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2
Stakeholder Viewpoints
The five primary stakeholder groups concerned with environmental
data and inflation are scientists, private-sector organizations, gov-
ernment agencies, policy makers, and the general public. Each of these
stakeholder groups generates and/or uses environmental data for different
purposes, according to different methodologies, and processed to
different levels (see Box I.~. This chapter describes the motivations,
rewards, and mode of operation of the five environmental stakeholder
groups and identifies the data policies that enhance or detract from their
ability to achieve their goals.
SCIENTIST VIEWS
The goal of scientists is shared understanding among their peers.
Most environmental scientists are also motivated to some degree by an
ideal that shared understanding will improve the Tot of all human beings
and the health of the planet. Tangible rewards to scientists (e.g., tenure,
salary increases, and continued research support) all derive directly from
their reputation among peers for creativity, scholarship, and integrity and
indirectly from the significance, productivity, and relevance to society of
the field in which they work (see Appendix A).
Achieving the goal of shared understanding begins with obtaining
the relevant observations, synthesizing them with information from other
sources, and performing the quality control and cross-validation nec-
essary to ensure that the resulting information product is reliable and
credible. Scientific knowledge comes from challenges by other scientists
that test the strength of the evidence, both during peer review in the
publication process, and afterwards as the data are used in other
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The Privatization of Environmental Data
syntheses or research purposes. Such uses require that data be available
without restriction, at reasonable prices (see Box 2.1~.
The nature of scientific understanding is such that it is not possible to
predict reliably what data will be needed in the future. Data from unex-
pected sources can turn out to be very important. For example, when
atmospheric carbon dioxide measurements were beginning to be taken in
the late l950s, no one realized that ice cores would provide a means of
extending that climate record back in time.)
Science is a collective enterprise in the sense that the work of one set
of specialists serves as input to the work of other specialists.2 Nowhere is
this more Due than in the environmental sciences, because researchers
are driven by practical reasons to collaborate.
The environmental sciences are observational in nature and
require a wide range of data from a diverse array of disciplines, taken at
different temporal and spatial scales, often repeatedly over time.
Controlled experiments are difficult or even impossible and existing data
are often reanalyzed with new scientific objectives in mind. This puts a
premium on the quality of data and surrounding information, which goes
beyond the immediate purpose of data collection.
Because nature is complex, no single instrument or observer can
adequately describe the phenomena being studied. Many of these
phenomena cross national borders and cannot be studied without parkers
in other countries.3
Although ice cores have been drilled since the 1950s, collecting ice cores
to address questions of climate change and global warming did not begin until
the Danish-Swiss-U.S. Greenland Ice Sheet Project in 1981. See R.B. Alley,
2000, The Two-Mile Time Machine: Ice Cores, Abrupt Climate Changes, and
Our Future. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, 240 pp.
2G. Franck, 1999, Scientific communication A vanity fair? Science, v.
286, p. 53-55.
Environmental scientists have had a long history of international
collaboration. Weather data have been exchanged around the world for nearly
100 years. The International Geophysical Year of 1957-58 led to the collection
and exchange of a wide variety of earth, ocean, atmosphere, polar, and solar
terrestrial data among the United States, Europe, the Soviet Union, and Japan. It
also launched the World Data Center System, which archives and disseminates
environmental data to the global scientific community. More recently, programs
such as the World Climate Research Program and the International Geosphere
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Stakeholder Viewpoints
17
· The observations are expensive because they involve the design
and deployment of specialized instruments in networks of ground
stations, or on aircraft, ships, or satellites. As a result, data collectors
seek to avoid duplicating the efforts of others and collaborate to save
time, money, and other resources.
Many environmental research questions require the use of all
available data, past and present. Retrospective data are available through
an extensive network of data centers (e.g., the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration's National Climatic Data Center), although
scientists commonly obtain data directly from colleagues when it is
easier or faster. Collections of reliable data are irreplaceable resources
that are used repeatedly for purposes that are often unforeseen at the time
of acquisition.4
.
