#nzdata Workshop Two Summary Report 20August 2010 Version 1.0 Prepared by Julian Carver, Seradigm Limited This document is distributed under the Creative Commons NZ Attribution-ShareAlike licence. For more information see http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/nz/ Table of Contents 1 2 3 Introduction.......................................................................................................................3 1.1 Context......................................................................................................................3 1.2 Outputs and Outcomes ..............................................................................................3 1.3 Process ......................................................................................................................3 1.4 Participants ...............................................................................................................4 Workshop Outputs ............................................................................................................5 2.1 Real World Problems ................................................................................................5 2.2 Suggested Data to Open............................................................................................6 Analysis ............................................................................................................................7 3.1 The Open Government Context ................................................................................7 3.2 Data to Open .............................................................................................................9 3.3 Emerging Themes and Ideas ...................................................................................11 4 Suggestions .....................................................................................................................13 5 Recommendations...........................................................................................................14 6 Appendix.........................................................................................................................15 6.1 Workshop Two Raw Notes .....................................................................................15 6.2 Workshop Two Tweet Stream ................................................................................17 #nzdata Workshop Two – Summary Report 3 1 Introduction 1.1 Context The Department of Conservation agreed to conduct a piece of work for the Open Data Stream of the whole of government Data and Information Re-Use Work Programme. One three-hour workshop with targeted members of the public was proposed, in order to determine exactly what datasets participants wanted government to release and what real world problems having access to those datasets would help address. This was to be followed by a workshop with appropriate public sector representatives to determine how best to achieve the release of those datasets. The first workshop involved 19 people from the ‘open-data community’ (primarily open data enthusiasts from the private sector), plus 23 others who participated via Twitter. At that workshop it was identified that non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and community sector organisations could make a useful contribution to understanding the real world problems that opening government data might help solve. A second workshop was therefore convened with NGOs and community groups. 1.2 Outputs and Outcomes The intended outputs of the overall #nzdata process are: A small identified set of priority government datasets to be made open1 A clear pathway and process for relevant agencies, resulting in those datasets being opened A set of learnings from the whole process that can be used and further enhanced within the Data and Information Re-Use WorkProgramme, and by individual agencies The anticipated outcomes of this include: 1.3 Useful solutions developed by the open data community/private sector, using those data, to help address real world needs/problems Closer engagement and strengthened relationships between government and the open data community/private sector Greater awareness within government, the private sector, and NGOs and community organisations, about the benefits of opening government data Process The #nzdata process is based on a particular hypothesis, namely: Providing open and machine readable access to government datasets will result in improved economic, social and/or environmental outcomes, through interested people outside government building new tools and services using those data There are many government datasets that are not yet open, and there is a cost to opening datasets. This includes initial costs such as getting the data ready for opening, developing systems to provide external access to the data, as well as ongoing costs including support of those systems, ensuring data is updated, and responding to queries. 1 In this context ‘open’ means available over the web, in a machine readable form via APIs CC BY-SA Version 1.0 20 August, 2010 #nzdata Workshop Two – Summary Report 4 Because of this there is a need to prioritise which datasets to open. This could be done based on lowest cost, or on perceived need/highest value. The first approach would involve simply opening the datasets for which it was easy and relatively cheap to do so, and waiting to see what use they could be put to. The second approach involves focusing on real world problems, outcomes and potential solutions in order to determine which datasets, if opened, could create the most value. This second approach is the one being taken in the #nzdata piece of work. The process is as follows: 1. Workshop one – open-dataadvocates familiar with the technical demands of making data available to the public, brainstorming real world problems and datasets to open (held on 29 July) 2. Workshop two –NGOs and community groups, brainstorming real world problems, questions they can’t currently answer, and datasets to open (held on 10 August) 3. Workshop three – selected public servants, to agree the top two or three datasets which could provide the most value if released (proposed for 