This document discusses open data and open government. It provides an overview of open government and the role of open data. It then discusses success stories of open data initiatives from various levels of government, including federal, provincial, and municipal governments. It also discusses challenges and opportunities for citizens and the geo community. The document concludes by asking questions of the audience and providing concluding thoughts about open data and collaboration.

1. Open Data - New Opportunities
for the GEO and
Citizen Community
Presented by Jury Konga
eGovFutures Group
URISA Ontario
Be Spatial Annual Conference
Vaughan, Ontario
May 6, 2010.

2. Overview
Open Government and the Role of Open Data
Success Stories in Open Data
Challenges and Opportunities for the Citizen
and GeoCommunity
Audience dialogue … your views!
Jury Konga Open Data Opportunities 2

3. Open Government
and the Role of Open Data
Open Government is …
Often referred to as Gov 2.0
Gov 2.0 is synonymous with … transparency, access to
information/Open Data, citizen engagement, citizen
empowerment, innovation and collaboration
Open Data is KEY to Open Government
Jury Konga Open Data Opportunities 3

4. Open Government
and the Role of Open Data
Open Government has become highly visible …
Obama’s Open Government Directive (Dec. 8, 2009)
Publish Government Information Online
Improve the Quality of Government Information
Create and Institutionalize a Culture of Open Government
Create an Enabling Policy Framework for Open Government
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5. Open Government
and the Role of Open Data
Open Government as defined by citizens and
communities of interest has a data – centric focus
Source: Toronto Change Camp 2009
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6. Open Data Success Stories
- Federal Government: Canada
• GeoDiscovery
• GeoBase
• Atlas of Canada + + +
Jury Konga Open Data Opportunities 6

7. Open Data Success Stories
- Federal Government: United States
• GeoSpatial One Stop
• Data.gov
• Note data formats
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8. Open Data Success Stories
- Federal Government: United Kingdom
• Data.gov.uk
(Sir Tim Berners-Lee on
their team)
• Ordinance Survey
OpenData – history of
fees now gone
Jury Konga Open Data Opportunities 8

9. Open Data Success Stories
- Federal Government: Australia
• Spatial Data
Directory
• National Data
Australia site
• It’s at Beta stage
as many sites
are
– not waiting
for perfection …
just do it
Jury Konga Open Data Opportunities 9

10. Open Data Success Stories
- Provincial Governments
• Land Info Ontario
• GeoNova Portal
• GeoBC
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11. Open Data Success Stories
- Municipal Government: Vancouver
• Council motion
May 2009
• Beta V1
Sept 15, 2009
• Beta V2
Jan 20, 2010
• Open Data
Hackathons –
Sept ‘09, Dec
’09, Jan ’10,
Apr ‘10
Jury Konga Open Data Opportunities 11

12. Open Data Success Stories
- Municipal Government: Toronto
• Mayor Miller
announces
open initiative
Apr 7, 2009.
• Beta V1
Nov 2, 2009
• App Dev
community
started data.to
site
Jury Konga Open Data Opportunities 12

13. Open Data Success Stories
- Municipal Government: Edmonton
• Open Data
Catalog Jan ’10
• Open Data
workshop and
application
competition Feb –
Apr ’10
• Apps4Edmonton
– proposals,
community votes,
apps developed,
winner in Sept ‘10
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14. Open Data Success Stories
- Municipal Government: Nanaimo
• Open Data – not
just for large
municipalities
• Nanaimo – pop.
85,000, 88 sq. km
• Also known for
their leadership in
providing data via
Goggle Earth
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15. Open Data Success Stories
- Municipal Government: United States
• Washington DC
• San Francisco
• New York City
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16. Open Data Success Stories
- We Have Data …Now What?
• USE THE DATA!
• Washington DC
– Apps for
Democracy ’09
• Code for
America –
“Connecting City
Governments &
Web 2.0 talent
• DataSF ’09
“Innovation
Showcase”
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17. Open Data Success Stories
- We Have Data …Now What?
• USE THE DATA!
• DataTO.org –
community based
• Apps4Edmonton
– City sponsored
• Apps for Climate
Action – B.C.
• Other apps
contests in the
works
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18. Open Data Initiatives
- Challenges for Government
Corporate Culture – Moving to Gov 2.0 is a significant shift for many
organizations (all levels of government)
Policy – precedents and today's trend is to move from a “Fee for Data” to
a Free Data corporate policy
Legal considerations related to privacy, IP and perceived liabilities
Resourcing the initiative – many recent initiatives have been “off-the-
side-of-the-desk” projects … after start-up, data maintenance including
issues of data quality e.g. GIS “grade” versus crowdsourced
SES (Scope, managing Expectations and Sustainability) e.g. what data
(based on FOI), priority ranking system, operational funding model
Jury Konga Open Data Opportunities 18