The environmental sciences also differ Tom other branches of
science in that they require access to continuous records to detect and
monitor changes in the environment. Gaps in the Tong-term record may
make some variations go undetected and others difficult to interpret.
Biosphere Program were established to document and understand the changes in
the environment that are becoming apparent on a global scale.
4In many fields, data usage peaks immediately after data collection, then
grows again as the data become part of the historical record of the condition of
the environment. Such retrospective data are useful for a wide variety of
scientific and public-policy purposes. Examples of the importance of long-term
archives in the scientific enterprise are given in USGCRP, 1999, Global Change
Science Requirements for Long-Term Archiving, Report from a workshop,
National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colorado, October 28-30,
1998, 78 pp.
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The Privatization of Environmental Data
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Stakeholder Viewpoints
19
PRIVATE-SECTOR VIEWS
The goal of private-sector organizations is to sell information
products or services on an ongoing basis in a commercial market. Their
rewards are primarily monetary, but scientists within commercial
companies may also share the same motivations and rewards of academic
scientists (e.g., prestige, reputation). Likewise, many companies are
motivated in part by considerations of public good, although such
motivations may not be encouraged by the commercial reward system
unless they can be achieved without reducing shareholder profits.
For the private sector the revenue obtained from selling the product
or service must be sufficient to at least cover the costs of generating it
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The Privatization of Environmental Data
and in the long run provide a reasonable rate of return on invested
capita. Competition based on satisfying customer needs at an
acceptable price is the mode of operation. Depending on customer need,
a com~rAerciaiA vendor may operate an end-to-end information system or
may specialize in a particular part of the information system. Under
appropriate conditions, vertical integration, in which the same enterprise
exercises control` over alar the steps from the raw material to the lanai
product, can provide many advantages, such as exclusive rights to al,A
data products and their subsequent uses. Such integration is particularly
important when the product is something intangible like information. In a
competitive environment it is in the interest of the private sector to treat
sources and techniques as corAmrAercia,` secrets.
The customer base for corAmrAercia,A data, services, and products is
broad and includes entities in both the public sector (e.g., government,
inter- and nongovernmental organizations, public administration,
education, and research) and the private sector (e.g., agriculture, fishing,
forestry, energy, natural resources, infrastructure, transportation, com-
munications, fAnanciai`, and services industries). Government agencies
(especiaiAiAy federal agencies) are currently the primary customers6 as welts
as sources of data. Indeed, it is difficult to generate an adequate revenue
stream from many environmental` markets unless the government pays
for data co,`,Aection. In the view of many private-sector organizations,
once the government has developed and demonstrated the techAno~Aogy for
co,`,Aecting data, it should Wow the private sector to develop applications
and to market them to the public (see Box 2.21. PriAvate-sector
organizations are welts placed to provide products and services that are
tuned to the needs of specific paying customers because they are usual
highway specialized, use sophisticated market research tools, and are
responsive to the price signals provided by the market. Many of these
Products build upon government data (em.. a comrnercia~A weather
A
A ~
~ in,
5A motivation of Orbital Sciences for entering a public-private partnership
with NASA was to become a player in the Earth observations industry.
SOURCE: Briefing to the committee by S. Kempler, Manager, Goddard Space
Flight Center Distributed Active Archive Center, on March 20, 2000.
6In Europe the public sector accounted for 75 percent of the market for
commercial data and 59 percent of the market for commercial value-added
products in 1997. SOURCE: ESYS Limited, 1997, European EO Industry and
Market. 1998 Snapshot - Final Report, Prepared for the European Commission,
Guildord, United Kingdom, 82 pp.
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Stakeholder Viewpoints
21
forecast), which usually have the advantage of being less expensive and
more reliable than other sources of data, but the disadvantage of being
available to competitors.
