"The Value and Practice of Open Government Data" - The 17th Smart City Public Lecture Held in Shanghai
29 July 2015, Shanghai, People's Republic of China - The 17th Smart City Public Lecture entitled “The Value and Practice of Open Government Data,” sponsored by Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization Shanghai Association for Science & Technology, was held successfully in Shanghai. The lecture brought together 72 participants from public and private sector, government organizations, academia including colleges and universities, citizens and civil society.
Associate Prof. Zheng from School of International Relations and Public Affairs, Fudan University, was invited to speak about open government data in four aspects: concept; value and meaning; current situation and issues; difficulties and obstacles.
Prof. Zheng claimed that by opening data, the government can make the public better understand the utility of naturral resources, the government financial situation, land transactions and the management situation of their country. Thus, the public can monitor the government to enhance its responsibility, upgrade governance ability, prevent corruption, increase the efficiency of government expenses, and provide better and more services to the public.
He further emphasized that the ultimate goal of open government data is to create public value, aiming to open data to achieve long-run effect in economy, society and politics rather than short-term benefit within sectors or industries. The benefit of using open government data overweigh that of selling data.
Considering the present obstacles of opening data, such as quality concerns, insufficient management, and data security, Prof. Zheng suggested that policy-makers and managers adopt strategic methods to construct and cultivate “eco-systems” by taking into account all stakeholders and all relevant factors, and together utilizing government data to understand the mutually-dependent relationships between government and the public in the IT era.
Shanghai Smart City Public Lecture Series is an integrated science popularization lecture open to the public. Since October 2013, 16 sessions of lectures have been held.
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