The document discusses how open government data is moving from just increasing transparency to enabling citizens to take action. It provides examples of how open data platforms and standards are allowing governments and the private sector to work together to build new interfaces and engage citizens. Overall, it argues that governments should focus on being a platform to make it easy for others to solve problems at scale through open data and peer-to-peer solutions.
Short talk on The Guardian and open/public data given by Chris Thorpe at the Gov2.0 Expo in Washington on the "Four perspectives of data.gov.uk" panel with Sir Tim Berners-Lee, John Sheridan and Dominic Campbell.
GIS and Asset Management Moving to the Future : Symphony3
A 40 year roadmap for asset management
A presentation by Phillip Dooley of Symphony3. The presention was delivered at the Spatial Technology Summit, Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney, May 2011.
The topics covers asset management and GIS in industries such as Local and State Government, Water Utilities and Private Industry. The implications of social media on Asset management are also addressed.
A small presentation I did at the Newthinking Store about Hack De Overheid - an event I co-organized in Amsterdam that involved hacking, scraping and designing government data.
We're thinking of organizing a similar event in Berlin. Let me know what you think about it.
Short talk on The Guardian and open/public data given by Chris Thorpe at the Gov2.0 Expo in Washington on the "Four perspectives of data.gov.uk" panel with Sir Tim Berners-Lee, John Sheridan and Dominic Campbell.
GIS and Asset Management Moving to the Future : Symphony3
A 40 year roadmap for asset management
A presentation by Phillip Dooley of Symphony3. The presention was delivered at the Spatial Technology Summit, Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney, May 2011.
The topics covers asset management and GIS in industries such as Local and State Government, Water Utilities and Private Industry. The implications of social media on Asset management are also addressed.
A small presentation I did at the Newthinking Store about Hack De Overheid - an event I co-organized in Amsterdam that involved hacking, scraping and designing government data.
We're thinking of organizing a similar event in Berlin. Let me know what you think about it.
What does “BIG DATA” mean for official statistics?Vincenzo Patruno
In our modern world more and more data are generated on the web and produced by sensors in the ever growing number of electronic devices surrounding us. The amount of data and the frequency at which they are produced have led to the concept of 'Big data'. Big data is characterized as data sets of increasing volume, velocity and variety; the 3 V's. Big data is often largely unstructured, meaning that it has no pre-defined data model and/or does not fit well into conventional relational databases.
21st Century Cities, Technology & Innovation - An OverviewAbhi Nemani
A "101" primer from EthosLabs.us on what makes a 21st century city work, and what it can accomplish -- including dozens of case studies/examples, and tips on how to get started.
EthosLabs is a government innovation consultancy designed to help cities and startups work together to embrace this opportunity. If your city or company is interested in working together, get in touch: hello@ethoslabs.us
A slide deck that I put together with my thoughts on the main economic drivers that have led to the new "data rush" and the commercialisation of grid computing, and some examples of the many diverse applications for hadoop in the contemporary, third wave, knowledge economy.
How data is renewing and reshaping rio de janeiroPablo Cerdeira
Standing with Pablo Cerdeira, Rio’s first chief data officer, we have arguably the best view of the city. We’re not up on Christ the Redeemer or Sugarloaf Mountain, but inside Rio’s three-storey Operations Centre, looking down over its mission control. The whole city is represented in front of us in multiple dimensions on a huge wall of screens – live video footage combined with traffic data, weather predictions, and maps of current incidents including floods, accidents, and power failures.
Much has been written about Rio’s use of real-time data to provide coordinated emergency response. But we’re here to ask Cerdeira about another, more proactive use of this data, championed by his organisation PENSA.
Les sciences et le langage sont les principaux facteurs qui alimentent les mécanismes de la transformation précipitée de nos vies privées et sociales. C’est la poésie et la philosophie qui en donneront un sens.
La nouveauté est bien en soi. Il y a une certaine fascination aujourd’hui pour les progrès technologiques. Jusqu’à très récemment, le rythme de ces évolutions s’est soudainement accéléré, projetant de la science-fiction dans notre quotidien. Or on se focalise plutôt sur le mouvement d’un changement que sur son objectif final. Être mobile, s’adapter toujours, innover encore, changer plus vite, sont devenues les principes de notre conscience occidentale, notre nouvelle religion. Il importe alors de s’interroger sur l’intérêt de la transformation de nos organisations afin d’y donner un sens.
