Ownership of Open Data: Governance Options for Agriculture and Nutrition

Abstract

Ownership rights are a major factor in access and use of open data, distinct from yet as important as the availability of education, skills, technology, infrastructure, and finances. There are real deficits in law, understanding, and frameworks for governing open data ownership. These challenges must be addressed to achieve meaningful and equitable open data as default. The chief policy lesson from this paper is that moving to a model where data is open as default requires change in legal, social and technological norms, which all influence ownership of agriculture and nutrition data. Copyrights are not the only, nor even most important, legal rights establishing ownership of data. Relevant legal rights that facilitate access to and use of data at the international, national and subnational level include copyrights, database rights, technical protection measures, trade secrets, and patents and plant breeders’ rights, privacy and even tangible property rights. The open data community must broaden its engagement in all these areas to address emerging challenges.

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