9 September) 4. Identification of the tasks necessary to get the agreed datasets released or if that is not possible, a draft action plan to begin the process of identifying tasks / highlighting barriers 5. Preparation of a high level report including proposed action plan and recommendations for next steps, to the Data and Information Re-Use Chief Executive's Governance Group 1.4 Participants The participants in workshop two were: Chris Fawdray, Walking Access Commission (www.walkingaccess.org.nz) Parker Jones, Mainland Island Restoration Operation of Eastbourne (www.miro.org.nz) Greg Coyle, Salvation Army (www.salvationarmy.org.nz) David Laing, Hikurangi Foundation (http://www.hikurangi.org.nz/) Mike Brown, Webstock (www.webstock.org.nz) John Roberts (Archives) Trudy Rankin (DOC) Isabel Regenaermel (DOC) Joanna McLeod (contractor) on Twitter The workshop was facilitated by Julian Carver of Seradigm Ltd. 16 additional people contributed via Twitter. CC BY-SA Version 1.0 20 August, 2010 #nzdata Workshop Two – Summary Report 5 2 Workshop Outputs The workshop was organised at relatively short notice, and this resulted in a small number of participants. The discussion however was lively and some useful insights were reached. 2.1 Real World Problems The real world problems faced by the organisations present included: A cycle of deprivation in some groups in society caused by crime, unemployment, low education levels, and poverty Climate change Lack of adequate walking access information about the outdoors in New Zealand Declining indigenous biodiversity Questions that the organisations present currently find it hard to answer include: The number and location of state houses that are available right now The availability of appointments/places for healthcare and social services such as drug and alcohol rehabilitation The precise location of places in the outdoors where the public can walk, and the location of access points to those places The precise location of pest animal traps in or near native bush restoration projects (due to lack of accuracy in topo maps) How to determine the impact of action to prevent climate change Participants also discussed more general questions of interest to them they believed open government data could help answer. These included: What are the social economics of a particular area? What are the hotspots for crime? What type of information would facilitate the development of green buildings? What is the exact address and location of a particular property? Has someone spread pesticides close to my house/field and made my crops die or my kids sick? Where are the areas of outbreak of swine flu? (or any other pandemic) Where do tourists go? Where are they from? I need a place to stay for the rugby world cup, is it dodgy? Is it windy? Can I walk to the stadium from there? Is it safe? How far is it? Which farming areas are the most productive? How does this correlate with organic farming methods? CC BY-SA Version 1.0 20 August, 2010 #nzdata Workshop Two – Summary Report 2.2 6 Suggested Data to Open Suggestions from workshop participants (both those in person, and on Twitter) for data to be made open included: Real time information on availability of Social Services and Programmes (e.g. Alcohol Rehabilitation etc) State Housing data (What is occupied/available and where?) Flu outbreak data Crime data (geo-tagged) Water and river flow data Wind drift data Real time weather data Biodiversity and soils data DOC andWalking Access Commission data combined and released so it can be used offline in handheld GPS units Walking Access Commission gathered data on access points and walking locations/tracks DOC historic sites data CC BY-SA Version 1.0 20 August, 2010 #nzdata Workshop Two – Summary Report 7 3 Analysis This section takes the input from the first two workshops and provides analysisof data to open, and emerging themes and ideas. 3.1 The Open Government Context To set context at the workshop the place of open data in the broader open government space was discussed. There are a number of aspects to open government, as shown in the following diagram 2: Open Government Transparency eGovernment (citizen centric services) Open Data Participatory & Collaborative Democracy A commitment to transparency and accountability by government is essential in building the trust and engagement that a health democracy requires. eGovernment provides citizen centric services, that is, government services such as filing tax returns, applying for a passport, via the Internet, in such a way as to make citizens interaction with government simpler and make more efficient. It relieves citizens from having to navigate the complexity of government structures and instead provides a tailored and personalised service to them directly. Open data involves making data collected by government publicly available in a useful, open format, unless there is a demonstrable reason not to. This results in useful services developed by people outside of government, often combining multiple government and non-governmental 2 This diagram was created as part of the #nzdata process but draws heavily from Australian Senator Kate Lundy’s Three Pillars of Open Government. See http://www.katelundy.com.au/2010/05/26/keynote-address-gov2-0-expo2010/ CC BY-SA Version 1.0 20 August, 2010 #nzdata Workshop Two – Summary Report 8 datasets to create new tools. This can, in addition, enable citizens to enhance government data by correcting inaccuracies and contributing new data. Open data can also improve efficiencies within government by providing agencies with better access to data and tools for evidence based policy and decision making. Participatory and collaborative democracyinvolves engaging citizens collaboratively in the development, design and implementation of government policy. This is facilitated by the web and social networking services. It enables individual citizens and interest groups to participate in a more open and deliberative process than traditional ‘hub and spoke’ policy development. It does this through aggregating input in many different ways, and allowing participants to see, learn from, and consider each other’s perspectives. 