Open Data is about the process of opening up a whole dataset so that people, other than the people who have collected that data, can actually make use of it in new & innovative ways, to bring about both social & economic benefits.
This is the presentation by Rochelle Stewart-Allen delivered to the Results 9 teams at Creative HQ, Wellington, New Zealand on 27 April 2016.
1. What is open data?
Governments collect a great deal of information - about the companies it regulates, the built and natural environment, and about individuals - whether it about the delivery of healthcare or criminal justice or other services it provides to us.
Open data, first & foremost, is about making data available back to the people from whom it is collected from ie. you, the taxpayers.
Open data must be available in a downloadable raw format and is usually free of charge.
When all of a dataset is made available, it allows other people to analyse that data, visualise it, run comparisons, see trends, develop new apps, and new solutions.
It is really about the process of opening up a whole dataset so that people, other than the people who have collected that data, can actually make use of it in new & innovative ways, to bring about both social & economic benefits.
The US Department of Agriculture has partnered with Microsoft in 2015 to launch the ‘Innovation Challenge’
The competition challenges groups to develop software apps that helps farmers, agriculture businesses, and customers explore how to create a sustainable food system for the United States
Participants have 3 months to create their apps, with a top prize of US$25,000 going to the most creative application that best utilises US Department of Agriculture datasets
Critchlow is a privately-owned New Zealand geospatial services consultancy which publishes demographic census data into visualisation and analysis on a map
This information is then bundled and on-sold to Critchlow’s customers
It’s used to optimise retail networks, profile and acquire profitable customers, inform planning and zoning decisions, and underpin policy development in the public sector
Provides better return on investment for client marketing campaigns, reduced cost of delivery for public services, improved access to critical infrastructure, and safer decisions around location of services
Marine Mate provides NZ boating information via by an app
Information such as speed limits, mooring zones, towing access lanes, boat ramp locations, local area notices and tidal information are all available by region
Marine Mate was developed with funding from Maritime NZ, the ACC, Land Information New Zealand and regional councils
London’s Air Ambulance have developed an app using GPS technology to offer basic life support in an emergency
Through the app, trained first responders (who may be off duty) receive an alert & can be on a scene within minutes while emergency services are still arriving
With a built-in Defibrillator function, app users can also easily identify public access defibrillators
The app is now expanding to include public ‘alerters’
This app provides the opportunity to save multiple lives through quick responses
After the first Nepalese earthquake in April 2015, several individuals and organisations began collecting and disseminating open data on Nepal & the earthquake
Several international organisations & crowd-sourced efforts began producing & sharing data about the earthquake’s impacts
Portals specific to the Nepal earthquake were created by several data providers
Open data provided useful information to understand the context of Nepal before the earthquake
This data was used during the response & recovery phases to understand the affected population & infrastructure eg. demographic information provided insight into the affected population, identifying needs around age & gender distribution.
What can I use open data for?
Identify your market – find where your customers are & what they’re doing eg.
Learn more about your customers – reveal your customers spending habits, needs & desires; personalise your product to their spending habits eg. Amazon making friendly suggestions using previous buying behaviour
Solve your customers’ problems – increase efficiencies, lower costs & expand growth; assess trends; provide innovative solutions eg. Thundermaps helps businesses digitally identify hazards in real-time
Expand your product/service – use research & insights to expand your product/service; eg. Gartner provides customised research from tech data which they on-sell to their IT clients
Generate new products/services – get insights into customer problems & provide new tailored solutions; unlock insights buried within the open data
Where can I find open data?
1. Figure.nz pulls together data from the NZ public & private sectors & academic data in one place, & makes it easy for people to see in a visualised form. Explore the population by age group, mobile connections, exports to China or the types of devices used to access the internet.
Where can I find open data 2?
2. Figure.nz/business was launched just a couple of weeks ago. It allows you to search for data visualisations to inform your business. You can download & share either the data or the visualisation. Explore home ownership by region, accommodation & food services in Wellington, visitor arrivals from South Korea, or the growth in number of businesses.
Where can I find open data 3?
3. Data Insights at the NZ Herald brings data journalism & interactive visualisations together. Explore the houses available in Auckland, how many burglaries are happening in a particular neighbourhood, the gender pay gap, or how unemployment differs by ethnicity.