It didn't have to be like this
It was only a question of time before the tensions between the paucity of really useful/economically valuable things being done with the "open data deluge" and the continuing noises over the necessity of it resulted in an apparent shift in the language of responsibility. Gone is "raw data now", forgotten the criticism of Spikes Cavell, overlooked the hackneyed (yet poetic and often so) "the best thing that can be done with your data will be done by somebody else for some other reason". Instead we have a plea for open data publishers to engage with re-users. Completely understandable but in part at least risible nonetheless. As ODI's piece Engaging With Reusers recognises at the outset, "Publishing open data requires time and effort" (though why its not on ODI website is unclear). Data custodians and their teams have in many cases across the public sector to do just that and, while one can and should argue not only with the utility of m...