3.1.1 Why Open Data? Data is not useful in and of itself. It is only useful when it enables people to gain new knowledge and make better decisions. A comparison between the traditional method and the open government method of use of government held data is shown as follows3: Open Data Actions in the real world Used by citizens to make decisions Interpreted by citizens, in context Information (in documents, on web sites, and in the media) Individual and Shared Knowledge Open Government Model Traditional Model Knowledge Used by citizens to make decisions Interpreted by citizens, in context Mashups, Tools and Services (on the web and on mobile devices) Automated aggregation & distribution through APIS Analysis within government Citizen contributed data Data 3 This diagram was created as part of the #nzdata process. It can be used under the same CC-BY-SA terms as the rest of this document. For the original source files, contact julian.carver@seradigm.co.nz. CC BY-SA Version 1.0 20 August, 2010 #nzdata Workshop Two – Summary Report 3.2 9 Data to Open Given the uneven distribution of workshop participants’ knowledge about different sectors, types of data, and types of real world problem, suggestions ranged from quite general to quite specific. The following is a summarised list of the datasets or types of data to open, and what it could be used to achieve. Dataset or type of data Problem that could be solved/solution that could be built Real time information on availability of Social Services and Programmes (e.g. Alcohol Rehabilitation etc) NGOs try to get people into services, but its’ very time consuming to find out if places are available. Aggregation tools could be built to so NGOs have this information at hand, and can smooth people’s entry into programmes. State Housing data (What is occupied/available and where?) NGOs try to get homeless people into housing, but it’s hard to know when new properties become available. Build a mapping and alerts portal. Crime data (geo-tagged) Crime impacts on economic and social good. Geospatial visualisations/mashups of crime data with economic and social data could raise public awareness and assist public engagement in initiatives to reduce crime and create safer communities. Vehicle Crash and WoF inspection data (in aggregate, and for individual cars) Lack of awareness about danger spots and times. Build geospatial visualisation of crash data over time to raise awareness and enable people to plan safer routes or safer driving behaviour. Mashup with data from variable message signs on state highways. Integrate as a service to GPS navigation systems and smartphones.Help consumers avoid buying unsafe (individual) cars, paying more than what they are worth and paying for high repair costs. Real time transport data Lack of awareness of delayed services causes frustration and economic loss. Create real time tools to show actual locations of public transport vehicles (buses and trains) It is hard for the public to find out about all the events that are happening in their area, so their enjoyment of life and engagement in their community is lower. Open event data from Ministry for Culture and Heritage (i.e. no exclusive content license), so different web sites can republish data and data can be integrated into services on mobile devices. Data on public events Government employer data CC BY-SA Choosing the wrong job and workplace can damage individuals careers and the productivity of the public service. Publish personal grievance and other employer performance data for government to enable prospective employees to make informed choices about where to Version 1.0 20 August, 2010 #nzdata Workshop Two – Summary Report 10 work. Satellite imagery Available topographical map data is not accurate enough to enable conservation groups to adequately plan initiatives. River flow data Kayakers and rafters die because rivers are too high, or are disappointed because they get to a river and find it is too low. Canoe association wants to incorporate real time flow data into their web site to enable better trip planning. Water usage data Water is becoming a finite resource, and there is lack of understanding about equity of consumption. Build visualisations of water data and mashup with property values, land use types to better understand utilisation. Pest distribution and control data Invasive pests cost NZ $719m a year, and cause primary sector output loses of $1.15 billion (est) however public awareness is relatively low. Build visualisations to engage the community in managing existing and new threats, and tools to help them do that better. DOC Track data Data has inaccuracies. Enhancements could be crowsourced, entrepreneurs could create eco-tourism focused applications, including biodiversity data could increase community engagement in conservation Walking Access Commission Data People do not know the precise location of places in the outdoors where they can walk, and the location of access points to those places. Crowd sourced data submitted by the public should be licenced for reuse and made available through APIs so interested people can combine it with DOC data, create walking tours, and download it to GPSs. Local Government data on Finances, Rates, Land, Consents, permitted activities, land quality, cultural and heritage data, biodiversity, biosecurity, water quality, pollution Local government processes can be time consuming and difficult for citizens to engage with, and local government budgets to deliver citizen centric services can be limited. Enable the creation of mashups and tools to increase local government transparency, and improve citizen engagement in improving social and environmental outcomes. Safety Ratings for Restaurant and Eateries People (incl tourists) get food poisoning and/or are disappointed by the quality of an establishment. Enable entrepreneurs to build food safety ratings into augmented reality guides to restaurants. Mashup with crowdsourced ratings/reviews. Government financials Lack of detailed tax/revenue/economic data and models hinders NZ economy. Build business intelligence tools to help the private sector, and the public analyse proposed policies. CC BY-SA Version 1.0 20 August, 2010 #nzdata Workshop Two – Summary Report 11 By going through the process of deliberating on data sets to open it became apparent that individuals’ knowledge varied widely on what datasets existed, whether they were already open or not, what could usefully be built on top of them (and whether that already existed or not), and the real world problems they could help solve. To expedite future prioritisation processes a registry of government datasets that have not yet been opened could be provided, and the Suggest a dataset’ system on data.govt.nz could be enhanced to enabling voting and discussion. 