The document introduces a new metric called Tau to measure the timeliness of data in catalogues. Tau is calculated by comparing the timestamp of when data was last updated versus the current time. The document provides three case studies calculating Tau for different data catalogues, with values ranging from 0.25 to 0.52. It encourages readers to try out Tau themselves and discuss related work, in order to build an evidence base for evaluating open data timeliness.

1. May, 2014 · ulrich atz · @statshero
The Tau of Data
A New Metric to Assess the Timeliness of Data in Catalogues

3. Structured evidence
Compelling stories
Inspiring events
Training
Research
Development
Standards
Business
Policy

4. Sir Tim Berners-Lee
Sir Nigel Shadbolt
Gavin Starks CEO
18+ years startup experience
20+ years science, web, media, and data
Jeni Tennison CTO
World-leader in open data and linked data
W3C, legislation.gov.uk and data.gov.uk
Stuart Coleman VP Market Dev.
15+ years in commercial tech space
Formerly HP, CA, and AMEE

6. Build the evidence base for open data

7. “from the services perspective, [...], the most
critical questions revolve around achieving
sufficient timeliness of the data.”
Lindman, Rossi and Tuunainen (2013)
Open Data Services: Research Agenda

8. Reasons why we choose
to focus on timeliness
1. Build trust with users and support
innovation.
2. A metric will put a spotlight on
timeliness and may lead to efficiency,
e.g. by automating processes.
3. It is a necessary condition for a
sustainable open data ecosystem.

9. The Tau of Data

10. The Tau of Data

11. Three case studies
Data catalogue
𝝉
World Bank
0.46
data.gov.uk
0.25
London Datastore
0.52

15. Let me know
– if you’re working on something similar
– if you’d like to try it out yourself
– if you’ve come across something related
Get in touch: ulrich@theodi.org
Or Twitter: @statshero

16. Questions?
Email: ulrich@theodi.org · Twitter: @statshero
Thank you!