A study commissioned by the Computer & Corornunications
Industry Association suggested the following limits on U.S. government-
provided online and information activities:
. The government should exercise caution in adding specialized
value to public data and information.
The government should provide private goods only under limited
circumstances, even if private-sector fimns are not providing them.
The government should provide a service online only when
private provision with regulation or appropriate taxation would be less
efficient.
.
.
.
The government should exercise substantial caution in entering
markets in which private-sector firms are active.
. The government should generally not aim to maximize net
revenues or take actions that would reduce competitions
7J.E. Stiglitz, P.R. Orszag, and J.M. Orszag, 2000, The role of government
in a digital age, A report commissioned by the Computer & Communications
Industry Association, 154 pp.
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Stakeholder Viewpoints
23
GOVERNMENT AGENCY VIEWS
Government agencies (federal, state, local) implement public
programs under the direction of policy makers. Their reward structure
has two levels. For government as a whole, the reward is a populace that
is better off because of a public program (e.g., the Clean Water Act) and
is therefore supportive of the endeavor. For individual government
agencies the reward comes from fulfilling their specific missions, the
success of which is corroborated by continued funding from Congress.
The U.S. government has three major roles in the environmental
information enterprise: (1) it fulfills the public need for scientific
understanding by funding basic research; (2) it collects and disseminates
data through a network of observing systems, agency programs, libraries,
and data centers; and (3) it creates information products related to health,
safety, and human welfare. The relative importance of these tasks
depends on the responsible agency, which sets priorities based on its
specific mission. Thus, individual government agencies are likely to have
a narrower view of priorities and choices in a particular situation than the
government as a whole.
Most government functions are carried out by the public sector either
because of an overriding public interest in the outcome or because the
potential for high risk or low payoff makes the task unattractive to the
private sector. For example, federal agencies are responsible for
collecting and disseminating information relevant to weather forecasting.
Providing reliable data to the public requires long-term monitoring and
the synthesis of current and retrospective data from around the world.
The government is well placed to install and maintain the observing
systems, negotiate data exchange agreements with other counties, and
operate data centers that will hold the data in perpetuity.8 As a result, the
general public can obtain a wide variety of environmental data,
For example, Congress found that "it is in the best interest of the United
States to maintain a permanent, comprehensive Government archive of global
Landsat and other land remote sensing data for long-term monitoring and study
of the changing global environment" (Public Law 102-555~. Similarly, various
statutes direct NOAA to "acquire, maintain and distribute long-term databases,
and to process and archive space-based data" (NASA/NOAA Memorandum of
Understanding for Earth Observations Remotely Sensed Data Processing,
Distribution, Archiving, and Related Science Support, July 1989~.
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
public sector
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The Privatization of Environmental Data
sometimes going back 150 years and can be reasonably assured that this
information will be available for future generations.
Under U.S. policy most federal government data are in the public
domain and cannot be copyrighted. By making data easy and inexpensive
to obtain the U.S. government seeks to promote science, create a more
informed public, and foster the development of a thriving commercial
information industry. Governments in other countries have similar goals,
but cultural differences and economic conditions have led to the
development of different data policies.9 For example, the requirement
that they recover part of their operating costs through data sales has led
to the commercialization of environmental agencies in Europe and
Canada. In addition, government agencies are transferring functions like
environmental data collection to the private sector. As a result, data
streams with economic potential (e.g., land cover, weather, geomagnetic
field) are now likely to be sold rather than freely exchanged. Of greater
concern, short-term private return rather than Tong-term social return may
become the dominant criterion for selecting which observations to
collect.~° Developing countries have yet a different perspective based
upon their perceptions of the potential for economic domination by
foreign monopolies. These different perspectives raise a potential
conflict in international collaboration.