3.3 Emerging Themes and Ideas A number of themes and ideas were deliberated on at the workshops and in subsequent discussions. These are as follows. Engagement: The interest from the few NGOs who could participate in the process was strong, and there is likely to be considerable value in further engagement with this sector on the open data topic The private sector has a strong desire to use open government data to create both commercial tools and services, and social good solutions There is some tension between the open data community’s desire to make things happen quickly, and the time required for government to deliver. There is also tension around those two groups having quite different expectations of timeframes for response and engagement through social media services. Most participants (in both workshops, and online) were not aware that the Data and Information Re-Use Programme existed and subsequently requested that this Programme be made more “open”. Data required: The need for a repository to tell the public what data government holds has been clearly articulated by the open-data community as well at the NGO/community representatives (I don’t know what I don’t know) There is a desire for both Central Government and Local Government data to be open There is a desire for data from Crown Research Institutes, District Health Boards, and State Owned Enterprises to be made more open There is a distinction between ‘administrative data’ and ‘real time data’ There is a desire for more real time data to be made available (e.g. weather reports, river or traffic flows) Much of the data required is data with positioning information (GPS) attached There is a concern about government agencies and groups such as the Walking Access Commission creating (expensive) mapping sites to provide access to information, and crowdsource data gathering and data accuracy, but not providing the actual data in an open licenced form, through APIs When looking at prioritising which real-time data to make open the following three criteria could be used: 1- Number of users 2: Frequency of use 3: Importance of decision made using the data Data quality and standards: CC BY-SA Version 1.0 20 August, 2010 #nzdata Workshop Two – Summary Report 12 It is acknowledged that no datasets are 100% accurate. It is more important to make the data available and allow for it to be corrected over time and with the participation of the public, than to get it to perfection it and keep it closed. Crowd sourcing of data will help to improve accuracy. Data needs to be made available in an open format that can be developed upon by citizens, NGOs and entrepreneurs. In a lot of cases Government doesn’t have to provide the tools and online services, just the data. Degrees of openness: Opening government data is not a binary, ‘completely open’ or ‘totally closed’ situation. There is a continuum of government data from completely secret, to commercially sensitive data, to data containing personal information, to crown copyright data, to different forms of Creative Commons licencing allowing different kinds of reuse. Different levels of ‘openness’ may be required for different types of data, in order to preserve privacy and commercial sensitivity. Open data can help link-organisations be more effective (NGOs as intermediary between citizens and government). Selected government data could be made available to them (but not the general public) to allow them to improve their services. CC BY-SA Version 1.0 20 August, 2010 #nzdata Workshop Two – Summary Report 13 4 Suggestions Through the #nzdata workshop process and the online engagement (via Twitter and the open.org.nz email group), a number of suggestions have been made: Make the Data and Information Re-Use Programme more ‘open’ by creating some information on a government web site about the programme, and publishing minutes of the Chief Executives Steering Group meeting Create a registry of government datasets that have not yet been opened Create an enhanced ‘Suggest a dataset’ system to enabling voting and facilitate online discussion about the uses and benefits of opening particular datasets Create a repository of NZ and international open data success stories Run one or more Open Data ‘hackfests’, similar to those done by DigitalNZ Run a ‘FullCodePress’ style competition to engage enthusiasts from the private sector to develop web application and mobile application solutions for NGOs using open government data The ‘FullCodePress’ style competition generated particular interest at the second workshop. Across the Tasman the MashupAustralia contest was run in 2009. This was a Government 2.0 Taskforce initiative that invited people to show why open access to government information is good for the economy and society. Some new datasets were released for the purpose, and 82 mashups were created across a broad range of categories. The winners4 included ‘Suburban Trends’ (a mashup of different types of crime and census data that allows you to compare and contrast suburbs by a range of economic, education, safety and socio-economic indicators), and ‘Firemash’ a service that analyses notices from the state of New South Wales’ Rural Fire Service, sends people a tweet if they are at risk, and allows citizens to submit fire information). The state of Victoria also ran a competition earlier in 2010 called AppMyState5, to similar ends. The winner of that competition was an iPhone application that scanned barcodes of product containers and then displayed information on which recycle bin to put it in, based on which city you were currently in. Prizes in these competitions ranged from $1,000 to $35,000. While these competitions were over an extended time period, Mike Brown from Webstock came up with the idea of holding a time pressured event like FullCodePress to engage the public’s attention. FullCodePress runs over a 24 hour period, and teams are given a web site/system to build for a charity. Some mixture of the two approaches could be used to generate many ideas, entries and prototype tools, then picking a small number of participants for a time pressured event. Web tools and mobile tools could be held as separate categories. 