Dans ce premier document, j’essaie de comprendre à travers le prisme des entreprises, les origines de cette transformation dont le numérique et la mondialisation ont fortement contribués. Puis, je propose une approche pour sa prise en main. Être un acteur de sa propre évolution dans ce tourbillon d’innovations est un premier pas pour habiter ce monde et mettre l’humanité au cœur de nos activités.
The Future of Recruiting is in the Cloud (ERE Fall 2008)Michael Marlatt
In 2008, Michael Marlatt delivered a presentation at the Fall session of ERE in Hollywood, FL. The focus of his talk was the convergence and impact of Cloud Computing in the recruitment industry. Marlatt discussed how Cloud Computing was transforming the way recruitment processes were conducted and its implications for the industry.
A Glimpse Into the Future of Data Science - What's Next for AI, Big Data & Ma...Pangea.ai
We are living in the era of "the fourth industrial revolution". How did we get here? Read this presentation to explore current application trends in Artificial Intelligence (AI,) The Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, and Machine Learning (ML) technology. Also, to discover the future implications of big data in our lives.
Read the original article here: https://www.pangea.ai/data-science-resources/future-of-data-science/
Work with a data science expert at Pangea: https://www.pangea.ai/
Big Data and the Future of Journalism (Futurist Keynote Speaker Gerd Leonhard...Gerd Leonhard
This is a slightly edited version of my slides presented in London on June 7, 2013 and the Reuters Institute see https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/research/conferences/forthcoming-conferences/big-data-big-ideas-for-media.html
BTW: You can download ALL of my slideshows, free books and other stuff at http://futuristgerd.com/downloads/
"Data stockpiles are growing exponentially...consumer profiles, media content usage patterns, Twitter and Facebook posts, online purchases, public records, real-time media user behavior and much more. The Big Ideas conference speakers will inspire tactics and strategies to harness these data.
The media industry's leading edge experts from journalism and business disciplines will detail their own case studies, outlining their challenges and triumphs using tools to understand complex data sets. They will outline how these experiences have paved the way to prize-winning journalism, audience insights and growing revenues..."
Is Open Data enough for business?, I think it's better to Open Information Services.
This short presentation was showed in the Big Data Week, 2014, Barcelona.
How to Make Awesome SlideShares: Tips & TricksSlideShare
Turbocharge your online presence with SlideShare. We provide the best tips and tricks for succeeding on SlideShare. Get ideas for what to upload, tips for designing your deck and more.
What does “BIG DATA” mean for official statistics?Vincenzo Patruno
In our modern world more and more data are generated on the web and produced by sensors in the ever growing number of electronic devices surrounding us. The amount of data and the frequency at which they are produced have led to the concept of 'Big data'. Big data is characterized as data sets of increasing volume, velocity and variety; the 3 V's. Big data is often largely unstructured, meaning that it has no pre-defined data model and/or does not fit well into conventional relational databases.
21st Century Cities, Technology & Innovation - An OverviewAbhi Nemani
A "101" primer from EthosLabs.us on what makes a 21st century city work, and what it can accomplish -- including dozens of case studies/examples, and tips on how to get started.
EthosLabs is a government innovation consultancy designed to help cities and startups work together to embrace this opportunity. If your city or company is interested in working together, get in touch: hello@ethoslabs.us
A slide deck that I put together with my thoughts on the main economic drivers that have led to the new "data rush" and the commercialisation of grid computing, and some examples of the many diverse applications for hadoop in the contemporary, third wave, knowledge economy.
How data is renewing and reshaping rio de janeiroPablo Cerdeira
Standing with Pablo Cerdeira, Rio’s first chief data officer, we have arguably the best view of the city. We’re not up on Christ the Redeemer or Sugarloaf Mountain, but inside Rio’s three-storey Operations Centre, looking down over its mission control. The whole city is represented in front of us in multiple dimensions on a huge wall of screens – live video footage combined with traffic data, weather predictions, and maps of current incidents including floods, accidents, and power failures.
