ANDS: Costs and Benefits of Data Provision

The Australian National Data Service has released Costs and Benefits of Data Provision: Report to the Australian National Data Service by John Houghton.

Excerpt:

This report presents case studies exploring the costs and benefits that PSI [Public Sector Information] producing agencies and their users experience in making information freely available, and preliminary estimates of the wider economic impacts of open access to PSI. In doing so, it outlines a possibly method for cost-benefit analysis at the agency level and explores the data requirements for such an analysis -recognising that few agencies will have all of the data required. 

What this study demonstrates is that the direct and measurable benefits of making PSI available freely and without restrictions on use typically outweigh the costs. When one adds the longerterm benefits that we cannot fully measure, and may not even foresee, the case for open access appears to be strong.