Presentation on data, open data how we use data and how we can use data to create knowledge and wisdom

1. Open:Data:Culture
Julian Tait
@julianlstar
Cornerhouse, Manchester
28th June 2014

2. Open:Data:Culture
This presentation originally had video. The
links to the videos or original websites are
included in the presentation. The slides are
duplicated so that notes can be displayed as the
original presentation was in Keynote and
Slideshare doesn’t like Keynote.
- Julian

4. 1845. This is a map of Manchester drawn by
Fredrich Engels, whose father owned a number
of mills in Ancoats. The desperate conditions
that many of the mill workers lived, led Engels
to write ‘The Condition of the Working Class in
England’ and along with collaborator Karl
Marx, ‘The Communist Manifesto’

5. The immaterial layer

6. The immaterial layer
2014. This a map of the centre of Manchester
described by data. This data describes the
noise caused by traffic during the day. This is a
hidden topography, a layer that evidences the
impact of traffic in our city yet is something
that we don’t easily have access to. Matt Jones
from Dopplr coined the term ‘immaterials’ to
describe data.

7. ‘Data are often viewed as the lowest level of
abstraction from which information and
then knowledge are derived’- Wikipedia
What is Data?

8. Wisdom
Knowledge
Information
Data
Actionability
Understanding
Contextualisation
Evidence

9. Wisdom
Knowledge
Information
Data
Actionability
Understanding
Contextualisation
Evidence
Data is the base layer from which we can create
information, understanding and action. Yet we
seem to be very much focussed on data. If we
do that we run the risk of data being seen as an
end in itself and not part of an enabling
process. The data is perhaps, the easy part.

10. http://earth.nullschool.net
Realtime data

11. http://earth.nullschool.net
Realtime data
Cameron Beccario created this stunning
interactive visualisation that maps the state of
the earths winds at different levels of the
atmosphere, in near realtime.
It is a beautiful example of data being
translated into information revealing hitherto
unseen patterns in our atmosphere.

12. 10 seconds of Blackberry trading
http://bit.ly/1qr4mzi

13. 10 seconds of Blackberry trading
http://bit.ly/1qr4mzi
Eric Nunsader of Nanex used data from
algorithmically controlled trading computers to
visualise the mechanism that plummeted
Blackberry’s stock value. The video is 10
seconds expanded to 3 minutes. The data
reveals a world where super machines negotiate
and transact in milliseconds, without
intervention. Perhaps the video suggests that
the aesthetic of the future isn’t going to be a
hyperreal augmented reality, but one pared
down to functional 8 bit colour and basic text.

14. http://dev.citysdk.waag.org/buildings/
Static data

15. http://dev.citysdk.waag.org/buildings/
Static data
Inspired by a project by www.bklynr.com This
visualisation by Waag Society, Amsterdam
creates a topography of the Netherlands based
upon the age of buildings, utilising datasets
released by the Dutch government

16. Mixed data
http://toys.paradisecircus.com/realtime/

17. Mixed data
http://toys.paradisecircus.com/realtime/
If you follow the rhetoric around the ‘Smart
City’, you will probably come across the
concept of the city dashboard - an interface
where you can monitor how a city is
performing. Paradise Circus take the dashboard
concept and created a wry statement about the
city utilising data from a variety of sources.

18. Simulated data
http://bit.ly/VuJuKG

19. Simulated data
http://bit.ly/VuJuKG
Similar to the approach taken in the previous
slide this visualisation uses data from the CIA
World Fact Book to create a simulation of
births and deaths occurring across the globe.

20. http://www.mapnificent.net/manchester/
Plurality of interpretation

21. http://www.mapnificent.net/manchester/
Plurality of interpretation
By making data available you create an
environment for a plurality of interpretation.
Transport data can be used to reveal the
connectedness of a city and from this can be
inferred where there might be pressure on
housing and services.

22. http://howfuckedisthet.com/
Plurality of interpretation

23. http://howfuckedisthet.com/
Plurality of interpretation
The same data could be used to create more of
a humorous statement about the state of the
public transport network. Both types of
visualisation have value and an audience. This
service was created by Goose Rock Design in
Boston, MA

24. Sonification
http://bit.ly/TFs1hf

25. Sonification
http://bit.ly/TFs1hf
We often get hung up with interpreting and
creating insight through purely visual means
but as we are multi-sensory beings data can be
interpreted by other means. This piece of data
sonification created by researchers at the
University of Michigan and Experiential Music
Lab takes the data stream from ACE, a satellite
that measures the composition of the solar
wind. The data generates a composition
creating mood music that changes with the
state of the sun.

26. http://nathaliemiebach.com/musical15.html

27. http://nathaliemiebach.com/musical15.html
Data manifested as sculpture and music.
Natalie Miebach’s - Duet of blizzards and
Hurricane Noel, gathers meteorological data
and translates into woven sculptures and wall
pieces that function both as musical scores and
weather almanacs.

28. Thank You
julian@thegarden.io

29. The Garden is an organisation that works with
people to identify challenges, building the tools
and skills to overcome them. It brings together
people who are passionate about how
appropriately applied technology and practice
can benefit citizens, business and the public
sector alike. Applying a range of design
methods from DIY and open culture, to critical
design, we develop programmes that have
benefit for all.