Topics
Transit and Traffic Data
Why all open datasets are not born equal
Stéphane GuidoinTransportation is one of the successful examples of the value of open data. Or is it? While open data from transit agencies are now widely used and participated in the improvement of public satisfaction toward public transportation, traffic data have not delivered yet any clear value; and when it does it comes from proprietary data. The talk will propose some explanation behind this dichotomy and discuss the consequences for open data policies from the point of view of governments, companies and citizens.
On Using Open Data for Fun and Profit
Michael LencznerIn which the protagonist, a young open data enthusiast, became weary of applying to government programs and foundation grants and decided to find an business case which would let him follow his passion. Now, ironically, his company combines various federal and provincial datasets in order to offer an online service which helps other people get funding for their non-profit projects.
Ajah Fundtracker is an innovative online service that helps non-profits identify and connect to funders interested in their cause. A comprehensive online database of funding opportunities for the voluntary sector, it offers essential up-to-date information on over 11,000 funders, from foundations to government-funded programs to corporate support.
Open Data & The Civic Network
Philip AshlockA basic understanding of the principles and culture of open data are often the most critical elements needed to catalyze broad data release by a government, but having a vision for how that data can be part of a global ecosystem of applications and analysis is also important to help sustain and guide an open data initiative into the future. This long term vision is particularly important to graduate to higher classes of data release: from PDFs and HTML to raw data and then on to standardized APIs and linked data. The reality is that sometimes the value of open data isn't even realized until it's made available in standardized machine readable formats.
This talk will examine a few case studies including Open311, the General Transit Feed Specification (GTFS), and DemocracyMap to demonstrate how information that was already publicly available can help bring transformative change when made available in standardized formats by governments around the world. Ultimately, we can begin to sketch out a civic network that connects us to common datasets across borders in a decentralized way just like the web itself.
People are Dying to Get the Data
Pete FordeFor something that wants to be free, we sure spend a lot of time and money on data. In the era of WikiLeaks, some people even go to jail for liberating data. Considering the incarceration of Bradley Manning, it's no longer sensational to debate whether open data is a democratic revolution or the gateway to civic terrorism. And sadly, the recent suicide of Aaron Swartz — a young prodigy accused of the felony theft of publicly funded documents — reminds us that indeed there are casualties on the road to a truly free culture.
If people are willing to give up their freedoms and possibly even their lives for open data, then we had better make sure that we use it to change the world, writ large.
Pete is going to break down some of the issues open data must overcome, to which he'll offer suggestions, calls-to-action and even startup ideas. If statisticians attempt to predict the future, Pete's wish-list for how things could be is a refreshing anticipation of the present.
The Future of Open Data
Lisa GreenWe are in the midst of a transition from an era of data scarcity into an era of data abundance. Generation and storage of data are no longer the barriers they once were. The increased abundance could be a boon to open data, but abundance alone is not enough to guarantee that the open data movement flourishes. There are problems yet to solve if we are to ensure that the wealth of data being generated is open and accessible rather than locked up in silos. How do we optimize discoverability and interoperability? How will the open data economy evolve in order to reward creators and curators for their contributions? How do we track provenance and validate accuracy? What role does regulation play? This talk will examine the current state of open data and explore the cultural, legal, and economic issues which will shape the future of open data.
How to Scale a Hack to Every Resident in Canada
Luke ClossIn the past 3 years, Recollect has grown from a weekend hack into a service used by hundreds of thousands of residents across Canada. During this time, we've faced several challenges in our quest to deliverwesome-sauce to the citizens we serve.
OpenStreetMap and Open Data
Paul Norman
OpenStreetMap (OSM) is the largest collaborative open geodata project and the publisher of one of the largest sets of open geodata. It is also one of the largest consumers of open geodata, using data from 50-100 separate sources of open geodata.
This preseation will cover some of the ways that OSM geodata is used by others as well as how OSM has used open geodata and the types of geodata useful for OSM.
Global Data Sharing with Standardization
Kieran HarropThe open data movement is accelerating. Across the globe, individual cities, provinces, countries and other organizations are opening up their data. Most often, however, open data efforts come from individual governmental organizations.
A massive portunity lies in the collaboration of between governments, between all levels of government, between cities, between provinces, between countries, between private sector organizations. The opportunity lies in open data standards that enable data sharing across the globe. Just as internetworking protocol standards allows for unfettered communication and information sharing on the Internet, so would open data standardization accelerate the enormous value of shared, mixed, mashed and hacked data.
Publishing Open Spatial Data Using Voyager and FME
Jeff ChamberlainOpen Spatial Data is quickly becoming a mandate for government organizations. Many organizations are asking themselves "how do I quickly and effectively implement this mandate?" Using a case study for The Regional Municipality of York, this presentation will show how Voyager and FME were used to catalogue the spatial data infrastructure and then quickly and efficiently publish this to an open spatial data portal.
Posting FOI Requests
OR Why can’t the BC government get it up?
Vincent GogolekOne part of the B.C. government’s open data strategy is to publicly post all records released through FOI requests, along with the requests themselves. But so far, they've failed to deliver on that promise. This issue is under investigation as part of the Commissioner’s review of the B.C. Government’s Open Data and Open Information policies. Answers and solutions, hopefully, will be forthcoming, but this shortfall raises important questions about just what this system is supposed to be, how it's meant to work, and how open data and FOI interact. Are completed FOI requests simply data sets to be released when it's convenient and advantageous for government, or is it public information--necessary for transparency--that should be released whether it looks good or not? Can it be both, or maybe neither?
Where is the value from our Open Data initiative?
Per KristensenThe City of Nanaimo was an early adopter of Open Data strategy. Today we have over 34 data sets in our catalogue and are continuing to build and invest in this initiative. But we see little evidence of our data being utilized by developers in public facing applications. Where is the development community? With hundreds of downloads, who is using this data? The City recognizes this challenge and has developed a long term strategy to drive value from its Open Data investment.
Why We Focused On Spatial Data First
Sean SimpsonDiscussion on why we had a narrow Open Data focus. Part of our implementation was to identify who were our customers and what they required. Then we worked on how to technically deliver on those requirements. We will briefly discuss what challenges we faced, and what we are embarking on now.
Publishing Data on DataBC
Loren MullaneIn this lightning talk, Loren Mullane from DataBC gives a behind the curtain view of how open data is published on DataBC. The audience will hear an overview of the steps we take before publishing data under the B.C. Open Government Licence, from the completion of the Open Data Checklist to review by the province’s intellectual property experts. This talk will help the audience understand how our data publishing process dovetails with the OGL to empower citizens to create value from the province’s open data, while also protecting citizen’s personal information and managing potential risks. If you are interested in how a government open data program works, you will find this talk informative.
Settling the Open Frontier
David WrateThe land we know today was explored by people with a thirst for change. They made land claims and risked everything for a dream. Governments have staked claims in the open data territory knowing there was value to be found. But an open data claim only marks the start of the hard work. David will touch on some of the challenges government faces and how they can be met.
Civic Entrepreneurship
Luke ClossLuke will share some lessons learned from his experiences as a civic entrepreneur.
