Resolving Conflicts Arising from the Privatization of Environmental Data (2001)

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RECONCILING THE VIEWS OF THE STAKEHOLDERS 81 These criteria also hold true for public-private partnerships, which are becoming an increasingly common mechanism for collecting environmental data. Such partnerships differ from data purchase agreements in that there is a quid pro quo, and therefore more incentive to compromise. Although some public-private partnerships have been a success (e.g., Examples 5.12 and 5.13), others have not (e.g., Landsat-4 and -5) or have not passed the negotiations stage (e.g., Example 5.15). Before entering negotiations with potential private- sector partners, government agencies should produce a data plan to ensure that their mission and long-term strategy are fulfilled. Commercializing Government Data Commercialization refers to the financial exploitation of government data (see Box 1.1). U.S. information policy (particularly OMB Circulars A-130 and A-110; see Box 2.1) encourages such exploitation by stipulating nondiscriminatory access at the marginal or incremental cost of reproduction. Because the U.S. government does not hold intellectual property rights (see Appendix B), commercial exploitation of government data can coexist with public-sector uses, such as scientific research. Such open data policies are partially responsible for the success of the U.S. information industry5 and research enterprise.6 Conclusion. The commercialization of U.S. government data maximizes the use and thus the value of data in both the public and private sectors. 5According to a European Commission report, “Since the Freedom on Information Act was enacted in 1966, the US government has pursued a very active policy of both access to and commercial exploitation of public sector information. This has greatly stimulated the development of the US information industry.” See Public Sector Information: A Key Resource for Europe. Green Paper on Public Sector Information in the Information Society, European Commission Report COM(1998)585, Luxembourg, Belgium, 1998, 28 pp. 6NRC, 1997, Bits of Power: Issues in Global Access to Scientific Data. National Academy Press, Washington, D.C., p. 17.