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Update on Open Data in Edmonton
I’m encouraged by the progress that is being made on making open data a reality here in Edmonton. I think the open data sessions at ChangeCamp had an impact, as did Councillor Iveson’s formal inquiry. There’s still a lot of work to do, however!
A few brief updates:
- Just a reminder – we’re using #yegdata on Twitter.
- The Edmonton Public Library has created an Open Data portal, and is hosting a CSV file of all EPL branch locations, complete with latitude and longitude. It also shows recent tweets!
- I updated the open data page on the ChangeCamp wiki with some more notes. If you have notes to add, please do so!
- Chris Moore, CIO for the City of Edmonton, is really embracing the concept of open. He’s charged with delivering a report to City Council by the end of the year, and has decided to open up the creation of that report anyone interested. You can see the document on Google Docs here, just ping Chris and he’ll give you access.
We’ve also started having open data chats with beer! Our next one takes place tomorrow evening:
#yegdata conversation
November 4, 2009 at 4:30pm (come whenever)
Rose & Crown Pub, 10235 101 Street
Feel free to drop after work. Our last discussion was really great. One of the things we talked about was the approach we should take. In general, I think the preferred approach is something like the following:
- Low-hanging fruit (stuff that is already on the website, just in a closed format, etc)
- Data that doesn’t have FOIP implications but that isn’t already available
- Everything else
- APIs for real-time data?
We’ve got more than enough with the first two to keep everyone involved busy for quite some time.
One of the things we discussed was identifying and prioritizing the first two. What kinds of data does the community want? Which data is already up on the website in a closed format? To help facilitate that, I’ve created a UserVoice site for #yegdata, and have seeded it with 18 types of data that I’d like to see the City of Edmonton make available. Here’s where I need your help!
- Add other types of data that you’d like to see/use, or that you’ve identified as already available in some format on the City of Edmonton’s website.
- Everyone gets 10 votes – please vote on the data you’d most like to see/use.
- Spread the word and get others to add/vote as well!
There are no guarantees that the data and priority identified through the UserVoice site will be what actually happens, but it’ll definitely help the City move forward. Thanks in advance!
Help us identify and prioritize open data here!
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Tags: changecamp, edmonton, open data, technology, yegdata
Categories: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
January 13th, 2010 at 2:58 pm
[...] led to the creation of the #yegdata hashtag, a UserVoice site to identify potential data sets, and a number of smaller follow-up events. It also prompted Chris Moore to open up access to the creation of his report. On November 23, 2009 [...]