4 For more information see http://mashupaustralia.org/winners/ 5 http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/app-my-state.html CC BY-SA Version 1.0 20 August, 2010 #nzdata Workshop Two – Summary Report 14 5 Recommendations Recommendations made to the Data and Information Reuse Chief Executive’s Governance Group following the workshop were that they: Note the type of data, problems and solutions, and key ideas identified during the two workshops Note that a third workshop with representatives from identified agencies and a subset of the Data and Information Reuse Officials group will be held in early September to identify an action plan. Note that a full report will be delivered subsequent to that workshop Note that the idea of a tool-development competition for NGOs was proposed and that a competition of this type would be moved forward and run by the private sector and either take place mid-October or alternatively early 2011 Note that government agencies could volunteer some key datasets as basis for the competition Note the involvement of government in this competition could involve Ministers awarding the prizes. Agree in principle to support a competition of this type and advise on the feasibility of involving particular Ministers in this event CC BY-SA Version 1.0 20 August, 2010 #nzdata Workshop Two – Summary Report 15 6 Appendix 6.1 Workshop Two Raw Notes 6.1.1 Group 1 Salvation Army Real World Problems: Low education Crime Societal context Unemployment Organisation: Reactive organisation Collects data for government Asks for data where necessary Suggestions: Govt should say “we are open, this data is yours, access it” NZ Housing: could give info about available housing etc Better links between agencies How many houses are available right now? NZ people should know Availability of healthcare appointments (real time), drug and alcohol services etc Knowledge of existing services needs to be at hand (real time info on availability), smooth out processes and make it easier for the applicant Open data could be partially open – only to pre approved parties, eg partnership between govt and NGS 3 levels of data – policy, best practice advice (eg what is going on in other countries, new approaches to tackle issues), operational NZTA – crash statistics Hikorangi Trust Real World Problems: Climate Change Organisation: Enabler – funds the “how” not the doing 8 groups around the country, each with unique knowledge CC BY-SA Version 1.0 20 August, 2010 #nzdata Workshop Two – Summary Report 16 Any time a group tries to do work they come up against barriers – how do they share knowledge? How to aggregate outcomes? Suggestions: NIWA data Need to show effectiveness Work with Landcare, access their data on soil, wetlands etc, want to get their info better, so much focus on journal articles instead of raw data and release as maps etc. Don’t see their role as information 6.1.2 Group 2 Group name? Issues with data: Accuracy of data – 1:50,000 accuracy topp, traps not correctly mapped, OSH issue Need satellite imagery – different groups supply it Getting data formats they can use on their systems from other entities – no standardised set of data formats Timeliness of data – eg subdivisions info takes six months to get into LINZ National Address Register type info not available, no street network in NZ – affects police, fire, RMA situations, milk tankers (best, fastes way to get them to a farm and pick up milk – nzta, local govt Mixture of entities holding complimentary data – eg ‘legal’ roads Google data not consistent re quality, date, coverage Crowd sourcing of data will help with accuracy Suggestions Social economics of an area Hot spots of crime Narrative landcapes – click to see/read history of a place overtime Catchment boards – water data (tourism, kayakers, water quality) MET service – 24 hours of data, then goes to NIWA Architecture/building world, what type of info would facilitate green buildings (sunshine hours, aspect, energy efficiency, past history, closeness to streams or infrastructure. Where the gas lines are (and other services), earthquake proofed? Is it insulated? Ability to calculate potential for improved efficiencies “Where am I” – Terralink – peple register address, public vs private good – want to sell to police CC BY-SA Version 1.0 20 August, 2010 #nzdata Workshop Two – Summary Report 17 What questions can’t we answer: Has someone spread pesticides close to my house/field and made my crops die or my kids sick – need wind drift from NIWA – (MAF used with Foot & Mouth) Show me the spread of swine flu (or any other pandemic info) Where is the best place to go in NZ on a tourist trip – most sunshine hours, what do you do etc Where do tourists go? Where are they from? I need a place to stay for the rugby world cup – is it dodgy? Is it windy? Can I walk to the stadium from there? Is it afe? How far is it? Getting people to the venues, getting rid of rubbish Whateverputs a strain on services Specialists seminars for the RWC Who is coming so we can prepare?How to we coordinate with others, for all event planning and management, what’s happening after RWC 3-6 months later, nor and normalise those economies Archives NZ – long term comparisons, demographics, land use, intergenerational health, treaty research, changes in measurement scales, changes in language and territorial boundaries Problems – different orgs provided data with varying standards, quality, accecss controls, opportunities around rich longitudinal data, genealogists, treaty of Waitangi, historical research, opportunity to speed up settlement process When is my busy going to arrive – google has nearly sorted this out Productivity of farming, where is the best place to … then compare with organic farming methods Info re socioeconomic