…here It’s going to be that kind of week. I’m on a working vacation… Goals for my blog this week. If I’m lucky, one on the UK’s open data consultation, one on the taco’s from tacofino, and one on Oyster Burgers. cause they rock. Email & Share:
Continue readingAuthor: David Eaves
eaves.ca: Shared IT Services across the Canadian Government – three opportunities
Earlier this week the Canadian Federal Government announced it will be creating Shared Services Canada which will absorb the resources and functions associated with the delivery of email, data centres and network services from 44 departments. These types of shared services projects are always fraught with danger. While they sometimes are successfully, they are often […]
Continue readingeaves.ca: Open Source Data Journalism – Happening now at Buzz Data
(there is a section on this topic focused on governments below) A hint of how social data could change journalism Anyone who’s heard me speak in the last 6 months knows I’m excited about BuzzData. This week, while still in limited access beta, the site is showing hints its potential – and it still has […]
Continue readingeaves.ca: How Dirty is Your Data? Greenpeace Wants the Cloud to be Greener
My friends over at Greenpeace recently published an interesting report entitled “How dirty is your data? A Look at the Energy Choices That Power Cloud Computing.” For those who think that cloud computing is an environmentally friendly business, let’s just say… it’s not without its problems. What’s most interesting is the huge opportunity the cloud […]
Continue readingeaves.ca: Lessons for Open Source Communities: Making Bug Tracking More Efficient
This post is a discussion about making bug tracking in Bugzilla for the Mozilla project more efficient. However, I believe it is applicable to any open source project or even companies or governments running service desks (think 311). Almost exactly a year ago I wrote a blog post titled: Some thoughts on improving Bugzilla in […]
Continue readingeaves.ca: How the WSJ’s former owners could REALLY screw Rupert Murdoch
When the News of the World scandal began to really explode at the beginning of the month some intrepid reporter went and tracked down members of the Bancroft family – the former owners of the Wall Street Journal – and asked them if they regretted selling their controlling stock of the newspaper to Rupert Murdoch’s […]
Continue readingeaves.ca: Depression and Decline: American Irresponsibility is Ending the American Era with a Bang
Despite the assurances of US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner it is increasingly likely there will be no debt deal. The United States is going to default on its debt. I know it sounds crazy, but I believe it is going to happen. If it does, this is the black swan event no one imagined or […]
Continue readingeaves.ca: Why I’m Struggling with Google+
So now I’ve been a couple of weeks with Google+ and I’ll be honest, I’m really struggling with the service. I wanted to give it a few weeks before writing anything, which has been helpful in letting my thinking mature. First, before my Google friends get upset, I want to acknowledge the reason I’m struggling […]
Continue readingeaves.ca: The State of Open Data Licenses in Canada and where to go from here
(for readers less interested in Open Data – I promise something different tomorrow) In February I wrote how 2011 would be the year of the license for Canada’s open data community. This has indeed been the case. For public servants and politicians overseeing the various open data projects happening in Canada and around the world, […]
Continue readingeaves.ca: Province of BC launches Open Data Catalog: What works
As revealed yesterday, the province of British Columbia became the first provincial government in Canada to launch a open data portal. It’s still early but here are some things that I think they’ve gotten right. 1. License: Getting it Right (part 1) Before anything else happens, this is probably the single biggest good news story […]
Continue readingeaves.ca: Using Data to Make Firefox Better: A mini-case study for your organization
I love Mozilla. Any reader of this blog knows it. I believe in its mission, I find the organization totally fascinating and its processes engrossing. So much so I spend a lot of time thinking about it – and hopefully, finding ways to contribute. I’m also a big believer in data. I believe in the […]
Continue readingeaves.ca: The Audacity of Shaw: How Canada’s Internet just got Worse
It is really, really, really hard to believe. But as bad as internet access is in Canada, it just got worse. Yesterday, Shaw Communications, a Canadian telecommunications company and internet service provider (ISP) that works mostly in Western Canada announced they are launching Movie Club, a new service to compete with Netflix. On the surface […]
Continue readingeaves.ca: It’s the icing, not the cake: key lesson on open data for governments
At the 2010 GTEC conference I did a panel with David Strigel, the Program Manager of the Citywide Data Warehouse (CityDW) at the District of Columbia Government. During the introductory remarks David recounted the history of Washington DC’s journey to open data. Interestingly, that journey began not with open data, but with an internal problem. […]
Continue readingeaves.ca: The End of the World and Journalism in the Era of Open
For those not in the United Kingdom a massive scandal has erupted around allegations that one of the country’s tabloids – the News of the World ( a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation) – was illegally hacking into and listening in on the voicemails of not royal family members and celebrities but also murder […]
Continue readingeaves.ca: Lots of Open Data Action in Canada
A lot of movement on the open data (and not so open data) front in Canada. Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) Open Data Portal Launched Some readers may remember that last week I wrote a post about the imminent launch of CIDA’s open data portal. The site is now live and has a healthy amount […]
Continue readingeaves.ca: Why not create an Open311 add-on for Ushahidi?
This is not a complicated post. Just a simple idea: Why not create an Open311 add-on for Ushahidi? So what do I mean by that, and why should we care? Many readers will be familiar with Ushahidi, non-profit that develops open source mapping software that enables users to collect and visualize data in interactive maps. […]
Continue readingeaves.ca: Code for America – Showing how to get it done on Independence Day
My friends over at Code for America have created this awesome twitter visualization for July 4th. It’s a reminder that you’ve got to love what you do, and probably no more so if you are trying to help governments reinvent themselves. Email & Share:
Continue readingeaves.ca: Mind. Prepare to be blown away. Big Data, Wikipedia and Government.
Okay, super psyched about this. Back at the Strata Conference in Feb (in San Diego) I introduced my long time uber-quant friend and now Wikimedia Foundation data scientist Diederik Van Liere to fellow Gov2.0 thinker Nicholas Gruen (Chairman) and Anthony Goldbloom (Founder and CEO) of an awesome new company called Kaggle. As usually happens when […]
Continue readingeaves.ca: CIDA announces Open Data portal: What it means to Canadians
For those who missed it, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) has announced it is launching an open data portal. This is exciting news. On Monday I was interviewed about the initiative by Embassy Magazine which published the resulting article (behind their paywall) here. As (I hope) the interview conveys, I’m cautiously optimistic about the […]
Continue readingeaves.ca: Links on Social Media & Politics: Notes from “We Want Your Thoughts #4″
Last night I had a great time taking the stage with Alexandra Samuel in Vancouver for “We Want Your Thoughts” at the Khafka coffee house on Main St. The night’s discussion was focused on Social Media – from chit chat to election winner – what next?” (with a little on the social media driven response […]
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