MindTrek2010

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Registration Form

  1. Name of the App: Opasnet
  2. Category: Implementation (agency)
  3. Micro summary (max 140 chs): Opasnet is a wiki-based generic decision-support and research environment for everybody
  4. Problem (max 1500 chs): Opasnet website collects, synthesizes, and distributes people's values and scientific information relevant for decision making processes. The attitude taken in the Opasnet environment is such that all wise decision making is based on expressing our values about what the important things and objectives are, and understanding how the decision actually affects them. This is why both values and science need to be considered. Opasnet welcomes anyone who wants to promote science-based societal decision-making in any field. Originally, the developers of the Opasnet workspace came from environmental health, i.e. a research field that studies the impacts of environment on human health. Therefore, you can find assessments about, among others, health impacts of air pollution, climate change, and persistent pollutants in food. Specifically for the Apps4Finland 2010, a new assessment dealing with Finland's future energy policy has been opened and everyone is invited to participate.
  5. Users: Potential users that will benefit from the Energy Policy Assessment, as well as Opasnet in general, are (1) ordinary citizens who can teach themselves more about the complex problem by participating in the open decision support process online (2) researchers (e.g. in Technical Research Center of Finland, National Institute for Health and Welfare, or universities) who can collaborate across disciplinary boundaries (3) decision makers (e.g. in Ministry of Social affairs and Health, Municipality councils, or industry and business) who want to see what boundaries science sets and what opportunities it opens up for value-based political debate.
  6. Use case: There are many ways to participate in the assessment. Domain experts in different fields of science needed in the policy assessment can provide numerical models or links to open data, or they can moderate debates. Citizens can contribute e.g. by collecting best arguments for or against a given view, and by filling out a survey collecting the perceived pros and cons of different options. This process will determine the values that will be combined with the scientific facts for policy recommendation. As for our particular example, the Energy Policy Assessment, researchers in energy sector can combine their domain-specific knowledge with that of the risk analysts and health experts. It is natural that there will remain grey areas in the analysis which will affect the final decision making. The assessment process will clarify what is scientifically known and what is uncertain. This will determine the frame for the political value-based end-game of the decision making process. In this case, the assessment tries to answer questions like 'How much would the public health improve or worsen in Finland, if X% of Finland's energy production is changed from method Y to method Z?' Also ordinary citizens can influence the outcome of the analysis, because they can take a position about what choices are acceptable for them and at which cost.
  7. Data sources: WHO data is stored in an open database in Opasnet. Also the World Bank database is used. Both databases are machine readable directly from Opasnet. In addition, several information sources are used to collect the information necessary for energy and health modelling. It is important to notice that in addition to being a wiki, Opasnet is also a database which allows for co- and re-use of data items stored in the system.
  8. User instructions and demo: Interested parties are invited to go to http://fi.opasnet.org/ for the main page and to http://fi.opasnet.org/fi/Ydinvoima for the nuclear energy and energy policy assessment which serves as an example of work in progress. To contribute to the surveys for value determination, no registration is needed. To contribute to the analysis or debates, one can register by following the links at the top of each Opasnet page. After registration, users can use the functionalities of the wiki-menu on the left hand side of the page. In addition to providing textual content, it is possible to upload models, pictures, data etc. into the Opasnet system. At the current state of its evolution the modelling software is proprietary but work is in progress to make it open source in the near future.
  9. Additional information: Pdf-document (Opasnet-flyer)
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