BALANCING THE PROMISES AND HAZARDS OF OPEN DATA
An important strand of critical and practical research for the Living Archives project is an investigation into Open Data. We balance the promises and the hazards of Open Data, moving beyond simple assertions that opening data online guarantees inclusion. We explore modes of openness and expand the relevant data streams to include those coming from bodies and the environment.
The Open Data & Cultural Archiving project is in the phase of discussion and exploration. We are all too aware that the dark side of openness and transparency is surveillance and the invasion of privacy. We have decided to establish a deeper critical and analytical basis prior to committing to the development of a particular technological interface, an app, or a particular data set. To this end, we have initiated a series of Open Data seminars.
» The first one took place in March 2014, A Day about Open Data and Cultural Archiving.
» The second round of seminars took place during the project’s ‘openness’ month, March 2015. It was decided to produce publication on The Politics, Practices and Poetics of Openness where scholars and practitioners are invited to think critically about how openness is changing social values and influencing how information is shared.
Researchers: All members of the Living Archives project.