Much has been written about Rio’s use of real-time data to provide coordinated emergency response. But we’re here to ask Cerdeira about another, more proactive use of this data, championed by his organisation PENSA.
Les sciences et le langage sont les principaux facteurs qui alimentent les mécanismes de la transformation précipitée de nos vies privées et sociales. C’est la poésie et la philosophie qui en donneront un sens.
La nouveauté est bien en soi. Il y a une certaine fascination aujourd’hui pour les progrès technologiques. Jusqu’à très récemment, le rythme de ces évolutions s’est soudainement accéléré, projetant de la science-fiction dans notre quotidien. Or on se focalise plutôt sur le mouvement d’un changement que sur son objectif final. Être mobile, s’adapter toujours, innover encore, changer plus vite, sont devenues les principes de notre conscience occidentale, notre nouvelle religion. Il importe alors de s’interroger sur l’intérêt de la transformation de nos organisations afin d’y donner un sens.
Dans ce premier document, j’essaie de comprendre à travers le prisme des entreprises, les origines de cette transformation dont le numérique et la mondialisation ont fortement contribués. Puis, je propose une approche pour sa prise en main. Être un acteur de sa propre évolution dans ce tourbillon d’innovations est un premier pas pour habiter ce monde et mettre l’humanité au cœur de nos activités.
The Future of Recruiting is in the Cloud (ERE Fall 2008)Michael Marlatt
In 2008, Michael Marlatt delivered a presentation at the Fall session of ERE in Hollywood, FL. The focus of his talk was the convergence and impact of Cloud Computing in the recruitment industry. Marlatt discussed how Cloud Computing was transforming the way recruitment processes were conducted and its implications for the industry.
A Glimpse Into the Future of Data Science - What's Next for AI, Big Data & Ma...Pangea.ai
We are living in the era of "the fourth industrial revolution". How did we get here? Read this presentation to explore current application trends in Artificial Intelligence (AI,) The Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, and Machine Learning (ML) technology. Also, to discover the future implications of big data in our lives.
Read the original article here: https://www.pangea.ai/data-science-resources/future-of-data-science/
Work with a data science expert at Pangea: https://www.pangea.ai/
Big Data and the Future of Journalism (Futurist Keynote Speaker Gerd Leonhard...Gerd Leonhard
This is a slightly edited version of my slides presented in London on June 7, 2013 and the Reuters Institute see https://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/research/conferences/forthcoming-conferences/big-data-big-ideas-for-media.html
BTW: You can download ALL of my slideshows, free books and other stuff at http://futuristgerd.com/downloads/
"Data stockpiles are growing exponentially...consumer profiles, media content usage patterns, Twitter and Facebook posts, online purchases, public records, real-time media user behavior and much more. The Big Ideas conference speakers will inspire tactics and strategies to harness these data.
The media industry's leading edge experts from journalism and business disciplines will detail their own case studies, outlining their challenges and triumphs using tools to understand complex data sets. They will outline how these experiences have paved the way to prize-winning journalism, audience insights and growing revenues..."
Is Open Data enough for business?, I think it's better to Open Information Services.
This short presentation was showed in the Big Data Week, 2014, Barcelona.
How to Make Awesome SlideShares: Tips & TricksSlideShare
Turbocharge your online presence with SlideShare. We provide the best tips and tricks for succeeding on SlideShare. Get ideas for what to upload, tips for designing your deck and more.
Our Senior Insights Analyst, Jonathan Weindel, will walk through his analysis and findings on multithreading and relationship strength. Learn how multithreading can impact your deals and increase your win rates.
The Top Skills That Can Get You Hired in 2017LinkedIn
We analyzed all the recruiting activity on LinkedIn this year and identified the Top Skills employers seek. Starting Oct 24, learn these skills and much more for free during the Week of Learning.
#AlwaysBeLearning https://learning.linkedin.com/week-of-learning
SlideShare now has a player specifically designed for infographics. Upload your infographics now and see them take off! Need advice on creating infographics? This presentation includes tips for producing stand-out infographics. Read more about the new SlideShare infographics player here: http://wp.me/p24NNG-2ay
This infographic was designed by Column Five: http://columnfivemedia.com/
No need to wonder how the best on SlideShare do it. The Masters of SlideShare provides storytelling, design, customization and promotion tips from 13 experts of the form. Learn what it takes to master this type of content marketing yourself.