distributions and issues Other ideas: 6.2 Share data selectively vs open data Govt should play role by doing research on emerging issues and waysof doing things Another call for catalogue of big data sets Full code press - webstock - for a non-profit org Use uni students to do a three month project Workshop Two Tweet Stream JoannaTMcLeod Tomorrow I will be live-tweeting as @NZData a workshop with NGOs around “Solving real world problems using NZ government data” #NZDATA JoannaTMcLeod It's interesting going into an event which has misunderstandings (http://is.gd/e9pMc) hopefully I can make things clearer tomorrow #NZDATA CC BY-SA Version 1.0 20 August, 2010 #nzdata Workshop Two – Summary Report 18 JoannaTMcLeod From my own perspective, I like that DOC is commited to opening up its own data streams, so it makes sense for them to take a lead #NZDATA JoannaTMcLeod @snapper86 relaying the conversation about #nzdata out on twitter for people who aren't in the room NZDATA Today we have reps from ~ six NGOs to tell us how they could use #nzdata to solve real world problems - your input is welcome too of course! JoannaTMcLeod The DOC conference room is so lovely it make me very optimistic today's about #nzdata economicsnz RT @NZDATA: today reps from ~ 6 NGOs say how they could use #nzdata to solve real world problems - your input is welcome too of course! NZDATA But of course, if you can't physically join us, follow along on #nzdata, and tweet us in any questions or issues you'd like us to raise NZDATA .@economicsnz we're in the conference room at DOC on Manners St if any other NGOs want to join us physically - we're here til 12 #nzdata NZDATA We have people here from #webstock (@maupuia), Trudi the CIO at DOC, Walking Access Comission and the Hikorangi foundation '#nzdata economicsnz RT @NZDATA @economicsnz we're in the conference room at DOC on Manners St if other NGOs want 2 join us physically-we're here til 12 #nzdata TRankQ #nzdata. Looking forward to today's workshop with a small part of the NGO community re real world problems that govt data will help solve. NZDATA Assessing the understanding of the concept of Open Govt - most people here today are somewhat in the middle - a lot of work to do #nzdata NZDATA Open Govt is seen as a useful and interesting idea - how can we move from being passive followers to active users though? #nzdata normnz “You can be open or you can govern” Sir Humphrey Appleyby #nzdata NZDATA There are a lot of benefits to open data, but not everyone knows what's possible yet #nzdata NZDATA @normnz hopefully the work we'll do today and also in the future will help to change Mr Appleby's mind #nzdata NZDATA Getting context from @TRankQ now - DOC uses geospatial data for all it does, so they want to use byproduct of data to benefit of all #nzdata osrin RT @normnz “You can be open or you can govern” Sir Humphrey Appleyby #nzdata - first episode of Yes, Minister economicsnz RT @normnz: “You can be open or you can govern” Sir Humphrey Appleyby #nzdata NZDATA Data reuse workprogramme across all govt aims at making as much data released as possible. This workshop is part of that workstream #nzdata NZDATA It's important to remember that this is an experiement, and we're trying to widen the discussion, hence use of twitter #nzdata economicsnz RT @NZDATA: We have people here from #webstock (@maupuia), Trudi the CIO at DOC, Walking Access Comission & the Hikorangi foundation #nzdata economicsnz RT @NZDATA: It's important to remember that this is an experiement, and we're trying to widen the discussion, hence use of twitter #nzdata NZDATA But now hoping that crowdsourcing can help DOC fix its own data - DOC wants to develop aggregate interface for where bats in NZ are #nzdata NZDATA The bat aggregator would help DOC with its work, but also help bat enthusiasts know where to go. It's a touchable, tangible result. #nzdata NZDATA Open data is ideally a two-way conversation between govt and the people - both parties need to find value in it for it to work #nzdata CC BY-SA Version 1.0 20 August, 2010 #nzdata Workshop Two – Summary Report 19 NZDATA Sometimes people just want data cos it's fun to play with, but also it can help to add value to what govt is doing as well #nzdata NZDATA Thinking about data is not (normally) part of a public servant's role description, so let's focus on what matters to achieve more #nzdata NZDATA The tangible result we want to see from this workshop is getting two or three data sets released #nzdata NZDATA There are tensions between open data enthusiasts saying “give it to us now! engage through social media and respond in ten minutes!” #nzdata NZDATA Meanwhile there are technical and institutional barriers for govt workers in terms of engaging through social media on open govt #nzdata Mishon8 this would be interesting: Gov 2.0 Summit http://bit.ly/cnFLIl #nzdata NZDATA Hopefully @TRankQ'll link us later to the study she cited stating the value to the NZ economy of unlocking govt data is $1.2 billion #nzdata NZDATA There is a willingness of some ppl in govt to make data available, but there may be tensions with time and also higher authority #nzdata NZDATA Being able to provide clear examples of how data has been opened and what it's achieved is going to be crucial to open govt success #nzdata NZDATA In the past couple of years there has been a shift to govt contacting NGOs and other organisations to get their help w datagathering #nzdata NZDATA We want to know what your problems are, we want to know what data you want. Help us out of our ivory tower! #nzdata NZDATA Our basic premise: if we make govt data more accessible (either as downloads or APIs), then good things will happen. #nzdata NZDATA 2 parts to premise: 1. govt pushing out data will aid crowdsourcing of more data 2. Geeks & entreprenuers will build useful things #nzdata NZDATA Problems: opening data can cost, data is collected for purpose not just for the sake of it, so how do you decide what data to open? #nzdata NZDATA Solution: focus on outcomes. What data sets would provide solutions to real world problems if they were opened? Let's choose those #nzdata NZDATA Examples of data sets: DOC's tracks data they're hoping to release, or real time weather feeds that could