Articles by Tracey

I like data and think it should be shared at not cost! Especially public data!

Liberating Water Data – Guest Post by Alex Joseph – WEHUB

October 26, 2011 in academia, Access, Uncategorized by Tracey | Permalink

I met Alex at the Cybera Summit at the Banff Centre in October and that is where I was  introduced to the WEHUB. There are many interesting ways to do open data, science and to use the cloud to do so.  I invited Alex to prepare the following guest post about how WEHUB  does it.
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Water and Environmental Hub…aggregating water data from across North America and making it available through an API

by:

Alex Joseph, Executive Director – Water and Environmental Hub 

As anyone searching for water data from multiple sources knows…there isn’t really a Google for water data. 

A search for water data often results in a web page with a phone number to call someone, or an anonymous info request form. The water datasets that are available are often embedded as graphs in .pdf files obscuring the raw data or available in real time but embedded in html code on web pages. In the best cases, raw water data is available in large .zip files where you get the whole dataset or the opposite, you are faced with downloading hundreds of individual observation stations and then try and sew together hundreds of spreadsheet files, hoping that the columns all line up!

It gets even more time consuming and expensive when one tries to find water data that crosses political boundaries. Imagine the effort required to find data on the “Lake Winnipeg Watershed”? A search involves multiple provinces, states, 3 levels of government, multiple departments within those governments etc. etc. with a high probability that each of those datasets is in a different format.

Besides the challenges with access to water data, the few water datasets that are accessible on the web are unlikely to be provided through an API. Thus, those generous web developers that attended the World Bank sponsored Water Hackathons last week likely found that very little water data is available through an API allowing them to build dynamic water apps….

…but this is changing.

The Water and Environmental Hub (WEHUB) project is an open cloud-based web platform that aggregates, federates, and connects water data and information with users looking to search, discover, download, analyze, model and interpret water and environmental-based information. By combining water expertise with an open web development approach and an entrepreneurial foundation, the project hopes to spur economic diversification and benefit both public users and the private sector by improving the access to water data and tools for academia, government, industry, NGOs and the general public.

The WEHUB also enables organizations and users to develop customized applications on top of the WEHUB platform using our (RESTful) API, so that the data can be easily shared, integrated, leveraged, and customized.

The web platform is structured as a three-tiered system with a Client, Server and Database.  Each tier in the system is divided into components that address the catalogue, spatial and non-spatial data, and the social network requirements.  The catalogue acts as the index for the data and allows for easy search, download and upload of the data. The spatial data is shown on the client – as a map – making it easy for the user to visualize the data.  The social network allows for commenting, flagging and sharing of data. The WEHUB employs a Representational State Transfer (REST) software architecture. Open standards (e.g. OGC standards such as WMS, WFS, SOS, WaterML, GroundwaterML) are used whenever practical, efficient and economical to meet the needs of users.

In terms of geographical scope, the project began with Alberta and Western Canadian water data and information, a region to which the partners have relevant expertise and networks. As development successes are achieved, the project has extended across North America, with scalability a key design thrust.

Open Data & Public Research, U of T Open Access Week

October 25, 2011 in Uncategorized by Tracey | Permalink

The University of Toronto Map and Data Librarians put together a really fun panel for Open Access Week with the City of Toronto Open Data team and Jury Konga on the topic of Open Data. As promised here are my slides. There were some great questions from the audience and it was a very well attended session.

OpenData Public Research, University of Toronto, Open Access Week, 25/11/2011

There is also an honourable mention to the Toronto Wellbeing initiative.

Liberating Data – Wendy Watkins is honoured on Ada Lovelace Day

October 10, 2011 in Uncategorized by Tracey | Permalink

This year I thought I would honour Wendy Watkins a founder with Ernie Boyko of the Data Liberation Initiative (DLI) in Canada on for Ada Lovelace Day.

Wendy Watkins

In Canada our census data is sold back to us under a cost recovery program initiated by the Brian Mulroney Conservative Government in the early 1980s.  In fact, the Conservatives of that day also tried to Cancel the census but alas the constitution prevented them for doing so and instead they cut Statistics Canada’s budget severely which instituted a very regressive cost recovery practice.  The prices were so high that not only could citizens not afford to use their own data, universities encouraged students to use free US census data since they did not have the resources to pay for Canadian census data.  During those years, Canadians became experts on the US and not on Canada.

