I am in favor of open data as it makes research opportunities equal for all.

In scientific research, and also the rate of discovery is accelerated by better access to data.

in,  21st century, the sciences depend on access to and use of factual data.  scientific inquiry is becoming more data-intensive in almost every discipline. Whether the field is meteorology, genomics, medicine or high-energy physics, research depends on the availability of multiple databases, from multiple public and private sources, and their openness to easy recombination, search and processing.

@Behrouz Ahmadi-Nedushan

Thanks for initiating the discussion. I agree with you that scientific inquiry is becoming more data-intensive in almost every discipline. But you know data collection costs money. If data is free then how that cost will be recovered?

Dear @Asmat, I do not think that  open data is  a threat for data producing organizations because data producing organizations do produce high quality data wht you do not find also in open access data.

@Abedallah M Rababah

Good point mentioned by you. But do you think users will accept  data of low quality and will this low quality data be useful for research activities.

Dear Asmat,

I am in favor of open data, however , I understand that due the difficulties, 100% open data may not feasible in near future . Cost is only one of the problems!

The debate on Open Data (please see the links for further info)

Arguments made on behalf of Open Data include the following:

• "Data belong to the human race". Typical examples are genomes, data on organisms, medical science, environmental data following the Aarhus Convention

• Public money was used to fund the work and so it should be universally available.  

Arguments against making all data available as Open Data include the following:

Privacy concerns may require that access to data is limited to specific users or to sub-sets of the data.

Sponsors do not get full value unless their data is used appropriately - sometimes this requires quality management, dissemination and branding efforts that can best be achieved by charging fees to users.i

http://usodi.org/blog/

https://learn.canvas.net/courses/4/pages/open-data-in-more-detail

http://localdata.citizenshipfoundation.org.uk/?page_id=30

Dear Behrouz,

You are right to mention that cost is one of the problems! Thanks for sharing quality links.

Open data is data that can be freely used, reused and redistributed by anyone - subject only, at most, to the requirement to attribute and share alike. Full definition can be seen here in the link.

Availability and Access: the data must be available as a whole and at no more than a reasonable reproduction cost, preferably by downloading over the internet. The data must also be available in a convenient and modifiable form.

Reuse and Redistribution: the data must be provided under terms that permit reuse and redistribution including the intermixing with other data sets.

Universal Participation: everyone must be able to use, reuse and redistribute - there should be no discrimination against fields of endeavor or against persons or groups. For example, ‘non-commercial’ restrictions that would prevent ‘commercial’ use, or restrictions of use for certain purposes (e.g. only in education), are not allowed.

This will be relevant only when this data is produced for the good of the community such as by the governments and NGOs. Some links are given here.

http://opendefinition.org/od/

https://www.data.gov/open-gov/

http://data.worldbank.org/

Respected Dr. Rao,

Thanks for detailed, useful and duly referred reply. If a data is downloaded from internet, can we say data is free as to use internet  one has to pay?

@Vyacheslav Lyashenko,

I agree that, data possessed by public organizations is a public good.

Dear Asmat

We need to check with the data policy of the web site. Each of the web sites will have their policies and the way it is to be accessed and quoted will be specified. I am giving links for a couple of such sites. We need to follow those guidelines.

https://www.data.gov/data-policy

http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/0,,contentMDK:20146401~pagePK:50016803~piPK:50016805~theSitePK:13,00.html

Thanks, Sir for sharing the links.

I like the OPEN DATA in terms of OPEN SCIENCE DATA! Who does not!? Dear @Asmat, I could not find the page on open data on WIKI that You have given! Anyhow, You have got so many fine answers! I am in a good company!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_science_data

"The Global Open Data Initiative (GODI) is an initiative led by civil society organizations to share principles and resources for governments and societies on how to best harness the opportunities created by opening government data. It is intended to provide a roadmap of policies and institutions that countries can use to build meaningful new open data reforms and initiatives, informed by the successes of others". - Link follows!

http://globalopendatainitiative.org/

Respected Ljubomir Jacić

I have rechecked the page that I referred. It is ok.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_data

Thanks for reply and the link to Global Open Data Initiative (GODI).

Dear @Asmat, here are some literature on Open Data available at Research Gate! It may help!

Article Towards open data based business: Survey on usage of open da...

Book Open data and beyond: Exploring existing open data projects ...

Sometimes the quality of something is worth what it cost. In cases where the cost of something is nothing it can be the case that the quality of that something is worth nothing. "Free," in terms of government spending is not truly free; tax payers cover the costs of government projects. For example, in the U.S. select state employees' information, including salary information, is free of charge, is online, and is very good quality data. There is no direct cost to the user but there is surely an indirect cost for making such data available.

