open data - Page number 4

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 & Oakland!) and others adding themselves to the wiki. Indeed, we seem to be above 40 cities. It is hard to know how many people will be showing up in each given city, but in Vancouver I know that we already over 20 registered, while in Ottawa they are well above 40. If other cities have similar numbers it's a great testament to the size of the community out there interested in playing with open government data.

A few thoughts to share with people as we get ready for the big day. » Read more

Below are my notes from the talk I gave at OSDC (Open Source Developers Conference) 2011 on open government, where I tried to go into some of the practicalities of open government implementation and projects. I had a great response from the packed room, so thanks everyone for attending (and for encouraging me to blog) » Read more

From amazing metaphors involving adorable puppies to reflections about how data can transform generalities into actions, I was fortunate to attend the first CityCamp held in Minneapolis, Minnesota on November 12, 2011. This un-conference is designed to be more of an open exchange of ideas than the traditional professional conference that most of us are use to – whatever profession you work in. » Read more

What is the state of the open data movement? During my opening keynote at the Open Government Data Camp (held this year in Warsaw, Poland) I sought to follow up on my talk from last year's conference. Here's my take of where we are today. » Read more

Last year, with only a month of notice, a small group passionate people announced we'd like to do an international open data hackathon and invited the world to participate.

We were thinking small but fun. Maybe 5 or 6 cities.

We got it wrong. » Read more

The third-annual Capitol Camp is an unconference held in Albany, New York (the State Capitol). The past two years of camp have also included a 'developer summit,' described on the website like so: » Read more

During hurricane season, my attention turns to the Atlantic Ocean. I keep an eye on swell-producing storms and use a variety of forecasting tools to get to the right spot for the best surf. But I never really thought about the data behind the tools I use.

There are many different stats brought together by today's forecasting technology:  swell size, direction, and period; wind speed and direction; and tide predictions—all important factors if you want to score good surf. Where does that information come from? » Read more

Where do you start to standardize legislative information for all 50 United States? Blazing an open data trail for one state government isn't easy, so shifting 50 must be nearly impossible. Or is it? The Open State Project is making progress towards the impossible—and closing in on the goal.

When I first heard about this project I thought, that's cool—I wonder how they do it? Then I thought, this must be a nightmare. Can you imagine trying to scrape, sanitize, and standardize data from hundreds of different sources? » Read more

Montréal Ouvert is a citizens’ initiative to obtain a formal open data policy for the city of Montréal, Canada. Launched by four Montrealers in August 2010 to mobilize public and political support for the adoption of an open data policy for the city of Montreal, it has had considerable success. The online presence includes 567 Facebook Fans, 743 Twitter followers and tens of thousands of visits to its website. Over 1 year, Montréal Ouvert organised three public meetings, two hackathons, and presented at over 8 conferences – not to mention blogging, tweeting, report writing, media interviews and general communication in both official languages – no easy task! » Read more

In the past few months, the Australasian region has seen several developments building on their commitments to open government.

Last week in New Zealand, the Ministers of Finance and Internal Affairs adopted a statement detailing a new Declaration on Open and Transparent Government. The Declaration has been approved by » Read more