This is cross-posted from a site my friend Misha Gouberman’s created to explore an idea. We’ve been doing some very light scheming thinking about the following event. What follows is a piece he wrote that I’d love to get thoughts or reactions about from friends in the GTA… A one-day
Continue readingAuthor: David Eaves
eaves.ca: Open Data Day: Lessons for Hacktivists
This piece is cross-posted on TechPresident where I post articles on the intersection of politics, technology and transparency and serve as an editor. Three years ago, after a chance encounter with Daniela Silva and Pedro Markun of Sao Paulo and a meeting with Edward Ocampo-Gooding and Mary Beth Baker in Ottawa,
Continue readingeaves.ca: How Hackers Will Blow Up The World: China, Cyber-Warfare and the Cuban Missile Crisis
I have a piece on TechPresident I really enjoyed writing about how certain technologies – as they become weaponized – can in turn become highly destabilizing to global stability. The current rash of Cyber-Warfare, or Cyber-Spying or Cyber-crime (depending on the seriousness and intent with which you rate it) could
Continue readingeaves.ca: Open Data Day 2013 in Vancouver
Better late than never, I’m going to do a few posts this week recapping a number of ideas and thoughts from Open Data Day 2013. As is most appropriate, I’m going to start the week with a recap of Vancouver – the Open Data Day event I attended and helped
Continue readingeaves.ca: Three Ways Anyone Can Contribute to Open Data Day
With well over 90 cities now scheduled to partake in Open Data Day and with several events expecting 50+ and even 100+ participants I wanted to outline some thoughts to help people who are thinking about participating but not sure what to expect or if they have anything helpful to
Continue readingeaves.ca: International #OpenDataDay: Now at 90 Cities (and… the White House)
Okay. We are 10 days away from International Open Data Day this February 23rd, 2013. There is now so much going on, I’ve been excited to see the different projects people are working on. Indeed there is so much happening, I thought I’d share just a tiny fraction of it in a
Continue readingeaves.ca: CivicOpen: New Name, Old Idea
The other day Zac Townsend published a piece, “Introducing the idea of an open-source suite for municipal governments,” laying out the case for why cities should collaboratively create open source software that can be shared among them. I think it is a great idea. And I’m thrilled to hear that
Continue readingeaves.ca: International Open Data Day Feb 23rd: Vancouver Edition
So International Open Data is rapidly approaching! All around the world people are organizing local events to bring together developers, designers, policy wonks, non-profits, government officials, journalists, everyday citizens and others to play, chart, analyze, educate and/or build apps with open data. For those of us who started International Open
Continue readingeaves.ca: #Idlenomore as an existential threat
Almost three years ago (although I only worked up the nerve to post it two years ago, so sensitive is the topic) I wrote a blog post about First Nations youth, and how I suspected they were going to radically alter Canada’s relationship with First Nations, and likely change the
Continue readingeaves.ca: The Northern Gateway Brief: Unhappy Political Options & Geo-Political Assessment
I spent much of last week in Alberta which, as anyone who has traveled across Canada knows, is a very different place from BC. While there, it became increasingly clear that talking about the oil sands in general, and the northern gateway pipeline in particular, was verboten. I spent my
Continue readingeaves.ca: Launching the Canadian OGP Civil Society Discussion Group
Dear colleagues, We are Canadians who have been actively involved with the Open Government Partnership (OGP) process, including by participating in the OGP meeting in Brasilia in April 2012. The OGP is a joint government – civil society initiative to promote greater openness, participation and accountability in countries which have
Continue readingeaves.ca: Til Debt Do Us Part: Reality Television and Poverty
I’m traveling for business and that means several things. Most predictably it means come the evening, I’m getting on a tread mill to exercise. I’m in Edmonton. It’s cold. Like -24C (-11F) cold. For whatever reason, while running the TV in front of me brings up Til Death Do Us Part a sort of
Continue readingeaves.ca: The Journal News Gun Map: Open vs. Personal Data
As many readers are likely aware two weeks ago The Journal News, a newspaper just outside of New York city, published a map showing the addresses and names of handgun owners in Westchester and Rockland counties. The map, which was part of a story responding to the tragic shooting in Newtown, Connecticut,
Continue readingeaves.ca: Teach to Do – Lessons from Louise Glück
Somewhere along the lines I remember learning the line “those who cannot do, teach.” I’m sure there are many instances where this is true, it’s just not what I remember when I think of the great teachers I have had, or my own experience. Part of this crystallized for me a couple
Continue readingeaves.ca: The South -> North Innovation Path in Government: An Example?
I’ve always felt that a lot of innovation happens where resources are scarcest. Scarcity forces us to think differently, to be efficient and to question traditional (more expensive) models. This is why I’m always interested to see how local governments in developing economies are handling various problems. There is always
Continue readingeaves.ca: eaves.ca 2012-12-14 01:54:55
Just a brief update for those interested in participating in or organizing an event for International Open Data Day on February 23rd, 2013. The Wiki The Open Data Day wiki (sans logo, so a little rough around the edges) is now live and ready for action. The wiki is where organizers
Continue readingeaves.ca: The Beneficial Impact of Newspaper Paywalls on Users
There continues to be fierce debate about the cost/benefits of newspaper paywalls, a debate Mathew Ingram has been helping drive with a great deal of depth and with excellent links. It is interesting to watch Ingram take on, and have to rebut, the problematic thinking that seems to so frequently comes out
Continue readingeaves.ca: Uber in Vancouver: Some Thoughts for the Passenger Transportation Board
So last week the B.C. Passenger Transportation Board (PTB) effectively shut down Uber in Vancouver by compelling the rides they arrange must charge a minimum $75 a trip, regardless of distance. Shortly after being announced, twitter lit up as Uber notified its customers of the decision and the hashtag #UberVanLove began directing angry (and deserved) […]
Continue readingeaves.ca: Proactive Disclosure – An Example of Doing it Wrong from Service Canada
Just got flagged about this precious example of doing proactive disclosure wrong. So here is a Shared Service Canada website dedicated the Roundtable on Information Technology Infrastructure. Obviously this is a topic of real interest to me – I write a fair bit about delivering (or failing to deliver) government service online effectively. I think it […]
Continue readingeaves.ca: Making Bug Fixing more Efficient (and pleasant) – This Made Me Smile
The other week I was invited down to the Bay Area Drupal Camp (#BadCamp) to give a talk on community management to a side meeting of the 100 or so core Drupal developers. I gave a hour long version of my OSCON keynote on the Science of Community Management and had a great time engaging what […]
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