The document summarizes a presentation given by Tracey P. Lauriault on critiques and reflections of open data initiatives. Some key points from the presentation include: - Open data definitions have evolved over time from sharing scientific data internationally to principles of open government data and 5 star deployment schemes. - Most popular open data definitions center around access, redistribution, reuse and absence of technical restrictions. - Examples of open data initiatives discussed include the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure, which aims to provide comprehensive sharing of geospatial assets, and the Dublin Dashboard, which provides real-time city data. - Considerations for open data include ensuring interaction with crowdsourced/volunteered data follows standards

1. National Economic and Social Council (NESC)
Environmental Data: Priorities and Innovation
Wood Quay Venue, Dublin, 24 April 2015
Tracey P. Lauriault
Programmable City Project
Tracey.Lauriault@NUIM.ie
@TraceyLauriault
Critique and Reflections on
Open Data
Initiatives

2. 1. Introduction

3. The Programmable City
• A European Research Council (ERC) and
Science Foundation of Ireland (SFI) funding
• SH3: Environment and Society
• Led by Dr Rob Kitchin, the Primary Investigator
• Based at the National Institute for Regional and
Spatial Analysis (NIRSA)
• At the National University of Ireland Maynooth
(NUIM)

4. MIT Press 2011 Sage 2014
Aim of the ERC
project is to build
off and extend a
decade of work that
culminated in
Code/Space book
(MIT Press) with a set
of detailed empirical
studies
Aim

5. Objectives
How is the city translated into software and data?
How do software and data reshape the city?
Translation:
City into Code
Transduction:
Code Reshapes City
THE CITYSOFTWARE
Discourses, Practices, Knowledge, Models
Mediation, Augmentation, Facilitation, Regulation

6. 2. Openness

7. Open Data Definitions (sample)
• 1959 Antarctic Treaty
• 1992 - UNCED – Agenda 21 Chapter 40,
Information for Decision Making
• 1996 Global Map
• 2002 – UNCED – Ageday 21 + 10 Down To
Earth
• 2005 - Open Knowledge Foundation (OKNF)
- 11 Principles (Licence specific)
• 2007 GEOSS - Data Sharing Principles for the
Global Earth Observing System of Systems
• 2007 - US Open Government Working Group
- 8 principles of Open Government Data
• 2007 Science Commons Protocol for
Implementing Open Access Data
• 2007 Sunlight Foundation - 10 Principles for
Opening Up Government Informatio
• 2007 OECD, Principles and Guidelines for
Access to Research Data from Public
Funding
• 2008 OECD, Recommendations on Public
Sector Information
• 2009 W3C - Publishing Open Government
Data
• 2010 Tim Berners-Lee 5 Star of Open Data
• 2010 Panton Principles for Open Data in
Science
• 2010 Ontario Information Privacy
Commissioner - 7 Principles
• 2013 Open Economics Principles
• US Association of Computing Machinery
(USACM) – Recommendations on Open
Government
• American Library Association (ALA) – Access
to Government Information Principles

8. Data Sharing
ARTICLE III
1. In order to promote international cooperation in
scientific investigation in Antarctica, as provided for
in Article II of the present Treaty, the Contracting
Parties agree that, to the greatest extent feasible and
practicable:
(a) information regarding plans for scientific programs in
Antarctica shall be exchanged to permit maximum
economy and efficiency of operations;
(b) scientific personnel shall be exchanged in Antarctica
between expeditions and stations;
(c) scientific observations and results from Antarctica
shall be exchanged and made freely available

9. Earth Summit 1992, 2002
Agenda 21 – Chapter 40
INFORMATION FOR DECISION-MAKING
40.1. In sustainable development, everyone is a
user and provider of information considered in
the broad sense. That includes data,
information, appropriately packaged
experience and knowledge. The need for
information arises at all levels, from that of
senior decision makers at the national and
international levels to the grass-roots and
individual levels. The following two
programme areas need to be implemented to
ensure that decisions are based increasingly on
sound information:
a. Bridging the data gap;
b. Improving information availability.
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10455/down-to-earth-
geographical-information-for-sustainable-development-in-africa
http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/Ag
enda21.pdf

10. GEOSS
https://www.earthobservations.org/geoss_dsp.shtml

11. 3. Open Data

12. Most Popular Open Data Defs.
1. Access
2. Redistribution
3. Reuse
4. Absence of Technological
Restriction
5. Attribution
6. Integrity
7. No Discrimination Against Persons
or Groups
8. No Discrimination Against Fields
of Endeavor
9. Distribution of License
10. License Must Not Be Specific to a
Package
11. License Must Not Restrict the
Distribution of Other Works
★ make your stuff available on the Web
(whatever format) under an open license
★★ make it available as structured data (e.g.,
Excel instead of image scan of a table)
★★★ use non-proprietary formats (e.g., CSV
instead of Excel)
★★★★ use URIs to denote things, so that people
can point at your stuff
★★★★★ link your data to other data to provide
context
Tim Berners-Lee, 5 star deployment
scheme for Open Data
Interoperability
Georeference
Aggregation
Data Quality
Archiving

