Non profits and governments… this is how open source works: If someone is doing something that is of value to you, help make it better. There have been two great examples of this type of behaviour on this blog over the past week. On Monday, I blogged about Represent, a
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eaves.ca: The Exciting Launch of Represent.ca and What It Says About Open Data in Canada
Last week a group of volunteer programs from across Canada announced the launch of Represent.ca – a website that tries to map all of Canada’s boundaries. Confused? Don’t be. It’s simple. This is a nifty piece of digital infrastructure – try visiting the website yourself! After identifying where you are
Continue readingeaves.ca: Requests for Endorsements: My Application to Attend The Open Government Partnership
Dear friends, Below (first in english then in a rough french translation – my spoken is much better than my written so I’ve relied on Google translate) is my application letter to attend the April 16-18 Annual Open Government Partnership meeting in Brasilia as a Civil Society Representative. The first
Continue readingeaves.ca: Use The Economist’s Data to Find the Best City in the World
Yesterday The Economist Intelligence Unit and Buzzdata launched a $10,000 contest to help enhance The Economist’s “Best city in the world” index. Yes. It’s a data and visualization competition to identify the best city in the world to live. As part of the contest, The Economist Intelligence Unit has shared
Continue readingeaves.ca: Adapting KUALI financials for cities: Marin County is looking for Partners
Readers of my blog will be familiar Kuali – the coalition of universities that co-create a suite software core to their operations – as I’ve blogged about several times and argued that it is a powerful model for local governments interested in rethinking how they procure (or really, co-create) their
Continue readingeaves.ca: Like me, Canadians prefer Patriots over Giants this sunday (or so says Google data)
After a rough bought of food poisoning… I’m back. For some random reasons I got a PR notice from the people at APEX communications in Toronto who Google insights to see which of the two Superbowl NFL teams Canadians were searching for more. So… okay, just Canadians searched more for
Continue readingeaves.ca: Algorithmic Regulation Spreading Across Government?
I was very, very excited to learn that the City of Vancouver is exploring implementing a program started in San Francisco in which “smart” parking meters adjust their price to reflect supply and demand (story is here in the Vancouver Sun). For those unfamiliar with the program, here is a
Continue readingeaves.ca: Public Servants Self-Organizing for Efficiency (and sanity) – Collaborative Management Day
Most of the time, when I engage with or speak to federal public servants, they are among the most eager to find ways to work around the bureaucracy in which they find themselves. They want to make stuff happen, and ideally, to make it happen right and more quickly. This
Continue readingeaves.ca: My Canadian Open Government Consultation Submission
Attached below is my submission to the Open Government Consultation conducted by Treasury Board over the last couple of weeks. There appear to be a remarkable number of submission that were made by citizens, which you can explore on the Treasury Board website. In addition, Tracey Lauriault has tracked some
Continue readingeaves.ca: Open Data in BC – Good & Bad Examples from Bikes to Libraries
Some small examples of open data use and public servants who do and don’t understand open data from the Province of British Columbia to the City of Vancouver. Open Libraries? For the past several years – ever since the open motion was passed in Vancouver – the city has been
Continue readingeaves.ca: Oh, the hypocrisy… Oilsands, EthicalOil.org and Foreign Funding
Wow. Talk about the hypocrisy. So EthicalOil.org which has been leading the charge about how foreign money is influencing environmental groups and the regulatory process. But… apparently it refuses to disclose its donor list. The double truths get better. While they state on their website they only receive money from
Continue readingeaves.ca: Ethical Oil and the Northern Gateway Pipeline Process
This piece is cross-posted from the Toronto Star’s Op-Ed Page. This week the “ethical oil” argument adopted by the federal government took an interesting twist. While billions from China pour into Canada to develop the oilsands and fund the construction of the Northern Gateway pipeline, on Monday the government announced
Continue readingeaves.ca: What I’m Digesting: Good Reads from the First Week of January
Government Procurement is Broken: Example #5,294,702 or “The Government’s $200,000 Useless Android Application” by Rich Jones This post is actually a few months old, but I stumbled on it again the other day and could help but laugh and cry at the same time. Written by a freelance computer developer,
Continue readingeaves.ca: Solving the Common Standards problem in the Open Data Space
Last year during my Open Government Data Camp keynote speech on The State of Open Data 2011 I mentioned how I thought the central challenge for open data was shifting from getting data open (still a big issue, but a battle that is starting to be won) to getting all
Continue readingeaves.ca: Open Government Advocacy: The Danger of Letting Narrative Trump Fact
So I loath making this the first post of the new year, but here we go. Today Canada.com published a story “Tony Clement vows innovative new open government, but critics point to poor record.” In it, Jason Fekete the journalist responsible for the story, quotes a Democracy Watch spokesperson who sadly
Continue readingeaves.ca: When Social Media Experts Don’t Look Beyond Social Media: GoDaddy, Mashable and Kernel
This week, while enjoying a little down time, I’ve been peeking online from time to time to see what has been going on with the Go Daddy boycott. For those who haven’t been following the story, Go Daddy, a internet domain registration company, came out in support of SOPA –
Continue readingeaves.ca: The Future of Academic Research
Yesterday, Nature – one of the worlds premier scientific journals recognized University of British Columbia scientist Rosie Redfield as one of the top 10 science newsmakers of 2011. The reason? After posting a scathing attack on her blog about a paper that appeared in the journal Science, Redfield decided to
Continue readingeaves.ca: Why is Finding a Post Box so Hard?
Sometimes it is the small things that show how government just gets it all so wrong. Last Thursday The Daily Show’s Wyatt Cenac has a little bit on the US Post Office and its declining fortunes as people move away from mail. There is no doubt that the post offices
Continue readingeaves.ca: Not Brain Candy: A Review of The Information Diet by Clay Johnson
My body no longer kills me when I come back from the gym. However, I had a moment of total humiliation today: theoretically my ideal body weight is 172 pounds and I weigh 153 Ibs. The woman at the gym calibrated my fat/water/meat/bone ratios, made an inward gasp and
Continue readingeaves.ca: Open Government Consultation, Twitter Townhalls & Doing Advocacy Wrong
Earlier this week the Canadian Federal Government launched its consultation process on Open Government. This is an opportunity for citizens to comment and make suggestions around what data the federal government should make open, what information it should share and provide feedback on how it can consult more effectively with
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