Slides from a presentation at the Whose Right to the Smart Cities conference, Plymouth, 11th September 2017

1. PARTICIPATORY PUBLIC
DATA INFRASTRUCTURE
OPEN DATA STANDARDS ANDTHETURNTO
TRANSPARENCY
@timdavies | tim@timdavies.org.uk

2. PARTICIPATORY PUBLIC DATA INFRASTRUCTURE
OPEN DATA STANDARDS ANDTHETURNTOTRANSPARENCY
1. Participatory public data infrastructure
2. Transparency
3. Standards
4. Examples
5. Recap & action

3. PART 1: PARTICIPATORY PUBLIC DATA
INFRASTRUCTURE

4. DATA INFRASTRUCTURE

5. infrastructure. /ɪnfrəstrʌktʃə/ noun.
"the basic physical and organisational structures
and facilities (e.g. buildings, roads, power
supplies) needed for the operation of a society or
enterprise."

9. Data infrastructure
•ETL (Extract,Transform, Load)
•API (Application Programming Interface)
•Database
•Data warehouse
•Stored queries
•Schema
•Dashboards
•Code lists
•Standards
•Access control rules
•…

10. Dimensions of infrastructure (Star & Ruhleder): Embeddedness;
Transparency; Reach & scope; Learned through membership; Links with
convention; Embodying standards; Built on installed based;Visible on breakdown.

11. PUBLIC DATA INFRASTRUCTURE

19. PARTICIPATORY PUBLIC DATA
INFRASTRUCTURE

20. Participation in…
… data use
… data production
… data design

21. U
SE
CREATIO
N
D
ESIG
N
1
2

23. U
SE
C
REATIO
N
D
ESIG
N
1
2
3

25. U
SE
C
REATIO
N
D
ESIG
N
1
2
3
4

27. PART 2: TRANSPARENCY

28. transparency /tranˈspar(ə)nsi/ noun
"the quality of being done in an open way without
secrets"

29. PSI
Directive
Civil society
Open Government
Declaration
Obama Open
Government
Directive data.gov
UK expenses
scandal ->
data.gov.uk
Civic tech
movement
Government
as a platform
World Bank
open data
initiative
Economic
stimulus
arguments

33. PART 3: STANDARDS

34. standard /ˈstandəd/ noun
"something used as a measure, norm, or model in
[comparative] evaluations."

35. Standard Specification
Policy
Guidance
Implementation
Validation
Policy&practice
change
Interoperability

43. PART 4: EXAMPLES

44. Contracting

49. U
SE
C
REATIO
N
D
ESIG
N
1
2
3
4

50. Land

52. "privacy should be
inversely proportional to power”
Sunil Abraham

54. Air

56. "Our current data infrastructure for air quality is fragmented. Projects each have
their own goals and ambitions. Their sensor networks and data feeds often sit in
silos, separated by technical choices, organisational ambition and disputes over
data quality and sensor placement. The concerns might be valid, but they stand in
the way of their common purpose, their common goals.”
Jamie Fawcett, Open Data Institute

57. PART 4: RECAP

59. (1) What information is proactively published, or can be demanded, as a
result of transparency and right to information policies?
(2) What does the structure of the data reveal about the process/project
it relates to?
(3) What standards might be used to publish this data?
(4) Do these standards provide the data I, or other citizens, need to be
empowered in relevant to this process/project?
(5) Are these open standards? Whose needs were they designed to
serve?
(6) Can I influence these standards? Can I afford not to?
Take away questions

60. PARTICIPATORY PUBLIC
DATA INFRASTRUCTURE
OPEN DATA STANDARDS ANDTHETURNTO
TRANSPARENCY
@timdavies | tim@timdavies.org.uk

