Open (Public) Data: What, Why, How
Forum Virium - Open Up the City - Helsinki
Rufus Pollock
[Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge]
[Open Knowledge Foundation]
Licensed under cc-by v3.0 (any jurisdiction)
What?
What is 'Open'?
Open = Freedom to Use / Re-use / Redistribute
http://www.opendefinition.org/
What Data?
Transport, Geodata, Statistics, Electoral-Legal ...
Why?
The Holy Trinity:
Innovation, Efficiency, Transparency
AKA: Jobs and Growth, Community and Governance
£5 Billion UK, €27 billion for EU
Information is Special: Non-Rivalrous
Very cheaply copied ~ zero cost
Giving me a 'copy' of your car is a problem, giving me a copy of your data isn't
The Many Minds Principle
The Best Thing to do With Your Data will be Thought of by Someone Else
Fixing is Faster with Open Data
(And You Don't Repeat Yourself)
To many eyes all bugs are shallow
One department can find and use another's data
Scaling
(Closed Data Doesn't Scale!)
|
|
|
| We're Weaving Data Together |
To Scale We Need to Componentize |
But We Need to Put Humpty-Dumpty Together Again - Not Possible if Closed |
Where Does My Money Go?
Transparency, Efficiency, Innovation ...
Enabling a Read/Write Culture
Open data allows citizens to 'write' back - adding, commenting and updating whether to their own copy or the 'original'
This is the Radical Change
How?
Get Started:
Fast, Small and Simple
Remember: KISS
Address Common Fears and Misunderstandings
Misuse, blame, services versus data, formats ...
Deal with Licensing
It's boring - but without it nothing else works ...
Have a Catalogue
CKAN - powering CKAN.net, data.gov.uk and many more
Separate Storage - Support Write
Be Distributed
It's Not One Ring to Rule them All
Small Pieces, Loosely Joined
Engage Citizens and Developers
Openness Isn't An End In Itself - Data Has No Value If It Isn't Used
Manage Expectations
We Won't Get There Tomorrow (But Maybe the Day After)
And Remember Faraday's Response to Gladstone: "What's the Use of a Baby?"
Conclusion
Open Data for a Read/Write City
Thank-You
Rufus Pollock
rufus.pollock [at] okfn [dot] org
Credits
Images
tolkein_ring.jpg: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Ringinscription.jpg
lego.jpg: http://www.flickr.com/photos/oskay/265899811/
humpty_dumpty.jpg: http://www.flickr.com/photos/aussiegall/298669543/
woven_ball.jpg: http://www.flickr.com/photos/exfordy/387876530/sizes/s/
sim_city_airport.jpg: http://www.flickr.com/photos/42183741@N05/3890767674/in/photostream/
thomas_jefferson.jpg: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rembrandt_Peale-Thomas_Jefferson.jpg
stick_figure_male.png: http://www.openclipart.org/detail/15036
stick_figure_female.png: http://www.openclipart.org/detail/15040
city_icon.png: http://www.openclipart.org/detail/20145
