Sharing ideas about data.gc.ca
As some of you may remember, the other week I suggested that on its one year anniversary we hack data.gc.ca – specifically, that people share what data sets they find…
opendata
Access to Information, Open Data and the Problem with Convergence
In response to my post yesterday one reader sent me a very thoughtful commentary that included this line at the end: “Rather than compare FOI legislation and Open Gov Data…
Calculating the Value of Canada’s Open Data Portal: A Mini-Case Study
Okay, let’s geek out on some open data portal stats from data.gc.ca. I’ve got three parts to this review: First, an assessment on how to assess the value of data.gc.ca.…
Let’s Hack data.gc.ca
In just under two weeks data.gc.ca will celebrate its one year anniversary. This will also mark the period that the pilot project is officially supposed to end. Looking at data.gc.ca…
More on Google Transit and how it is Reshaping a Public Service
Some of you know I’ve written a fair bit on Google transit and how it is reshaping public transit – this blog post in particular comes to mind. For more…
Transparency isn’t a cost – its a cost saver (a note for Governments and Drummond)
Yesterday Don Drummond – a leading economist hired by the Ontario government to review how the province delivers services in the face of declining economic growth and rising deficits –…
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…
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…
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…
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?…
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…
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?…
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…
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…
Open Data Day 2011 – Recaps from Around the World
This last Saturday was International Open Data Day with hackathons taking place in cities around the world. How many you ask? We can’t know for certain, but organizers around the…
StatsCan’s free data costs $2M – a rant
So the other day a reader sent me an email pointing me to a story in iPolitics titled “StatsCan anticipates $2M loss from move to open data” and asked me…
Using Open Data to Map Vancouver’s Trees
This week, in preparation for the International Open Data Hackathon on Saturday, the Vancouver Parks Board shared one neighborhood of its tree inventory database (that I’ve uploaded to Buzzdata) so…
Canada’s Foreign Aid Agency signs on to IATI: Aid Data get more transparent
Last night, while speaking at the High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness in Busan Korea, Minister of International Cooperation Bev Oda announced that Canada would be signing on to the…
International Open Data Hackathon, Dec 3rd. It’s coming together.
So a number of things have started to really come together for this Saturday Dec 3rd. I’ve noticed a number of new cities being tweeted about (hello Kuala Lumpur &…
Data.gc.ca – Data Sets I found that are interesting, and some suggestions
Yesterday was the one year anniversary of the Canadian federal government’s open data portal. Over the past year government officials have been continuously adding to the portal, but as it…