be mashed up #nzdata NZDATA Our process 1. wrkshp w open data enthusiasts 2. wrkshp w NGOs (today) 3. wrksp w govt ppl to share suggestions 4. report 5. open it #nzdata TRankQ #nzdata URL for economic study re benefit of geospatial infrastructure and data to nz is http://is.gd/eaxtX NZDATA RT @TRankQ: #nzdata URL for economic study re benefit of geospatial infrastructure and data to nz is http://is.gd/eaxtX rediguana Just settling in to participate in #NZData - coming from a recreational GPS user perspective http://bit.ly/bWWxpj :) rediguana very keen to see both DOC and WAC data combined and released so it can be used offline in handheld GPS units #NZData rediguana keen to see it mashed up with http://bit.ly/ctPk3E and combined with LINZ topo #NZData amatix @rediguana doesn't need to be mashed, needs to be in openstreetmap. Which can output to GPS. #NZData rediguana @amatix - needs of OSM sometimes conflict with the subtleties of creating routeable GPS maps - OSM is not The One Ring #NZdata CC BY-SA Version 1.0 20 August, 2010 #nzdata Workshop Two – Summary Report 20 rediguana @amatix - OSM produces very shitty Garmin img maps and is years behind NZ Open GPS maps in terms of GPS map quality #NZData rediguana @amatix - best thing is to publish the data, and let multiple sources choose the best means of integrating #NZData for their specific need john_roberts Just arriving (llate) at #nzdata workshop 00k Hey, thanks to those tweeting from #nzdata. Good to hear what's going on. rediguana OSM also needs read-only #NZData, as it shouldn't be possible to edit layers that are a correct snapshot in time e.g. electoral boundaries kayakr Good to see Walking Access Commission at #nzdata. Q: what license will their data be available under, will they offer API not just portal rediguana #NZData downloads are essential, as APIs can't be used when no comms (GPS in field, comms failed after emergency/disaster etc) CampRobertsTNT RT @rediguana: very keen to see both DOC and WAC data combined and released so it can be used offline in handheld GPS units #NZData CampRobertsTNT RT @rediguana: Just settling in to participate in #NZData - coming from a recreational GPS user perspective http://bit.ly/bWWxpj :) CampRobertsTNT RT @rediguana: #NZData downloads are essential, as APIs can't be used when no comms (GPS in field, comms failed after emergency/disaster etc) CampRobertsTNT RT @rediguana: OSM also needs read-only #NZData, as it shouldn't be possible to edit layers that are a correct snapshot in time e.g. electoral boundaries CampRobertsTNT RT @rediguana: keen to see it mashed up with http://bit.ly/ctPk3E and combined with LINZ topo #NZData 00k @tjh It's a workshop looking at user community needs for open data in government. See #nzdata and @nzdata john_roberts A lot of our open #nzdata discussions focus on geospatial data. Why? GOVISNZ check out #nzdata today until 12 - workshop with NGOs on real world problems that could be solved by opening up more data NZDATA We've been working in groups to talk about our real world problems and how data could help, but we're breaking for morning tea now #nzdata NZDATA @john_roberts I think a lot of talk about geospatial data is 'cos it's amongst the easiest to collect & mobile phones head that way #nzdata NZDATA RT @rediguana #NZData downloads are essential, as APIs can't be used when no comms (GPS in field, comms failed after emergency/disaster etc) rediguana a big +1 :) OSM does need to mature somewhat #NZData - RT @amatix: We should aspire to have OSM improve rediguana +1 #NZData needs a whole-of-government focus RT @amatix: as long as - govtorg> doesn't go & build yet another mapping site normnz RT @normnz: @serenare http://is.gd/eaBnf and http://is.gd/eaBqX #nzdata rediguana @NZData @kayakr - I met WAC last year and made suggestion to release #NZData under #CreativeCommons, get direction from Geospatial Office NZDATA Real world problems: accuracy of the data, getting data formats that you can use - there's no standard, also timeliness #nzdata john_roberts Reporting back on #nzdata issues: accuracy, completeness, timeliness, inconsistent data formats NZDATA Real world problems: different local authorities all have different data about mapping and routes, so does google #nzdata CC BY-SA Version 1.0 20 August, 2010 #nzdata Workshop Two – Summary Report 21 NZDATA Real world problem: Metservice gives its data to NIWA who turns it into a commercial venture #nzdata NZDATA Questions ppl might ask that data can answer: Has someone sprayed weedkiller near my house? Where is swine flu most prevelant? #nzdata rediguana Hardest thing with #NZData is creating feedback loop that works - allow citizens to flag data issues, submit GPS data, and provide timely NZDATA Farming data: pesticides vs organics total productivity could be interesting to see #nzdata rediguana Agree, but still room for publishing authoritative #NZData via #SDI RT @amatix: I just don't want WAC to spend $$$ building a mapping site danjite RT @NZDATA: Real world problem: Metservice gives its data to NIWA who turns it into a commercial venture #nzdata NZDATA An issue for the Hikorangi Trust - a lot of Landcare's work is released as journal articles, but not the raw data it came from #nzdata john_roberts Could better #nzdata help with tricky questions about the adequacy and extent of our national housing stock? NZDATA It would help the Salvation Army to have real-time data about the availability of state houses, doctors, drug & alcohol programmes #nzdata john_roberts How can better #nzdata help with timeliness and targetting of interventions? mattjhaigh RT @NZDATA: Real world problem: Metservice gives its data to NIWA who turns it into a commercial venture #nzdata NZDATA Open data might not mean “available to all the public” but rather “Dept Housing provides information to relevant NGOs if needed” #nzdata john_roberts Could some ngo's get privileged access to govt #nzdata in their efforts to help effective use of govt programmes? NZDATA Privacy is an ongoing issue - transperancy is needed, but open data doesn't have to mean disclosure of names etc, just trends #nzdata rediguana @NZData - if the #NZData isn't publicly available, then it isn't open data sorry, if it is NGOonly then it is still privileged data normnz @NZDATA And surely weather data does not have privacy implications #nzdata rediguana @NZData - the problem with CRI #NZData is that they are not funded to prepare/publish/maintain datasets. To release requires funding. economicsnz RT @NZDATA: #Privacy is ongoing - transperancy is needed, but open data doesn't have to mean disclosure of names etc, just trends #nzdata economicsnz RT @NZDATA: Farming data: pesticides vs organics total productivity could be interesting to see #nzdata NZDATA .