Nevertheless, I am afraid that in order to make quality and useful data available to the public at no cost will require tax payers to pay the bill. There is no other way to cover the production cost of such data without a revenue generating method. The cost to make open data available will always be direct or indirect costs to the users of such data.

1. Better knowledge (access to data) = possibility to earn money.

2. Every limitation may increase price/income.

3. Every open access may decrease price/income.

Aformentioned situation means that every open access concerning market with real (or artificially created) need for data (or results of their analysis, e.g. prognoses) decreases income of data producing organizations. But there is difficult to estimate value and powerty of such markets. We can also assume that better access to data mining software can change situation of such organization.

I once published an article about comparison & contrast between industrial chemistry & applied chemistry (in Arabic language) in a Saudi Arabian Chemical website. One of my students re-published it in another site without my permission. My reaction was that I got very pleased. I do believe in free access to open data. The whole business of data producing organizations needs an overall review after the widespread of the internet. I think you noticed, like me, that when some site restricts data or information in front of you then, with little patience, you'll find what you want in another site, with probably more details.

Dear Sir,

I think, Open data is a boon for researchers and developers, its my personal experience. It is very useful for innovative research. As far as threat is concerned, i am completely agree with Mr. Nageswara that the data providers will have their policies and the way it is to be accessed.

I'm also in support for open data, especially for the developing world, where research is impeded by financial limitations.

I think the data producing companies are probably reselling other peoples work. to a large extent, so, they should get a real job and make a contribution, e.g. process the data into something meaningful and sell that report..

The raw data should be available for all to use at own discretion..

open data the only way to understand the issues, forces and problems, the community faces.

But these are only Knowledge inputs such as "War prone areas", which is of no use unless, a required sustainable action follows it.

@Reginald L. Bell,

I agree with you that free public data is in fact not free as it costs tax payers money.

@ Emilia Mikołajewska,

You are right; data mining services instead of data would definitely increase income of data producing organizations.

@ Dr. Nizar Matar,

It is true when over- restricted situation enforce people to look for other alternatives. It is really interesting to read about your personal experience.

@Gopal Krishna; @David Johnson

Welcome and thanks for your participation. Open data is a blessing for researcher community especially of developing countries. Perfect.

@Krishnan Umachandran,

I agree, data is essentially required to investigate problems and propose solutions.

Dear Sir, As open source data is good because, it is easily available but some time we cant get all the details in best of the extent that is a requirement for best result. 

Dear Moharana Choudhury,

You are right, it happens some times as you mentioned.

Truth is: Reliable and best results can't be  attained without good quality data. I agree with you.

Much data, and we are talking collections of facts in effect, is of little value until something is done with it... take the ncbi gene databases for example. There is cost to produce the db, but the value is in the annotations etc. For the overall public good, for me at least, it is clear that open data is a "good thing". 

What would you recommend a data collecting non-government organization to do in order to run their business? If the data is free, they have only costs, no income. How can they pay their employees? Do you know a business model of those organizations?

Good questions from dear  Professor Martin Schulz. I'll try to answer the first question : this type of organization requires money to rent a place, to cover publication costs, and to pay the employees. The financial resources could be made available from advertisements, "total" right for paper prints & selling them to libraries, and readiness to receive "unconditional" donations from individuals or groups who advocate free access to open data & information

@ Mark Perry,

Thanks for contributing with a good answer.

@ Martin Schulz,

That part of the question is not fully answered yet. Therefore, your observation is quite valid.

@ Dr. Nizar Matar,

Generally, I agree with your reply. You have mentioned the real challenge i.e. "unconditional" donations from individuals or groups who advocate free access to open data & information. Let us see who responds to your challenging arguments.

Dear Asmat,

I recently read this article from Jenni Tennison (ODI) about Open Data Business Model and I think it is a useful tool to think about the question that you pose. 

http://www.jenitennison.com/blog/node/172

Dear Asmat,

I don't feel OD may be a threat for organizations. In my opinion, its use may only bring benefits. Transparency for example if we talk about governments. Treat? only if the organizations have something to hide. But if they have, I am sure they will not publish this kind of datasets.

Regards

Dear Asmat,

I am heading a government task force in charge of opening data and believe your questions is particularly important in the practical implementation of OGD policy. In general we have found that revenue streams from data tend to be a relatively small fraction of the budget of public units, and can easily be made up for by a tiny budget increase or by collection of processing fees for extraordinary requests. Our preferred model is to publish as much data completely free as possible. This also provides opportunities for the data-producing organization to offer higher value-added services upon its data (analytics, forecasting) in order to realize monetary gain. 

So, in short, no, open data does not threaten the existence of organizations but it does call for a smart redefinition of their business model.

Respected Anton Gerunov, thanks for the reply. Yes, I agree competition among propriety and open source data provider would lead to better spatial data services and products.