After concluding that the current regulatory framework is severely limited in protecting individuals’ privacy, the third Part discusses technology as a panacea, while offering a new computational model that relies on differential privacy and a modern technique called private coreset. The proposed model seeks to introduce “noise” to data on the user’s side to preserve individual’s privacy — depending on the probability of data sensitivity of the IoT device — while enabling service providers to utilize the data….(More)”.
Supreme Court rules against newspaper seeking access to food stamp data
Josh Gerstein at Politico: “The Supreme Court on Monday handed a victory to businesses seeking to block their information from being disclosed to the public after it winds up in the hands of the federal government.
The justices ruled in favor of retailers seeking to prevent a South Dakota newspaper from obtaining store-level data on the redemption of food stamp benefits, now officially known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
The high court ruling rejected a nearly half-century-old appeals court precedent that allowed the withholding of business records under the Freedom of Information Act only in cases where harm would result either to the business or to the government’s ability to acquire information in the future.
The latest case was set into motion when the U.S. Department of Agriculture refused to disclose the store-level SNAP data in response to a 2011 FOIA request from the Argus Leader, the daily newspaper in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The newspaper sued, but a federal district court ruled in favor of the USDA.
The Argus Leader appealed, and the U.S. Appeals Court for the 8th Circuit ruled that the exemption the USDA was citing did not apply in this case, sending the issue back to a lower court. The district court was tasked with determining whether the USDA was covered by a separate FOIA exemption governing information that would cause competitive injury if released.
That court ruled in favor of the newspaper, at which point the Food Marketing Institute, a trade group that represents retailers such as grocery stores, filed an appeal in lieu of the USDA….(More)”.
Smarter Select Committees
Theo Bass at Nesta: “This report outlines how digital tools and methods can help select committees restore public trust in democracy, reinvigorate public engagement in Parliament and enhance the work of committees themselves.
Since their establishment in 1979, select committees have provided one of our most important democratic functions. At their best, committees gather available evidence, data and insight; tap into public experiences and concerns; provide a space for thoughtful deliberation; and help parliament make better decisions. However, the 40th anniversary of select committees presents an important opportunity to re-examine this vital parliamentary system to ensure they are fit for the 21st century.
Since 2012 select committees have committed to public engagement as a ‘core task’ of their work, but their approach has not been systematic and they still struggle to reach beyond the usual suspects, or find ways to gather relevant knowledge quickly and effectively. With public trust in democracy deteriorating, the imperative to innovate, improve legitimacy and find new ways to involve people in national politics is stronger than ever. This is where digital innovation can help.
If used effectively, digital tools and methods offer select committees the opportunity to be more transparent and accessible to a wider range of people, improving relevance and impact. Like any good public engagement, this needs careful design, without which digital participation risks being distorting and unhelpful, amplifying the loudest or least informed voices.
To achieve success, stronger ambition and commitment by senior staff and MPs, as well as experimentation and learning through trial and improvement will be essential. We recommend that the UK Parliament commits to running at least five pilots for digital participation, which we outline in more detail in the final section of this report….(More)”.
The Geometry of Thought
Barbara Tversky at Edge: “…So far, we have categories and themes, in our minds and in the world. Your mind might have jumped back to lines: we arrange towels and dishes and toys in lines on shelves. That seems by necessity—after all, there’s gravity. But we line up windows in rows in apartment and office buildings; surely, gravity doesn’t require that. Buildings are lined up on streets. Streets are traditionally lined up in grids, not just in the west but also in the east. Also not required by gravity, more likely by our desire to organize. I did say lines are not necessarily straight, though there are huge advantages to straight lines, but you might be thinking: what about the curved streets and paths common in US suburbs and Chinese gardens? Answers: first, almost nothing is always (note the hedge, I added “almost”). Second, the curved streets aren’t so much designed to disorient you, though they do that, but to give a feeling of mystery and discovery. And perhaps to slow down traffic. There’s aesthetics too. Some people like curves, others like lines.
Our arrangements in space go far beyond lines and categories. We create hierarchies of categories, plates on one shelf, bowls on another, arranged by size. Books arranged by topic, then ordered alphabetically by author. Table settings arranged in 1-1 correspondences, everyone gets a plate and a glass and a napkin and cutlery. There are also symmetries and repetitions and recursions in both the outsides and insides of buildings. There are orderly arrangements in time as well as space. It’s beginning to sound like programming.
We’ve begun an answer to the question: how do we structure our thoughts and our world? Many ways, not just one, and they mirror each other. We put our minds in the world. The mind in the world creates common ground for our collective thoughts. It informs us, tells us what it is, it directs our thoughts and it directs our actions. Think how different our world looks, where nearly everything is designed, from the world of our hunter-gatherer ancestors. Think of what that organization, an organization by abstractions, does to our minds and to our bodies, even tiny minds and bodies….(More)”.