19. Open Data Initiatives
- Example Benefits for Citizens
Access to Open Data at no cost + new tools to USE the data
“Ease of use” for data in a usable/re-usable format – developers
Opportunity to create mashups of open data from multiple sources
Economic spinoffs for business in new software, data mining products and
services, innovation centres/communities
Increased efficiencies (e.g. reduced $ for FOI) for both government &
citizens (reduced time and money to access/use data)
Access to new innovative services and applications – “smart” phones !
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20. Open Data Initiatives
- Example Applications for Citizens
Stumble Safely – a guide to bars and
http://www.outsideindc.com/stumblesafely
“Apps for Democracy”
avoiding crime,
Silver Award
“... contest is to develop innovative software to
present District data, its long-term goals are
broader,” said District CTO Vivek Kundra. “By
making government data easy for everyone to
access and use, the District hopes to foster citizen
participation in government, drive private-sector
technology innovation and growth, and build a
new model for government-private sector
collaboration that can help all governments
address the technology challenges of today and
tomorrow.”
President Barack Obama named Vivek Kundra the
Federal Chief Information Officer (CIO), on March
5, 2009
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21. Open Data Initiatives
- Example Applications for Citizens
NY City Apps Contest
Winner
Wayfinder – app for
Android Smart Phone
- finds subway
stations and routes
needed
Many apps have
transit focus
Jury Konga Open Data Opportunities 21

22. Open Data Initiatives
- Example Applications for Citizens
FixMyStreet started in UK;
recently began in Canada
in Ottawa area
- benefits from open data
Community controlled;
data passed on to
appropriate jurisdiction
Issues with approach
- industry standards
versus public expectations
(e.g. potholes)
- public sector capacity to
address issues
Recent collaboration on
Open 311 may impact
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23. Open Data Initiatives
- Example Applications for Citizens
Location, Location, Location
New and Existing Location based data
Mashups in Mapping and Applications to Answer
….. Where is and What’s Nearby
Map the Path
Geodelic
Yelp
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24. Open Data Initiatives
- Opportunities for the GeoCommunity
GIS community has known about the value of geospatial data since the
1960’s - it’s now front and centre in the Open Data movement
Leadership Opportunity – sharing your geo knowledge to allow others to
understand the potential of all things geo can add value to citizen
designed services and public sector service delivery
Innovation Opportunity – define effective processes, standards, policies
to support sustainable open data programs in government and new
areas of geospatial data analyses and applications
Collaboration and Partnership Opportunity – “All of us is smarter than
one of us”
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25. Questions?
- Yes, I have some ….
Dialogue with the Audience
Q: What existing data should be geocoded to open up
opportunities for new applications to better serve citizens and
businesses?
A: Audience says ….
Q: What role could the citizen and business community play in
maintaining data?
A: Audience says ….
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26. Concluding Thoughts …
and Challenge
Gov 2.0 – becoming the new way of doing business. Strive to optimize
the role of geospatial data and analyses in public service delivery
Open Data – the trend is local to global. All levels of government need
to increase knowledge and pick up the pace of moving forward
Collaboration 2.0 - leveraging social media greatly facilitates the public
sector connecting with one another AND the citizens
Open Data.CA – today, the goal is to collaborate on opening up ALL
geospatial data in Canada …. as a starting point!
Go To www.govloop.com/group/opendataca - join, share, plan, act!
Jury Konga Open Data Opportunities 26

27. Open Gov, Open Data …
Gov 2.0 and Open Data Education opportunity – MISA Ontario
Annual Conference, June 13 – 16, 2010. Niagara Falls, Ontario.
www.misa.on.ca
Wednesday
Monday
Tuesday
Gov 2.0 Mini
Unconference
- Delegates decide
discussion topics
Jury Konga Open Data Opportunities 27

28. Thank you
Jury Konga, Principal
eGovFutures Group
(905)640-7377
jkonga@sympatico.ca