@rediguana The view today is that openness of data isn't completely black or white - it's a continuem of how & who it's used by #nzdata rediguana Sometimes #NZData needs cleaning/preparation/conversion b4 rel RT @kayakr: I'm not sure that releasing costs $ NZDATA We're now going to be talking next steps are moving on from this meeting - where do we go from here & who should be involved? #nzdata NZDATA “We want to know what data there is to know that the govt doesn't want us to know about...” #nzdata kayakr @rediguana Where the data needs cleaning yes $, but often the data is there already, shared with others, just not public #nzdata rediguana @NZData - the openness of #NZData is viewed from the outside looking in, not from the CC BY-SA Version 1.0 20 August, 2010 #nzdata Workshop Two – Summary Report 22 perspective of the publishing organisation TRankQ #nzdata. Really crunchy stuff coming out of today's wrkshop on solving real world prblms with govt data @serenare's rprt will contain detail john_roberts Difficult for outiders to think about possibilities without knowing what #nzdata sets exist but are not open andrewwardell RT @NZDATA “We want to know what data there is to know that the govt doesn't want us to know about...” #nzdata // HEAR HEAR! NZDATA Now @maupuia is telling us about #FCP10 - I bet he's going to suggest a FullCodeDataHack, which would be very awesome #nzdata normnz #nzdata I would be interested to know how much NGOs regard “special access” to govt. data as a right and competitive advantage rediguana @NZData @joannatmcleod I can't do stats analysis, but if #NZData is open, I can pay someone to do the analysis NZDATA “as a proof of concept - 3 teams locked in a room, come back with an app that does actually something concrete” #nzdata #FULLCODEDATA NZDATA “Let's take what we already have and see what can be done with it “ - @TRankQ “it would be promotion for data.govt.nz” @john_roberts #nzdata NZDATA Continuing the idea @maupuia emphasises a contest would involve designers and content writers to make it more accessible to all #nzdata kayakr #nzdata I would rather see 1..N hackfests, similar to DigitalNZ rather than a competition FullCodeData. rediguana @NZDATA @joannatmcleod open access to source or #NZData doesn't make things easier or free, it just gives you more flexibility and control NZDATA “just having a bunch of pure data enthusiasts working together wouldn't necessarily accomplish very much others would find useful” #nzdata NZDATA Community organisations would like govt depts to stop saying “this is our data”. It's the _taxpayer's_ data. #nzdata kayakr #nzdata Who made that last quote? How do they know enthusiasts couldn't create something useful? Seems very condescending to me. rediguana @NZDATA I call bullshit. NZ Open GPS enthusiasts have produced better open roading #NZData than the Government. john_roberts How do we bring together enthusiastic technical peope, willing govt agencies holding #nzdata and ngo partners? concertm @john_roberts geospatial is grabbing #nzdata attention partly because of “$500m opportunity” http://tinyurl.com/nz-geo-500m kayakr .@john_roberts Need to expand data.govt.nz Better forums, voting/endorsement of data requests, pingbacks of usage of data sets, more #nzdata NZDATA We're finishing up now, so what next? “Sign up to #nzdata twitter tag”“check out data sets available”“feed convo back to workmates” normnz Agree. we need collaboration RT @kayakr: #nzdata I would rather see 1..N hackfests, similar to DigitalNZ rather than a competition. rediguana @NZData NZ Open GPS filled a gap left by LINZ's inability to respond to the publics desire for open #NZData kayakr .@NZDATA And enthusiasts can do that too, not just code. Need to facilitate enthusiasm, promote success, encourage collaboration #nzdata sarabeee RT @concertm: @john_roberts geospatial is grabbing #nzdata attention partly because of “$500m opportunity” http://tinyurl.com/nz-geo-500m CC BY-SA Version 1.0 20 August, 2010 #nzdata Workshop Two – Summary Report 23 wiselark Looks like there's been some interesting discussion at the #nzdata workshop this morning on open data. Thanks for the tweets! NZDATA What next: “publish findings from meeting”“work on data competition”“create contact lists”“tell my managers”“blog about it” #nzdata rediguana +1 need collaboration and coordination, not competition RT @normnz: we need collaboration RT @kayakr: #nzdata would rather see N hackfests rediguana @NZData I'd be keen to do something like a #CrisisCamp and mix it up with #NZData to see what data we need for an emergency/disaster JoannaTMcLeod I have finished tweeting as @nzdata for #nzdata and can now become more cynical accordingly! andrewwardell RT @NZDATA: Community organisations would like govt depts to stop saying “this is our data”. It's the _taxpayer's_ data. #nzdata JoannaTMcLeod @kayakr absolutely we need to encourage collaboration, which is why more than just data enthusiasts are needed. #nzdata JoannaTMcLeod @rediguana have you seen the results from #FCP10 though? The winners were the charities involved, not the teams themselves! #nzdata rediguana You'll have to forgive my ignorance Joanna, whats FCP? :) RT @JoannaTMcLeod: have you seen the results from #FCP10 though? #nzdata JoannaTMcLeod @rediguana yeah, so when @maupuia was suggesting a competition it wasn't like a death match, it was a “let's all do good things w #nzdata” rediguana @JoannaTMcLeod my biggest lesson from a few of these style events is how to turn short term efforts into something sustainable ;) #nzdata NZDATA Today's #NZDATA Workshop Twitter Stream can be found here: http://ow.ly/2nmId - Thanks to @serenare for showing us how to extract this CC BY-SA Version 1.0 20 August, 2010