From Capital Camp + GovDays 2014. Open data used to be a buzzword tossed around by academicians, Big Data providers, and political activists. However, in recent years it has become not only a reality but in some cases a requirement for governments, NPOs and NGOs globally. Add to that the rich amounts of historical data that are being digitized daily and increases in computing power and Big Data tools, and we're on the verge of a new Information Age. This session will explore what open data is, how to find it, and what it means to your origanization's website and its followers. Practical examples using open source tools and various data sources will also be presented as well as an open discussion on pros, cons and approaches to leveraging open data - and even providing it!

1. Open Data:
Not just a buzzword

2. by Robert Bates
Phase2
rbates@phase2technology.com
arpieb most other places

3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Joseph_Minard

4. What is “open data?”

5. “He who receives an idea from me,
receives instruction himself without lessening mine;
as he who lights his taper at mine,
receives light without darkening me.”
- Thomas Jefferson

6. Information has public good characteristics.
It is ‘non-rivalrous.’
One person’s consumption of it
doesn’t prevent others consuming it.

7. If it can’t be spidered or indexed, it doesn’t exist.
If it isn’t available in open and machine readable format, it can’t
engage.
If a legal framework doesn’t allow it to be re-purposed, it doesn’t
empower.
The Three Laws of Open Government Data
(http://eaves.ca/2009/09/30/three-law-ofopen-government-data)

8. What kinds of data?
●
Cultural
●
Science
●
Finance
●
Statistics
●
Weather
●
Environment
●
Transport

9. Why is open data
important?

10. Open data is global...
Scaling recent results of the McKinsey Global
Institute suggests that implementation of open
data policies … could increase G20 output by
around USD 13 trillion over the next five years.
“Open for Business: How Open Data Can Help Achieve the
G20 Growth Target.” June 2014.

11. Open data promotes...
●
Transparency
●
Social value
●
Commercial value
●
Engagement

12. Great stuff!
Now what?

13. Be a data consumer...
●
DataCatalogs.org
●
FedStats.gov
●
DBPedia.org
●
Industry associations
●
Research organizations
●
NPOs / NGOs (UN, IMF, WorldBank, etc)

14. … or be a data provider!
●
CKAN (http://ckan.org)
●
DKAN (https://drupal.org/project/dkan)
●
Hadoop (http://hadoop.apache.org)
●
Socrata (http://socrata.com)
●
NuCivic Data (http://nucivic.com)

15. What can you do with it?

16. What can you do with it?

17. Open data in the wild!

18. Questions?