9P.N. Weiss and P. Backlund, 1997, International information policy in
conflict: Open and unrestricted access versus government commercialization, in
Borders in Cyberspace. Information Policy and the Global Information
Infrastructure, B. Kahin and C. Nesson eds., MIT Press, Cambridge,
Massachusetts, p. 300-321; Toward an Integrated Data Policy Framework for
Earth Observations, Report of a workshop, Ottrott, France, July 22-24, 1996,
International Space University, ISU/REP/97/1, 39 pp.
i°A number of European government satellites have been launched with
either commercial objectives (e.g., Systeme Probatoire pour ['Observation de la
Terre tSPOT]) or with a mixture of commercial, scientific, and operational
objectives (e.g., ENVIronment SATellite [ENVISAT]-1~. See Earth Observation
Data Policy and Europe,
Stakeholder Viewpoints
25
POLICY MAKER VIEWS
The goal of policy makers (elected officials and political appointees
in government agencies) is to make informed judgments about what is in
the best long-term interests of the communities they represent. Their
rewards include a sense of satisfaction in work that benefits their
community, as well as their reselection or continuation in a position of
authority.
in a democracy, policy makers are accountable to the general public,
which includes the other stakeholder groups. However, concerns of the
general public have to be weighed against specific tradeoffs with reg-
ulation and acute local concerns. Balancing these conflicting interests for
the benefit of the community as a whole is a major challenge for policy
makers.
Policy makers are responsible for looking after the "big picture,"
such as understanding the causes of global environmental change and
dealing with its consequences. They seek policies that work and are
capable of evolving in view of the uncertainties that dominate the long-
term projection of both economic development and environmental
change. Such policies must foster (1) negotiation, when there are
competing interests; (2) competition, when there is an effective
stimulant; and (3) consensus on basic goals and principles. Haunting
thoughtful people everywhere is the prospect of a "tragedy of the
commons," in which, for lack of an effective governance mechanism,
an entire resource is annihilated by the collective rational actions of all
the individuals who depend on it.
The policies of a country take precedence over those of its individual
government agencies. Similarly, in international settings, policies aimed
at attaining a worldwide public good take precedence over those of
individual countries (see Box 2.3~. In such cases, governments are
themselves policy makers (see "Government Agency Views" above).
1248.
'2G. Hardin, 1968, The tragedy of the commons, Science, v. 162, p. 1243-
26
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Stakeholder Viewpoints
27
GENERAL PUBLIC VIEWS
The general public comprises all the members of the community,
including the stakeholder groups discussed above. Because environ-
mental information affects so many people, the community is very broad,
indeed it is often global. It stands to reason that the general public hopes
to increase its sense of well being through better information about its
environment. Motivations are varied and range from "should ~ take an
umbrella this morning?" to "what will the environment be like for my
grandchildren?" Rewards arise from the economic benefits to them and
their community from the wise use of environmental information.
The general public's stake in environmental information is
enormous, but it is difficult to adequately represent their individual
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The Privatization of Environmental Data
interests in decisions concerning information systems. Consequently,
members of the general public must be represented by proxies, such as
federal, state, and local government organizations, nongovernmental
organizations, citizen advocacy groups, bade associations, congressional
lobbyists, elected representatives, and scientific advisory committees.
The mix of proxies will depend on the particular circumstances.
For this stakeholder group, access to environmental information and
knowledge in a useable and convenient fond is cntical. Public media,
such as television, newspapers, and World Wide Web sites, play a key
role in delivenng the information. The underlying sources of that
information are and must be available on a full and open basis. Relevant
policies guaranteeing full and open access to the general public include
OMB Circular A-130 (see Box 2.~) and the Freedom of ~fo~ation Act.
Under the U.S. Freedom of l~for~nation Act agencies must make records
and policy statements available for public inspection and copying.~3
European public-sector information is considerably less accessible to
European citizens, in part because few countries have strong freedom of
infonnation laws.~4
i3.
'4Public Sector Information: A Key Resource for Europe. Green Paper on
Public Sector Information in the Information Society, European Commission
Report COM (1998) 585, Luxembourg, Belgium, 1998, 28 pp.
