Toward land information ecosystem with Linked Open Data

1. Toward land information ecosystem
with Linked Open Data
Penhleak (Pinkie) Chan | pchan@ewmi-odi.org | opendevmekong.net
Regional Network and Partnership Support Manager
Open Development Initiative

2. Just facts: opening up public data to illuminate
development trends
Problem we’re solving:
Citizens and other stakeholders lack information to promote equitable,
sustainable development and good governance
How does ODC platform solve this problem:
Maps and infographics inform the public and promote fact-based open dialogue
on development
Successful story / key statistics:
32K unique visitors monthly, 40% return users, citations in media and by
businesses, CSOs, government
ODC target users:
Citizens, civil society, investors, researchers, journalists, and policy-makers
Future plan and how to scale:
Increase partnerships, broaden topical coverage and expand “Open
Development” to the Mekong region

6. Decision-makers tend to work holistically and
intuitively. On the other hand, scientists
generating knowledge use a reductionist
approach – they become very good in very
small things. So the process generates islands
of knowledge in a sea of ignorance. Decision-
makers have to navigate the sea.
Walter Baethgen, Columbia University
Read the manifesto

8. Mekong
ODI & Land Portal: from local to global
Vietnam
Thailand
Laos
Myanmar
Cambodia
Land Portal

9. Collaboration with the Land Portal
 Translate the Land Portal’s LandVoc terms and definitions (267 terms)
 Expose data in semantic web and RDF format
 Link ODI land related terms to Land Portal’s LandVoc
 Link other ODI terms to AgroVoc and other LOD concepts
 Develop WPsparql end-point (beta) to query and consume Linked Open Data
 300+ land related publications crowdsourced from OD Network are accessible to the Land Portal and others
 Land related data, maps, laws and policy documents from OD datahub available to Land Portal and others
 Develop and publish data-riched research briefings on land topics at regional and country level
 Land Portal’s library resources are integrated and offered as related resources on land pages

13. Challenges & opportunities
Challenges
 Open first
Supports for open data uptakes at local and national
levels
 Quality control
Understanding/setting standards
 Overlapping content between content
aggregating platforms working on the same
topics
Coordinate content collection across the ecosystem
Opportunities
 Extend Linked Open Data implementation to
other topics
Readiness assessment