13. Open Data Census

14. G8 Open Data Charter
Companies Company/business register
Crime and Justice Crime statistics, safety
Earth observation Meteorological/weather, agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting
Education List of schools; performance of schools, digital skills
Energy and Environment Pollution levels, energy consumption
Finance and contracts
Transaction spend, contracts let, call for tender, future tenders, local budget,
national budget (planned and spent)
Geospatial Topography, postcodes, national maps, local maps
Global Development Aid, food security, extractives, land
Government Accountability
and Democracy
Government contact points, election results, legislation and statutes, salaries
(pay scales), hospitality/gifts
Health Prescription data, performance data
Science and Research Genome data, research and educational activity, experiment results
Statistics National Statistics, Census, infrastructure, wealth, skills
Social mobility and welfare Housing, health insurance and unemployment benefits
Transport and Infrastructure Public transport timetables, access points broadband penetration

15. Open Data / Gov Ireland

16. Federal Geographic Data
Platform
• Comprehensive collection &
sharing of authoritative data
• Search, discovery, access, &
visualization tools built once &
reused many times, search
once and find everything
• Common web-based
environment enabling data
integration, analysis, &
visualization to support
informed decision-making
• Shared governance &
management of geospatial
assets and capabilities, through
operational standards &
policies
2014-…
http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/earth-sciences/geomatics/canadas-spatial-data-
infrastructure/geospatial-communities/federal

17. CGDI Principles
1. Open:
enables better decision making, the CGDI is
based on open, barrier-free data sharing and
standards that allow users to exchange data.
2. Accessible:
allows users to access data and services
seamlessly, despite any complexities of the
underlying technology.
3. Evolving:
the network of organizations participating in
the CGDI will continue to address new
requirements and business applications for
information and service delivery to their
respective users.
4. Timely:
the CGDI is based on technologies and
services that support timely or real-time
access to information.
5. Sustainable:
is sustained by the contributions of the
participating organizations and broad user
community and through the infrastructure’s
relevance to these groups.
6. Self-organizing
the CGDI enables various organizations to
contribute geospatial information, services
and applications, and guide the
infrastructure’s development.
7. User and community driven
emphasizes the nurturing of and service to a
broad user community. These users,
including Canadians in general, will drive the
CGDI’s development based on user
requirements.
8. Closest to source
maximizes efficiency and quality by
encouraging organizations closest to source
to provide data and services. Thereby
eliminating duplication and overlap.
9. Trustworthy
is continually enhanced to protect sensitive
and proprietary data. The CGDI offers this
protection through policies and mechanisms
that enable data to be assessed for quality
and trusted by users.
Source: : 2012, Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure Vision, Mission
and Roadmap - The Way Forward

18. 4. Data at work

19. All-Island Research Observatory
• Spatial data portal and consultancy specializing in
evidence-based planning
• Been operating since 2005 (initially as CBRRO)
• Interactive mapping & graphing modules both North/South

20. AIRO – data, maps, services

21. The Dublin Dashboard includes:
• real-time information
• time-series indicator data
• & interactive maps about all aspects of
the city
Benefits:
• detailed, up to date intelligence about
the city that aids everyday decision
making and fosters evidence-informed
analysis.
Freely available data sources:
• Dublin City Council
• Dublinked
• Central Statistics Office
• Eurostat
• government departments
• links to a variety of existing
applications
Produced by:
• The Programmable City project
• All-Island research Observatory (AIRO)
at Maynooth University
• working with Dublin City Council
Funded by :
• the European Research Council (ERC)
• Science Foundation Ireland (SFI)

22. 5. Considerations

23. Research Setting

24. Legal Action
1993, Filed 2007, Won 2009

25. Crowsourced Data
• Interaction
type
• Trigger event
• Domain
• Organization
• Actors
• Data sets
• Process
• Feedback
• Goal
• Side effects
• Contact
point
• Policy
• Legal
• Standards
• Data quality
• Technology
• Sustainability
• Credibility of
the source
• Preservation
• Security
http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/1433169/

26. VGI
http://www.nrcan.gc.ca/earth-sciences/geomatics/canadas-spatial-data-
infrastructure/8904
http://spatialinformation.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/whi
te-paper-final-version.pdf

27. ISO 37120
http://www.iso.org/iso/37120_briefing_note.pdf

28. 6. Final Remarks

29. Data Types & Actors
Research Data
GovData
GeoData
Physical
Sciences
AdminData
Public Sector Data
Access to Data Open Data
Social
Sciences
2005
GeoWeb?

30. • Open data is an opportunity.
• An openness ideology may censor / impede
access / discoverability to some data.
• Geomatics and Science open access is more
mature than open data.
• Open data communities can learn from
these.
• Those working on the environment should
leverage all opportunities and be engaged.