Isles’ open data bill aims to publicize public data

Amid all the current chatter about "metadata" and privacy, there’s a bill sitting on Gov. Neil Abercrombie’s desk that presents the availability of data as a good thing.

But just to make it clear, House Bill 632 starts out with an overture about "open data" as "data that is already deemed public and made available electronically … not data that is governed by privacy, security, confidentiality or any protection of the law."

There’s little doubt that the bill will become law; open data has been described as a top initiative of the state’s chief information officer. The basic intent of the bill is to require all the state’s executive departments to "use reasonable efforts" to make sets of data available to the public through the state’s open data portal.

There are also sections aimed at absolving the state of liability for deficient data except when it is the result of "gross negligence" or misconduct.

But one of the main ideas is to make the data accessible to technology businesses that can develop applications and other innovations, said Burt Lum, executive director of the nonprofit Hawaii Open Data. That will allow the state to work with private companies to create the products needed to make government deliver information and services to the public.

To foster a broader discussion of such technology issues locally, Lum and others organized the Hawaii Innovation Alliance, which has a presence on Facebook and the Web (hawaiiinnovation.com).