Are you new to SlideShare? Are you looking to fine tune your channel plan? Are you using SlideShare but are looking for ways to enhance what you're doing? How can you use SlideShare for content marketing tactics such as lead generation, calls-to-action to other pieces of your content, or thought leadership? Read more from the CMI team in their latest SlideShare presentation on SlideShare.
Each month, join us as we highlight and discuss hot topics ranging from the future of higher education to wearable technology, best productivity hacks and secrets to hiring top talent. Upload your SlideShares, and share your expertise with the world!
Not sure what to share on SlideShare?
SlideShares that inform, inspire and educate attract the most views. Beyond that, ideas for what you can upload are limitless. We’ve selected a few popular examples to get your creative juices flowing.
Open Data: From the Information Age to the Action Age (PDF with notes)Tim O'Reilly
This is the presentation I made at the UK Department for International Aid/Omidyar Network OpenUp! conference in London on November 13, 2012. I talk about open government not as a platform for transparency or citizen engagement, but for a developer ecosystem building useful services. A video of this talk is available at http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=OIlxdpfu71o
World Government Summit on Open SourceTim O'Reilly
PDF of slides and notes from my keynote at Acquia's World Government Summit on Open Source in Washington DC October 11, 2012. I talk about how open source enabled the internet as a platform, and how it can enable government as a platform. I talk about examples from the internet and from Code for America's work with cities. I crib shamelessly from some of Jen Pahlka's talks about Code for America, and some of the lessons that can be taken from her work.
Technology and Trust: The Challenge of 21st Century GovernmentTim O'Reilly
My talk at the 2013 Social Innovation Summit. Democracies get their strength from the people’s trust. When the interactions that people have with government are so divorced from how they live their lives, or are hard and unpleasant, what does that do to the trust that underlies our democracies? At Code for America, we try to restore trust in government by building interfaces to essential government services that are simple, beautiful, and easy to use.
We take four approaches: 1) we work directly with government officials (at the local level) to create the capacity inside government to build innovative solutions to hard problems; 2) we build communities of technologists and citizens who want to lend their skills to help build their governments; 3) we build tools that make citizen interactions with government easier, simpler, and more elegant, so that the experience of government is positive and breeds trust. 4) We incubate and accelerate civic startups to create new
economic models for those tools.
Don’t stop believing that government can work, and can be a force for good
I’m glad you picked up a copy of our third edition of Open Innovation. It’s packed full of examples of how the open
data movement is growing quickly and becoming one of the most dynamic areas of technology today.
In our “Community Report” section, you’ll get to meet people who are bringing open data to more places, like the
executives in Montgomery County who supported the creation of financial transparency apps that educate citizens
on county budget data. You’ll also hear about Code for America’s successful startup incubator program and the
Center for Medicaid and Medicare’s (CMS) innovative use of healthcare data. Finally, we highlight authors in the
community with our new book review section and showcase a few members of the “Open Data Doers Club.” Any of
the doers remind you of yourself?
“There’s an app for that.” We’ve all heard it and it’s becoming more and more true thanks to new public datasets
made available by governments. In our “What’s App’ening?” section, you’ll find out how New York City
encourages citizens to create apps that address the city’s toughest issues and you’ll get an overview of Socrata Open
Expenditures™ and Socrata Open Budget™, financial transparency apps we designed with help from government
finance leaders.
Government as a Platform: What We've Learned Since 2008 (pdf with notes)Tim O'Reilly
My talk at the UK Government Digital Service Sprint 15 event in London, February 2, 2015. I talk about my idea of government as a platform, and what I've learned since I first articulated the idea, with specific reference to what the GDS has taught me about the idea.
Open Innovation - Winter 2014 - Socrata, Inc.Socrata
As innovators around the world push the open data movement forward, Socrata features their stories, successes, advice, and ideas in our quarterly magazine, “Open Innovation.”
The Winter 2014 issue of Open Innovation is out. This special year-in-review edition contains stories about some of the biggest open data achievements in 2013, as well as expert insights into how open data can grow and where it may go in 2014.
