Open Data and the non-dev citizen Ensuring success for open data

Joey Coleman, April 29, 2013 #DevTO

Open Data and Accessibility

•  Open Data is vital to the future of participatory democracy

•  Participatory democracy only functions when all citizens are able to access the mechanisms of government

•  Open Data can be inaccessible, especially when behind an API

•  Developers must ensure Open Data is accessible for all, especially non-developers

Citizens need to experience value In an era of conflicting budget priorities, non-developer

citizens need to experience value from open data.

Citizens need to experience value It's not enough for citizens to just receive high-quality

applications o  non-developers need to be engaged in the process

o  it's not enough to get citizens ideas, we need to get them involved in the process, including:   workshops   forums   hangouts

Without engagement ... Statistics Canada

•  Produced data that was very useful to academics, researchers, government, and marketers o  Data was locked behind expensive pay barriers o  General public's involvement was solely filling out the

census o  General public did not directly see the value of data

•  Government cut StatsCan funding and long-form census o  Academics, researchers, government, and marketers

launched a campaign against the cuts o  General public yawned

Hamilton compared to TorontoStarting Points

Toronto Government Led

Dedicated Staff

Large Developer Community loosely organized

Extensively used daily government services with wide-adoption such as transit and recreation

Useful city website and 311 service

Hamilton Citizen Led

No dedicated staff

Small Developer Community organized in Open Hamilton

No widely-adopted daily government services

Useless city website - www.hamilton.ca

Building the Citizen Movement

A citizen-movement for open data success is fundamental to the development community to create a substantial climate for open source philosophies to spread into the wider civic society

It starts at the neighbourhood level o  Neighbourhood Associations, maker/hackerspaces, your workplace,

classroom.

Spreads to a larger area, but never exceeds 50 people before branching into new chapters

How to build Much like real-neighbourhoods: •  Champions - who is going to lead in the tough times? •  mixed is best - have developers, information specialists,

artists, designers, information junkies, statisticians, and engaged citizens

•  you need a hub - be it the local library, maker/hackerspace, municipal office, or corporate campus

•  you need supporters - who will benefit from your early projects? Who will give you some pizza?

Business model of Open Data •  Data is a micro-economy, the money is in

platform and services. •  Platform is big - think AWS, Azure,

AppEngine •  Services can be as simple as billboards at

local pizza parlour •  Value is in networking and connections

o  Open Data apps can only sell for up to $2, it's too easy for others to reproduce

o  Open Data app building communities provide networking and self-development opportunities   Pace of web development is

accelerating, no developer (or journalist) can be an island

The future of Open •  Open Data is one branch of Open Source philosophy

that is fundamentally changing all aspects of our society •  It will continue to grow and will create innovations not

yet foreseen or imaged

•  New tools are being developed to support Open Data and other Open initiatives o  I've crowdfunded my journalism successfully - twice o  I receive many in-kind contributions, it's not just

monetary

Next Steps for you •  Think about what you what to do with Open Data:

o  Learn new skills o  Challenge yourself o  Meet new people o  Network o  Community-build o  Build a business

•  Find others interested and plan a coffee-meet-up o  Open Hamilton started on four days notice, 25

people showed up

Questions

Questions