OREANDA-NEWS.   Transcript:  Dmitry Medvedev: Good afternoon, colleagues. We have gathered here in order to discuss issues to do with open data. I believe that it would be pointless for me to speak for a long time at this meeting with experts. There is one thing that I want to do. I would like to apologise because probably not everyone here will be able to speak. The organisers of the meeting should probably be blamed for this. We should hold smaller meetings, so that all the concerned participants would be able to make their brief statements. Nevertheless, it is quite good that we have gathered for this expanded meeting. I would like to give the floor to those who want to tell us something. Please go ahead.

Ivan Begtin (Director of the Information Culture non-profit partnership): Good afternoon, my name is Ivan Begtin, director of the Information Culture non-profit partnership.

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The relevant principles that were formulated by public organisations addressing the open data issue amount to public and state requests that all data owners create the required databases. Consequently, these principles are the result of public work…

Dmitry Medvedev: Are these already generally recognised principles? Have they already been adapted by the community, and are they being used accordingly?

Ivan Begtin: Yes, they are. Actually, this is considered an innovation in Russia, but it is a generally accepted trend worldwide. There are over 200 open data catalogues. <…> Dozens of competitions have already been held all over the world. In my estimate, over 60 competitions have been organised, but no one knows their exact number. However, in most countries where open data catalogues have appeared, competitions for developers of computer applications using state data are inevitably and immediately organised. Thousands of applications using open state data have already been developed. As soon as people obtain accessible data, they try to use this data creatively for business purposes, so that society could use this data for its own benefit.

And, finally, there are dozens of projects in the area of civil oversight. This is a key aspect of the open data issue. This includes anti-corruption programmes, efforts to combat various violations and the possibility of monitoring specific aspects. What one, two or three public activists who are able to find something manually are doing is a far cry from what people who have the necessary skills for using automatic systems can accomplish. This concerns efforts to oversee expenditures and purchases and a great many other issues.

Let’s see the next slide, please. I would like to say a few words about the relevant global experience. These screenshots shows several web portals worldwide. This is the World Bank’s open data web portal, this is an inter-state web portal, and this is the official web portal of the United States Government at data.gov. This is the data/gov.uk project in the United Kingdom, and this is the data.gov web portal in Australia. There are 202 other state, inter-state, regional and municipal web portals. This trend has already become extremely popular.

And now let’s see the next slide, please. I would like to single out a US project, which is a logical continuation of the open data project. Instead of merely declassifying specific data, we must realise that such data is the foundation, and that it is not an end in itself. These are essential tools and the building blocks of public projects, and these projects… For instance, the United States has developed a special programme making it possible to support all small-scale public projects through competitions. Over 150 competitions for developers have been organised in the United States under the challenge.gov project, an official web portal. People submitted hundreds of projects during these competitions. A community of developers continues to evolve. In effect, developers promptly learn about new inventions, which are spread actively through social networks. The main ideology holds that some data might be of interest to people, and that society might be interested in some other data. Right now, society is in no position to request or comprehend some types of data. But the state can draw attention to various issues by creating declassified databases and by providing incentives in the form of competitions.   

Dmitry Medvedev: Whose web portal is this? 

Ivan Begtin: This is a US web portal.

Dmitry Medvedev: I see, but is this a federal or some other web portal?

Ivan Begtin: This is a federal web portal.

Dmitry Medvedev: Federal, I see. Does the Government own the servers?

Ivan Begtin: At first, it was a private web portal. In fact, US federal officials noticed it, and they decided to create a similar federal web portal.

Dmitry Medvedev: Does it currently accumulate all these data?

Ivan Begtin: Yes. This is part of the US Government policy.

Let’s see the next slide, please. This has to do with the evolution of knowledge and the role of data. This slide is more general, and it will allow us to get an idea of open data, and how this data is obtained. Data is the basic ingredient. People who have cooked their own food know that they need the necessary ingredients – flour, eggs…

Dmitry Medvedev: But sometimes you are unable to accomplish what you want.

Ivan Begtin: Data provides at least some opportunity for doing this. Data is the mainstay of databases. We have created some “edible” products on the basis of these data, but so far they are not very “tasty.”

A presentation requires attractive-looking data, which has been compiled and “decorated” in some beautiful manner. When we “consume” data, it turns into knowledge. The purpose of open data is to serve as the “ingredients” of knowledge that will be consumed by us. And this signifies a transition to a knowledge-based economy, a transition to an entirely new form of organisation of society. We strive to attain this form, and, in effect, we already live in such a society.

Let’s see the next slide, please. Russia was the first to launch the OpenGovData public project. Without false modesty, I can say that this project was developed by our partnership. We displayed initiative, while working on this private project. We collected open state and commercial data. Our main objective was to convince officials to declassify certain types of data, to clarify various priorities and to assess public demand for specific types of data. Fortunately, this is not the only project, and everything is continuing to develop.

Dmitry Medvedev: Did you have any problems with this OpenGovData public project?

Ivan Begtin: Strangely enough, we did not.

Dmitry Medvedev: Did someone try to catch you and tell you that such data should not be made public? Did someone ask you why you were doing this, and tell you to mind your own business?

Ivan Begtin: Of course, questions were asked. But, on the whole, we are rather persistent, and we have been doing this for several years, about three years, to be more exact. We have been promoting the open data ideology during this period.