In this paper, I talk about three distinct areas: Big Data, Crowdsourcing, and Public Sector. Each of the these areas is vast on its own but through this paper I want to argue that it is the intersection of the three which offers unique and immense possibilities that can truly make the world a better place.
My presentation to "Transparency Camp 09", about how to go beyond transparency to an integrated strategy based on "democratizing data" (structuring and syndicating it and providing social media analysis tools to share it). This integrated strategy will provide transparency, give workers the real-time information they need, reform government regulation, cut corporate paperwork, and crowdsource innovation. It may, or may not, cure the common cold under certain conditions.
Open Government and local community foundations: Getting involvedHack the Hood
What is Open Government and what opportunities does it offer for you as a community foundation? Attend this webinar and learn more about how partnerships between technologists and city, county, state and federal governments can result in greater transparency and accountability, more access to data for citizens, and even cost-savings—and what role local organizations like yours are playing.
http://www.knightdigitalmediacenter.org/learning-module/open-gov-and-what-it-means-community-foundations
Big Data has recently gained relevance because companies are realizing what it can do for them and that it is a gold mine for finding competitive advantages. Proximity’s Juan Manuel Ramírez, Director of Strategy and...
The success of an organization increasingly depends on their ability to draw conclusions regarding the various types of data available. Staying ahead of competitors requires many times to identify a trend, problem or opportunity microseconds before anyone else. That's why organizations must be able to analyze this information if they want to find insights that will help them to identify new opportunities underlying this phenomenon.
People are spontaneously uploading large amounts of information on the internet and this represents a great opportunity for companies to segment according to their behavior and not only socio-demographic factors. Companies store transactional information from their customers by making them fill in forms but the challenge for brands is to enrich these databases with information describing their customer’s behavior and daily habits. This info can be obtained through the online conversation and can be processed, crossed and enriched with many other types of information through different models based on Big Data. Following this procedure, we can complement the information we already have from our customers without having to ask them directly and therefor providing more value-added proposals to clients from a brand perspective.
Using the same technology with the right platform and the correct tactic, companies can achieve more ambitious goals that provide valuable information for the brand, which in turn could also enrich the customer’s experience, improving the customer journey for all types of clients.
less
Oakland Public Ethics Commission: Transparency, Open Data, and Gov as PlatformTim O'Reilly
I spoke at the Oakland Public Ethics commission on June 25, 2013. I was trying to set some context about how the ideas of transparency, open data, and government platform should shape their thinking. This is a PDF with notes on my talking points below each slide.
Google Calendar is a versatile tool that allows users to manage their schedules and events effectively. With Google Calendar, you can create and organize calendars, set reminders for important events, and share your calendars with others. It also provides features like creating events, inviting attendees, and accessing your calendar from mobile devices. Additionally, Google Calendar allows you to embed calendars in websites or platforms like SlideShare, making it easier for others to view and interact with your schedules.
Building a Raspberry Pi Robot with Dot NET 8, Blazor and SignalR - Slides Onl...Peter Gallagher
In this session delivered at Leeds IoT, I talk about how you can control a 3D printed Robot Arm with a Raspberry Pi, .NET 8, Blazor and SignalR.
I also show how you can use a Unity app on an Meta Quest 3 to control the arm VR too.
You can find the GitHub repo and workshop instructions here;
https://bit.ly/dotnetrobotgithub
1. Open Data: From the Information Age
to the Action Age
Tim O’Reilly
O’Reilly Media
OpenUp
November 13, 2012
Thursday, November 15, 12
2. § something about transparency and gov data
Thursday, November 15, 12
When people talk about open government data, they often start by thinking about government transparency. Sites like
mysociety’s TheyWorkForYou, or OpenCongress in the US, are indeed important.
3. Thursday, November 15, 12
In the US, this strain of the open government movement is perhaps best exemplified by the Sunlight Foundation.
4. Thursday, November 15, 12
Another mysociety project, fixmystreet, was among the first to highlight the possibility of opening up a two way channel, using
open data to create a context for better citizen engagement.
5. Thursday, November 15, 12
Startups like SeeClickFix have sprung up to help citizens give feedback to civil servants about what needs doing.
