This document discusses open data solutions and their potential for economic development. It defines open data as data that can be freely used, reused and redistributed by anyone subject to attribution and sharing requirements. Open data is having a positive impact in areas like transparency, innovation and efficiency. Legally, open data is driven by non-commercial intellectual property rights and licensing terms of use. Municipalities hold valuable land and property data that could be opened to spur economic development if pooled and shared with private partners while protecting privacy. Overall open data promotes local innovation, job creation and helps site selectors evaluate investment opportunities.

1. Open Data Solutions 
Managing the Risk & Economic Development
Lou Milrad
Legal Counsel & Senior
Advisor
Milrad Law Office

2. Data Never Sleeps
With no signs of slowing,
the data keeps on growing

3. Defining Open Data
Continues to be defined “consistently” in a variety of ways
•Definition is generally developed around agency’s/organization’s intended
use and is driven by targeted, intended user base
•Open Data Handbook: Open data is data that can be freely used, reused
and redistributed by anyone - subject only, at most, to the requirement to
attribute and share alike.

4. A leading example of a
Working Group on
Open Government
Data
Some areas in which
open government data is
already having a positive
impact include:
•Transparency and
democratic control
•Civil participation
•Improved and new
private products and
services
•Innovation
•Governmental efficiency

5. Legal Overview
Open Data
• It all starts with the IP (Intellectual Property) and is
manifested through non-commercial IPR (Intellectual Property
Right)
• Driven by the “Open” community movement
• Idea that certain data should be freely available to everyone to use
and republish in any manner and without restriction,
particularly those restrictions that typically impose reuse and
republication restrictions through the statutory schemes of copyrights,
patents, and similar legal usage or reutilization controls
• Internet has substantially facilitated and contributed to its popularity, at
a time when open government & open data, and smart or intelligent
communities are popularized
• Open source, open content, open data, open access, etc.

6. Legal considerations relating to
OPEN DATA
• Variations on Traditional (Commercial) Intellectual Property
Approach
• Some aspects
• Non-commercial
• Community Commons - Currently 2 applicable models
(out of 4 identified)
• Copyright
• License
• Plain English

7. In summary
Open Data is all about a set of generally consistent legal principles that
are captured in Licenses or Terms of Use that reflects what you may or
may not do with the data
Jonathan Gray – Open Knowledge Foundation

8. Legal considerations relating to
OPEN DATA
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)
1. Canadian Copyright Act
• Recognized internationally - global treaty - UCC
• Data elements versus database
• Concepts of “a “Work” and of a “compilation”
1. Confidential Information
• Case law and contract

9. Legal considerations relating to
OPEN DATA
Associated Legal Considerations
• Data Protection
•Privacy & Access to Information
• Personal Information – MFIPPA
• Breach of Confidence – Confidential Information
• Confidential Information – IPR
• Commercially sensitive information such as financial terms of
submitted tenders and proposals

10. Legal considerations relating to
OPEN DATA
“…open government data is a public good that should be available to the public, not locked up in a proprietary
format or a for-pay database.”

11. Legal considerations relating to
OPEN DATA
• Contracting through model License/Terms of Use
• Non-traditional
• Differentiating factors,
• Brevity
• Towards plain English
• Unlike “typical” commercial approach
• Copyright preservation as stated, with extended authority
• Share and share-alike
• Attribution not necessarily required

12. Reference: Licensing
Open Data: A Practical
Guide
Naomi Korn and Professor
Charles Oppenheim, June
2011 version 2.01
http://epsiplatform.eu/content/li
censing-open-data-practical-
guide

13. Legal considerations relating to
OPEN DATA
• Intellectual Property – Summary
• Ownership
• Of original datasets needs to be by Municipality
• Springboard for innovation
• Conforms to principles that Open Data “is a public good that
should be available to the public, not locked up in a proprietary
format or a for-pay database.”
• Rights, if any, of private sector cleansing of data?
• Data Catalogues and Datasets – website portal
• What are the Applicable policies around ownership

14. OPEN DATA &
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
A brief introduction into the potential of Open Data as
an investment attraction tool
•Municipalities are bastions of a wealth of land related (cadastral) data in both digital and
hardcopy format
• Examples include
• Legal Descriptions
• Assessment & property/business tax information
• Official plans, zoning& planning and building information,
• Subdivision and other land related plans (including building plans),, plans of survey,
etc.

15. OPEN DATA &
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
A brief introduction (continued)
•all capable of being digitized, cleansed and available as open data as a set
of economic development tool ((subject to certain restrictions)
•capable of being pooled and shared with colleague municipalities, senior
levels of government, and LIO as well as the private sector
•Goal is to provide a pooled resource to enable site selectors, and potential
businesses to create and compare digital models of potential local
investment and FTI opportunities
•Would require a public-private approach to design, build, maintain and
enhance

16. OPEN DATA &
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Economic Development and community engagement
• Promotes local engagement and innovation
• e.g. Apps creation around municipal services
• Transportation scheduling and routes
• Tourism attractions
• Job creation
• Site selectors & potential foreign direct investors

17. Open Data Solutions
Managing the Risk & Economic Development
Lou Milrad
Legal Counsel & Senior Advisor
Milrad Law Office
lou@milrad.ca
647.982.7890 |
www.milradlaw.ca