Just for the record, the Istanbul Declaration does not call on governments to make their statistical data freely available online. That's why I didn't blog it when it came out, although I did add it to the BOAI FAQ list of city-named declarations in the same general subject area.
The availability of statistical indicators of economic, social, and environmental outcomes and their dissemination to citizens can contribute to promoting good governance and the improvement of democratic processes....
Official statistics are a key "public good" that foster the progress of societies. The development of indicators of societal progress offers an opportunity to reinforce the role of national statistical authorities as key providers of relevant, reliable, timely and comparable data and the indicators required for national and international reporting. We encourage governments to invest resources to develop reliable data and indicators....
It doesn't mention "free" or "open" availability and it doesn't mention availability "online" or on the "internet" or "web". It does say that the availability of official statistics can be useful and it does call them a public good. These are reasons to make them OA, but so far the Istanbul Declaration only asserts the premises, not the conclusion.
It also says:
To take this work forward we need to: ...improve the availability of data and indicators...
But this is compatible with priced access, indeed with priced, printed access.
If the OECD meant for the Istanbul Declaration to call for free online access to public statistics, I'd be glad to hear it and report it.
Posted by
Peter Suber at 7/13/2007 03:45:00 PM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