6. Thursday, November 15, 12
What’s encouraging that there are now emerging standards like 311 that allow applications and the back-end systems that
governments use to manage their workflow to speak the same language. This is the beginning of a new way of thinking about
how government data and the private sector can interoperate, creating new interfaces for government services.
7. Thursday, November 15, 12
In the US, Code for America is a leader in providing new kinds of engagement, working with local governments to build simple,
beautiful and easy-to-use interfaces to government services and challenging government to reinvent the way it engages with
citizens. Jen Pahlka talked a bit about their work earlier this morning.
8. Thursday, November 15, 12
The UK government digital service has done a fantastic job of thinking about how to put citizens at the center of government
rather than at the periphery. Their Design Principles are a manifesto for open government everywhere.
9. Thursday, November 15, 12
The Government Digital Service Design Principles are probably the most important design document since the Macintosh Human
Interface Guidelines of the 1980s. They, and the GDS Digital Strategy, should be the template for government services around
the world. I particularly like that they’ve embraced the notion of APIs, which allow third parties to build new services. But I
would go further, and argue that APIs should be open to third parties by default, and closed only when necessary.
10. § google home page / information age
Thursday, November 15, 12
But even the thinking behind GDS doesn’t give the full range of impact of open government data.
I’ve always found myself wondering why people aren’t more aware of how government data powers non-governmental services
that citizens take for granted, many of them never taking the time to think how much government investment went into building
the infrastructure that makes it possible for the private sector to offer services like weather predictions
11. GPS: A 21st century platform launched in 1973
Thursday, November 15, 12
Now consider Global positioning satellites. Here government investment in a hard, long term project, is paying off in uncounted
new private sector developments.
A huge project with uncertain return, started in 1973 and now showing enormous fruit in the 21st century, with huge value add
from the commercial sector. Everything from maps and directions on your phone to
future self-driving cars spring from this platform investment, and the key policy decision to open the data and
make it available for commercial use. No one dreamed of the unexpected applications that became possible by opening up this
data. That’s why we need open web services by default.
12. Thursday, November 15, 12
Mapping services have taken data developed at great expense by government and turned it into hugely powerful experiences for
citizens. Here are my public transit directions from my hotel to this venue today, courtesy of Google, but also of centuries of
government investment in mapping services. Not to mention that Google Transit directions got its start with the government of
Portland, Oregon, who in classic internet style, proposed a data specification for transit timetables that could be consumed by
third party applications.
13. § Health datapalooza
Thursday, November 15, 12
This same kind of “developer outreach” has characterized Todd Park’s work on open data at HHS. Rather than just opening
the data, he proactively sought out partners who could consume government data. For example, HHS had a huge database of
hospital and nursing home quality and user satisfaction metrics, which now helps to power Bing’s hospital search, and not just
the HHS Hospital Compare application.
The HHS open data initiative now features a thriving developer conference,
hundreds of apps, and numerous funded startups.
14. Thursday, November 15, 12
The Obama administration is now trying to replicate this playbook in other areas like energy
16. What happens when you throw open the doors to partners
More than 50,000 iPhone
applications in less than a year!
Now at 688,000
Thursday, November 15, 12
Apple showed us the power of this kind of entrepreneurial explosion when they turned the smartphone into a platform with the
introduction of the iPhone app store. We went from phones that had twenty or thirty apps cooked up in a back room deal to a
platform that allows anyone to come up with new features.
This is the kind of platform I’d like to see for government.
17. Government as a platform means an end to the
design of only complete, closed “applications.” Instead
the government should provide fundamental services
on which we, the people, (also known as “the market”)
build applications.
Thursday, November 15, 12
That’s why...
18. Thursday, November 15, 12
At Code for America, we’ve capitalized on this idea by launching a startup accelerator, finding and nurturing creative startups
who are re-using or opening up government data, creating new interfaces to government services, or building tools that will
help governments to engage with their community.
19. Thursday, November 15, 12
Since I know this conference is focused on International Development, I want to mention one of these startups in particular.
Captricity grew out of a project in Tanzania and Uganda to digitize medical records. It is a now a powerful tool combining
machine learning and crowdsourcing to convert any kind of paper document into structured data.
