This is a presentation given at GIS Day 2012, at the University of Waterloo by Dr. Peter A. Johnson.

1. Can Open Data lead to
Open Government?
An investigation of the state of Canadian
municipal government open data portals
Peter A. Johnson
GEM Departmental Lecture Series + GIS Day
November 14th, 2012
Friday, 30 November, 12

2. What is Open Government?
A movement towards
creating a government that
is increasingly transparent,
accountable, and engaged
with citizens in its activities
and policy formation.
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3. What is Open Data?
“A piece of content or data is open if anyone is
free to use, reuse, and redistribute it — subject
only, at most, to the requirement to attribute
and/or share-alike.”
http://opendefinition.org
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4. What is Open Data?
1. Access (free, convenient)
2. Redistribution (sharing)
3. Reuse (derivatives)
4. Absence of technological
restriction (format)
5. Attribution
6. No discrimination of users or
use
http://opendefinition.org/okd/
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5. open.gc.ca action plan
• Availability of Information
• Citizen Participation
• Professional Integrity
• New Technologies for Openness
and Accountability
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6. http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/
TransparencyandOpenGovernment
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7. Friday, 30 November, 12

8. http://www.regionofwaterloo.ca/en/
regionalGovernment/OpenDataCatalogue.asp
http://ottawa.ca/en/city_hall/statisticsdata/opendata/info/index.htm
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9. http://resto-net.ca
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10. Bus Buddy vs.
OC Transpo official
app
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11. Friday, 30 November, 12

12. Scope of Open Data in
Canadian Municipalities
• Preliminary web research on formats, licenses (27
organizations)
• Identified 13 most developed municipal Open Data
platforms in Canada - innovators
• Follow-up telephone interviews with key
development staff
• objectives of initiative
• development process (costs, time, policies, etc.)
• use of open data in communications
• evaluation of initiative
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13. Q: How ‘open’ is open
data?
• Data format/file type
• open or proprietary?
• consumer or expert?
• License type
• currently no standard
• range from restrictive to
permissive
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14. Format Frequency n=139
20
19
18
15 16
15
14 14
13
12
10 11
7
5
0
MZ
le
V
r
G
S
N
ds
F
age
he
XL
PD
CS
efi
W
SO
e
Im
Fe
Ot
L/K
ap
F/D
L/J
G/
Sh
KM
XM
DX
JPE
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15. Open
Closed
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16. Open
Closed
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17. “Open” vs. “Closed” Format n=124
80
74
60
50
40
20
0
ats
at
rm
rm
Fo
Fo
sed
en
Op
Clo
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18. Open
Closed
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19. Expert
Non-expert
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20. Format Frequency n=124
90
87
67.5
45
37
22.5
0
t
t
per
er
xp
Ex
n-e
No
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21. Format Frequency n=124
Usable Readable
90
87
67.5
45
37
22.5
0
t
t
per
er
xp
Ex
n-e
No
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22. License Characteristics
• Set the terms for:
• Access
• Type of use permitted
• User responsibilities
• Liability
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23. Access
• Is open data offered?
• n = 20
• Price
• Free vs. $? Yes
100%
License Characteristic = Free
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24. Type of use permitted
• Can modify or
make derivatives
• Commercial use
• Can redistribute Yes
100%
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25. User Responsibilities
• Attribution
required
Yes
35%
No
65%
License Characteristic =
Attribution
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26. User Responsibilities
• Attribution
required
• Track usage Yes
10%
No
90%
License Characteristic =
Track Usage
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27. User Responsibilities
• Attribution
required
• Track usage
• Share-alike Yes
40%
No
60%
License Characteristic =
Share Alike
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28. Liability
• Misrepresentation
of data provider
clause No
20%
Yes
80%
License Characteristic =
Misrepresentation
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29. Liability
• Misrepresentation
of data provider
clause
• Provider retains No
ownership 45% Yes
55%
License Characteristic =
Retain Ownership
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30. Liability
• Misrepresentation
of data provider
clause
• Provider retains Yes
35%
ownership
• Indemnity clause No
65%
License Characteristic =
Indemnity
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31. Free ≠ Open
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32. Free ≠ Open
Free Open
Published Reusable
Available Mashable
Strings attached No strings
Free like beer Free like speech
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33. Municipal
Open Data Educational Institutions
Average Citizen
Community Groups Hacker/Developer
Other Governments
Corporations
“Informational Approach”
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34. open.gc.ca action plan
• Availability of Information
• Citizen Participation
• Professional Integrity
• New Technologies for Openness
and Accountability
Friday, 30 November, 12

35. http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/
TransparencyandOpenGovernment
Friday, 30 November, 12

36. Municipal
Open Data Educational Institutions
Average Citizen
Community Groups Hacker/Developer
Other Governments
Corporations
“Informational Approach”
Friday, 30 November, 12

37. Municipal
Open Data Educational Institutions
Average Citizen
Community Groups Hacker/Developer
Other Governments
Corporations
“Participatory Approach”
Friday, 30 November, 12

38. Municipal
Open Data Educational Institutions
Average Citizen
Community Groups Hacker/Developer
Other Governments
Corporations
“Participatory Approach”
Friday, 30 November, 12

39. Municipal
Open Data Educational Institutions
Average Citizen
Community Groups Hacker/Developer
Other Governments
Corporations
“Participatory Approach”
Friday, 30 November, 12

40. Elected Government
Municipal
Open Data
Average Citizen
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41. Open data as a
participatory conduit
• 2 ways:
• citizen sensors - improving,
validating existing data
• citizen partners - requested and
spontaneous input
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42. Benefits
• Update cycles reduced
• Citizens inform data and data
informs decisions
• Open data is an opportunity for
conversation
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43. Challenges
• Most Open data is not suited for a mass
audience
• Technical issues of concurrency, quality,
identity verification of participants
• Massive organizational risk
• Indirectly supports state retrenchment
by downloading data collection
services
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44. Elected Government
Municipal
Open Data
Average Citizen
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45. Elected Government
Municipal
Open Data
Average Citizen
Text
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46. Elected Government
volunteerism neoliberalization
privacy copyright
accuracy ‘real’ participation
Municipal
Open Data
media education digital divides
technology adoption jurisdictionality
virtual vs. ‘real’ space mobility
Average Citizen
Text
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47. Elected Government
volunteerism neoliberalization
privacy copyright
accuracy ‘real’ participation
Municipal
Open Data
media education digital divides
technology adoption jurisdictionality
virtual vs. ‘real’ space mobility
Average Citizen
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48. Thank You - and have a happy
GIS Day!
For more information:
geothink.ca
Twitter: #geothink, #geowebchat
or email: peter.johnson@uwaterloo.ca
This research has been supported by:
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