61. REFERENCES (1)
• 1]: https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=define%3Ainfrastructure, accessed 17th August 2017
• [2]: Star, S., & Ruhleder, K. (1996). StepsToward an Ecology of Infrastructure: Design and Access for Large Information Spaces.
Information Systems Research, 7(1), 111–134.
• [3]: Bowker, G. C., & Star, S. L. (2000). SortingThings Out: Classification and Its Consequences.The MIT Press.
• [4]: Goldsmith, S., & Crawford, S. (2014).The responsive city. Jossey-Bass.
• [5]: Kitchin, R. (2014).The Data Revolution: Big Data, Open Data, Data Infrastructures andTheir Consequences. SAGE
Publications.
• [6]:The Danish Government. (2012). Good Basic Data for Everyone – a Driver for Growth and Efficiency, (October 2012)
• [7]: Bartha, G., & Kocsis, S. (2011). Standardization of Geographic Data:The European INSPIRE Directive. European Journal of
Geography, 22, 79–89.
• [10]: Guldi, J. (2012). Roads to power: Britain invents the infrastructure state.
• [11]: Gray, J., & Davies,T. (2015). Fighting Phantom Firms in the UK : From Opening Up Datasets to Reshaping Data
Infrastructures?

62. REFERENCES (2)
• [12]: Gray, J., &TommasoVenturini. (2015). Rethinking the Politics of Public Information: From Opening Up Datasets to
Recomposing Data Infrastructures?
• [13]: Gray, J. (2015). DEMOCRATISINGTHE DATA REVOLUTION:A Discussion Paper
• [14]:Arnstein, S. R. (1969).A ladder of citizen participation. Journalof the American Institute of Planners, 34(5), 216–224.
• [16]: Ribes, D., & Baker, K. (2007). Modes of social science engagement in community infrastructure design. Proceedings of the 3rd
Communities andTechnologies Conference, C andT 2007, 107–130.
• [17]: Davies,T. (2010, September 29). Open data, democracy and public sector reform:A look at open government data use from
data.gov.uk.
• [18]: Davies,T. (2014). Open Data Policies and Practice:An International Comparison.
• [19]: Fung,A., Graham, M., & Weil, D. (2007). Full Disclosure:The Perils and Promise ofTransparency (1st ed.). Cambridge University
Press.
• [22]: Craveiro, G. S., Machado, J.A. S., Martano,A. M. R., & Souza,T. J. (2014). Exploring the Impact of Web Publishing Budgetary
Information at the Sub-National Level in Brazil.
• [24]: Hetherington, K. (2011). Guerrilla auditors: the politics of transparency in neoliberal Paraguay. London: Duke University Press.
• [25]: Scott, J. C. (1987).Weapons of the Weak: Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance.

63. Image Credits
Hossen27: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Below_Auckland_Harbour_Bridge_Hossen27.jpg
Bidgee: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rural_landscape_of_Wantabadgery_near_Mundarlo_from_the_air.jpg
Railyard: https://pxhere.com/en/photo/266719
DSMIC: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:19-inch_rackmount_Ethernet_switches_and_patch_panels.jpg
Toronto City Scape: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Toronto_Yonge-Dundas_Square.jpg
Database schema: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:MediaWiki_database_schema_1-19_(r102798).svg
SatNav: https://www.flickr.com/photos/xurble/244671618
Andalcant: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Brasilia_aerea_torredetv1304_4713.jpg
Nilfanion: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:London_Commuter_Belt_map.svg
Liberaler Humanist: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Motorway_bridge_over_Wenger_Bach_in_Pfarrwerfen.jpg
Leitonmahillo: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
File:HK_CWB_Sharp_Street_East_Times_Square_public_space_usage_Private_property_sign_July-2014_RedMi.jpg
Post-it notes: Bill Badham, Practical Participation
Brycemilton: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1920_US_census_form_for_2nd_ward_of_Snohomish_Washington.jpg
Jason7825: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Customs_House_Library_floor_city_model_1.jpg
Cogs: https://www.pexels.com
Keneckert: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:First_Metre,_Paris.jpg
Land - Linz: http://www.linz.govt.nz/land/land-records
Camouflaged house - NatalieMaynor - https://www.flickr.com/photos/nataliemaynor/1917593183