The Necessity of Open Data in a Time of Crisis

It's easy to think releasing data in easy to consume formats is something we do when we have the time and resources, an optional thing for when time is good.

That thinking is wrong.

Take, for example, the release of genomic sequences to the open Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID), allowed researchers to develop and publish a test for COVID-19 within 2 weeks. By comparison, this took 6 months with SARS.

Then there is the infection data itself. The World Health Organization, US Centers for Disease Control, and Johns Hopkins University all have resources for understanding the global pandemic based on data released by local, state/provincial, and national health services. Having this data is necessary to describe the extent of the crisis at it exists now, informing policy making at all levels with up-to-date information on what's happening around the world (South Korea is a good example of this). We also have the summary reporting on the experiences of various nations already at or near the peak of the crisis, such as Italy, serving as a cautionary tale for other nations.

While this information is key for understanding where things are now (and we all love pretty maps), this data being open and available is also key to modeling the future states under a variety of potential scenarios, as was done by the very influential Imperial College study that is helping providing the sobering context for what we can expect in the future based on the choices we're making now. As one science journalist pointed out, we're now in an era where disease models are becoming like weather forecasts, timely and specific but still subject to variation.

This is only possible with open data that is reliable, up-to-date, and easily accessible. If we take away nothing else from this experience, it's the value of having data available in times of relative calm so we don't have to figure out how to collect, manage, and release data to the public in the midst of an emergency. It should be a regular function of government at all levels so that in times of crisis, everything works as we need it to when we need it.