20. Thursday, November 15, 12
While we’re on the subject of Africa, I want to remind all of you that technology for international development isn’t all digital.
One of the most remarkable frontiers of technology today is in something we call the Maker Movement, which involves
everything from sensors and robots to advanced 3D printing, digital design and manufacturing, but also includes old fashioned
mechanical engineering and ingenuity. At O’Reilly, we run an event in California that draws over 120,000 people. But one of our
most exciting Maker Faires happens in Nigeria.
21. Thursday, November 15, 12
You can get a great sense of how “makers” are solving everyday problems with local ingenuity on the Afrigadget blog. Many of
the people featured there also appear at Maker Faire.
Sulaiman Famro is a cheerful, 65 year old engineer, and a master of branding. He built the prototype “Farmking” three years ago
and claims he can save the country $1 billion a year, just in savings on starch importation.
The Farmking is a one-stop processing plant for cluster and farm-site processing of root crops and grains. It has a diesel
powered engine that allows for remote processing, with power out connections for lighting so that it can work all night, if
needed.
On one end you have 3 devices, for chipping, grating and milling. In the middle is the power plant, and in the rear is a large steel
drum that can hold 50kgs of milled cassava, that uses a spin filter to process up to 2.5 tons of milled cassava into starch.
It’s used for processing of cassava, soya beans, maize, sweet potatoes, yam and many other roots and grains.
22. Thursday, November 15, 12
In an odd way, there’s also a connection between the maker movement and hot silicon valley startups like AirBnB. Both are
deeply rooted in a trend towards decentralized activities and peer-to-peer markets. With maker marketplaces like Etsy, people
around the world can sell their goods to each other. With sharing marketplaces like airBnb, people can share their homes.
Government should support these peer economies, and not get in the way with too much regulation. At the Opening
Government meeting the other day, we had a fascinating conversation about the interplay between regulation and reputation,
and how reputation systems can replace some of what we now do with centralized regulation.
23. Thursday, November 15, 12
I also want to give a shout out to efforts like the UN Global Pulse, as well as Ushahidi, the Global Virus Forecasting Initiative, and
other groups that are using new approaches to big data and predictive analytics to literally build a new early warning system for
the planet.
Data is the currency of most modern apps, and particularly important is data that helps you to “close the loop.”
24. “What I learned from Google is
to only invest in things that
close the loop.”
- Chris Sacca
Thursday, November 15, 12
Efforts like this are completely aligned with the “big data” focus of Silicon Valley companies like Google.
Investor Chris Sacca, who used to run special projects for Google, once remarked “What I learned...”
25. “Perl should make easy things
easy, and hard things possible.”
- Larry Wall
Thursday, November 15, 12
I want to end with a few further thoughts about the role of government in sparking innovation in the private sector. Larry Wall,
the creator of the Perl programming language, once said...
26. “Government should make easy
things easy, and hard things
possible.”
-Tim O’Reilly
Thursday, November 15, 12
Since he’s an open source developer, I’m going to take his maxim, and as we say in the open source world, “fork it” so it now
reads... I was with the UK Government Digital Service the other day, and we did a Q&A with reporters. Someone from the Wall
Street Journal asked if the new approach was just about saving money. We answered that it wasn’t at all, that it was about
creating new kinds of engagement between government and citizens. Saving money is a byproduct. But there’s another way in
which the cost savings of open data and government doing less by enabling the rest of us to do more is really important.
27. Critical Issues Facing the World
• Natural Disasters
• Jobs
• Energy
• Food
• Water
• Creating a vibrant, just, and bountiful economy for all the
world’s citizens
Thursday, November 15, 12
I suspect that in the next few decades we’ll have many, many hard problems to solve - wicked problems even. One of the great
urgencies of the open government movement is to make easy things easy so that we can make hard things possible.
The private sector can do a lot, but there are some problems of a scale that we need to tackle them all together.
28. “The legitimate object of government is to
do for the people what needs to be done,
but which they cannot, by individual
effort, do at all, or do so well, for
themselves.”
-Abraham Lincoln, July 1, 1854
Thursday, November 15, 12
Or as Abraham Lincoln put it...