Power Mapping Talking Points

We have been working hard on messaging around an open data approach to corporate mapping. Because although it seems paradoxical, there have been many initiatives to map corporate webs and put results into the public space, there has been relatively little impulse to develop common methodologies leading to interchangeable data. From the beginning, we have been using and extending the OpenCorporates methodology of identifying companies, and also of verification. As the quarter progressed this has turned into a number of rules of thumb.


 * OO as service provider, not cool investigator: If we want to lead the evolution of a standard to pool public domain data derived from investigations, it would be helped considerably if OpenOil itself does not pursue any in-depth investigations. This is a little tantalising for the team (and especially for me!) but I think the chances of gaining the confidence of investigative journalist and campaigning outfits will be greater if we become known for serving up sexy story leads much more than doing them ourselves. We may have to from time to time seed potential approaches by writing up some early stage investigations (so for example with BP discussing project level economics and Sunbury Secretaries Limited) but we will retreat as soon as we can to being the boring service provider. This brings with it a couple of other working principles:


 * Using only public domain data: Because we want to build communities, including in very sensitive places, who can work directly on corporate mapping, we have made a strategic decision to only work with data which is broadly in the public domain. This quarter, for example, as before, we have passed on leaked documents that have come into our possession to other organisations following the investigative modus operandi. We already have a Nigerian colleague working on extending the Nigeria map: we make a rough equivalence between punitive UK libel laws and physical safety in the Niger Delta. If you won't get sued for it in London, you are unlikely to be killed for it in the Niger Delta.


 * Verification: never more than a click away from source: Another part of this methodology then involves linking every node and edge in a corporate power network to its source document at one click. This is a harder interface to build and one we are working on right now. This serves the safety principle: we are not making original assertions (in the same way as Wikipedia has the "no original research" principle). It is also designed to maximise practical use of the networks: an investigator can establish in seconds the verification of any connections between any nodes in the network.


 * BP and the Socrates Principle: Having succeeded in a comprehensive mapping of BP we have come to the conclusion that it tells us very little about BP. Like Socrates, we have expended a vast amount of effort to attain the knowledge that we know nothing. A slight dramatisation but it sets up for the reveal: what we have done is build an open data fully accessible structure into which anyone can put any real knowledge they do acquire about BP and its 1200 entities. It also sets up a very necessary Stage 2 of the BP project. If the corporate structures are the bare bones of a multinational, we need to try and "put flesh" on them by a couple of digs into other information sets within the company filings which can perhaps be mined by someone with domain knowledge.


 * Breaking up the investigation chain: All of this also involves persuading the existing community of people who do investigations for public purpose that the open data approach is workable because most investigations can be broken into two stages: the public domain quotient, and that part which remains confidential to each institution. If we can develop trust and understanding,m we can build towards contributions of the public domain quotient into a common pool and everybody wins.