What is data transparency?
Transparency in the water sector
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Transparency is a concept related to fidelity and public access to information. In the water sector, this means ensuring that the citizens are informed about water quality, availability, and accessibility, and that they can understand how decisions are made and how money is spent. Transparency is beneficial because it allows society to become acquainted with the state of its water resources and take action if they are being misused.
OPEN DATA
In 2014, the United Nations defined the term data revolution as "an explosion in the volume of data, the speed with which they are produced, the number of producers, the diffusion, and the range of things in which there is data." Every day, more and more data is generated, and data has become essential in how governments, private businesses, and society make decisions.
According to the Open Knowledge Definition [2], open data is "data that can be used, reused, and redistributed freely by anyone, subject only, at most, to the requirement of attribution and share-alike." The main characteristics that open data should have:
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1) Access: The work must be available in its entirety and at a cost of reproduction not greater than reasonable and must be available in a convenient and modifiable form.
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Redistribution: The license will not prevent any party from selling or giving away the work, either on its own or as part of a package made up of works from many different sources. The license will not require royalties or other fees for such sale or distribution.
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No Technological Restriction: The work must be provided in a way that imposes no technological barriers to its use or redistribution.
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Integrity: The license may require as a condition for redistribution and reuse the attribution of contributors and creators to the work.
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No Discrimination Against Persons or Groups: The license must not discriminate against any person or group of persons, ensuring access for all.
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.No Discrimination in Fields of Endeavor: The license must not restrict anyone from using the work in a specific field of endeavor. For example, it must not restrict the use of the work in a business.
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Distribution of License: The rights attached to the work must apply to all to whom it is redistributed without the need for such parties to grant additional licenses.
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The license must not be specific to a package: The rights attached to the work must not depend on it being part of a particular package.
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The license must not restrict the redistribution of other works: The license must not impose restrictions on other works that are distributed along with the licensed work. For example, the license must not insist that all derivative works be open.
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Usually, institutions that publish open data have platforms that are not open source or open software, meaning that the source code cannot be inspected, modified, or improved. However, the conditions of the open data definition are present, and the datasets can be used, reused, and redistributed freely.
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REFERENCES
[1] Water Integrity Network Association. (2016). Transparency, Accountability & Participation. WIN. Available at: https://www.waterintegritynetwork.net/wigo/special-topics/transparency-accountability-participation/
[2] Open Knowledge Foundation. (s.f.). Open definition 2.1. Open Definition. Available at: https://opendefinition.org/od/2.1/en/
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