Yvette Pluijmers and Peter Weiss, Borders in Cyberspace: Conflicting Government Information Policies and their Economic Impacts, a "discussion draft", April 28, 2005. A detailed (81 pp.) analysis of OA to public-sector information, including publicly-funded scientific data, covering the benefits of OA, the arguments for cost-recovery, the (now hot) issue of government competition with the private sector, and case studies from the Netherlands, the UK, Germany, and Finland. Excerpt from the section on conclusions and recommendations: 'Open access policies are beneficial in the short term as well as in the longer term for the general public, the private sector and also for government entities....Government entities that have already separated their commercial activities into a private entity have realized that an open access policy is necessary in order to make privatisation of the commercial arm a success. In Europe, recognition is slowly emerging that open access to government information is critical to the information society, environmental protection, and economic growth....Restrictive data policies can have "ripple" effects on firms who could otherwise benefit from specialized services....Can weather sensitive firms (e.g. energy related firms as well as certain retailers and manufacturers) in the U.S. be at an advantage viz. similarly situated EU competitors due to the wide availability of weather risk management instruments in the U.S.?...We believe that open and unrestricted access to government information will lead to a net boost in jobs, and additional business formation leading to increased overall tax revenue....Governments should support full, open and unrestricted international access to scientific data for public interest purposes -- particularly statistical, scientific, geographical, environmental, and meteorological information of great public benefit. Such efforts to improve the exploitation of public sector information contribute significantly to maximizing its commercial, scientific, research and environmental value. Governments should let the private sector lead in using public sector information to meet the diverse needs of citizens and users for such products and services. Meeting these needs demands entrepreneurial and publishing skills that are most evident in the private sector. Market needs are best served by open and unrestricted access to public sector information.' (Thanks to Mapping Hacks.)
Posted by
Peter Suber at 5/28/2005 02:33:00 PM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