It is through the hard work of Wendy Watkins, her collaborators, data & map & research librarians that Canadian universities now have Census data for faculty and students along with associated census geographic files.  I had the good fortune as a student to benefit from the DLI.  Here is an excerpt from one of Wendy’s papers about the history of the DLI:

In April 1993, after receipt of the “Liberation Paper,” the Social Science Federation of Canada (SSFC) hosted a meeting with representatives from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC), the Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL), the Canadian Association of Public Data Users (CAPDU) and other interested parties to devise a strategy to make Canadian data more readily available to the education and research communities. The meeting resulted in the striking of a smaller working group, under the aegis of the SSFC, to devise a plan that would be acceptable to all parties. Statistics Canada and the DSP [Depository Service Program] played advisory roles in this process. While the initiative has involved government in an advisory role, it is unique in that it was conceived and developed by members of the Canadian research community.

The working group, consisting of researchers, representatives from CARL and CAPDU, as well as members of the SSFC, held a series of meetings over the next months. Advice from both Statistics Canada and the Depository Services Program was invited and found to be invaluable. When the group had formulated a working document to which both Statistics Canada and the DSP agreed, meetings were arranged with senior management in several government departments. The SSFC also met with Ministers and their executive assistants in order to move the proposal forward. Finally, in December 1995, the DLI had received a strong enough informal blessing that the project was deemed to be a go. Letters of agreement were distributed and data began to be released.

More officially, the DLI received approval by the Treasury Board Ministers in a February 1996 decision. It was subsequently included as part of the federal government’s Science and Technology Strategy in March. Most recently, in October 1996, it was officially announced by Dr. John Gerard, Minister of State for Science and Technology at a press conference held in conjunction with National Science and Technology Week and the 30th anniversary of Carleton University’s Data Centre. ( Data Liberation and Academic Freedom, 1996).

The DLI not only fueled Canadian research, it promoted academic freedom, advanced data driven informed decision-making and created a new class of librarian called data librarians and also data centres in libraries.  Data also became artifacts to be collected in libraries, which added a new practice of adding digital material in a catalog along with hard copy books on shelves, the DLI spurred the early adoption of the Internet with the use of basic FTP protocols to transfer data from Statistics Canada and university libraries, and it was the forerunner in the acquisition of digital materials.  The DLI also promoted collaboration between universities and government via a consortium agreement that has been embraced by other organizations such as the Community Social Data Strategy.  Finally, the DLI also accelerated a new type of expertise in data metadata, data catalogs, data citation and data preservation (b).

Today there is a very vibrant DLI community of practice that shares knowledge on a yearly basis at DLI Bootcamps, maintains a repository of training materials, an active blog Data Interests Group for Reference Services and actively exchanges expertise on a DLILIST listserv.

The DLI also politicized access to data very early on and in a sense they began the discourse on data access in Canada.  The cancellation of the 2011 Census being one of the big issues DLI supporters took on.  Further Wendy Watkins and her colleagues participate in key roundtable discussions on access to research data, the preservation of data and develop important infrastructures that disseminate Canadian Data.

Data users and Canadians can thank Wendy for being on the vanguard of open data, open government and data liberation in Canada and for building an incredible cadre of data literate librarians, faculty and students.  Open Data initiatives in Canada can benefit from her work and should recognize Wendy as one of their data access pioneers.  Now we just need to have a census and for those data to be cost free to the public.

Some Watkins’ Papers:

MISA Ontario – Open Government

September 27, 2011 in Access by Tracey | Permalink

Yesterday I had the good fortune to speak on a panel about Open Government with City of Ottawa CIO, Guy Michaud and City Official Mark Faul in the Council Chambers as part of Open Government Workshop – ‘Today’s Open Government ~ A New Approach to Public Service’.  It was organized by Jury Konga and Robert Giggey.  MISA stands for Municipal Information System Association, it is like the Federation of Canadian Municipalities for the IT crowd.

Mark discussed among many other things that Open Government needs to be responsible, and data requires context or a story, particularly data associated with planning or reports.  Guy discussed how it was difficult to convince council at times and that the legal staff at the City are advisers and he as CIO can choose what to do with that advice.  In addition, he mentioned that data and information will make its way out into the public realm and it is better for the City to proactively officially share it .

I talked about how open government is in many ways more difficult than open data, since it requires a deeper cultural and organizational change.  It means changing how we deliberate and that it will take time for city officials as well as citizens to learn how to intelligently work together to meet mutually beneficial objectives.  I provided examples of the work of research, community and government collaboration in Nunavut, the roots of open data coming from research librarians & MADGIC  and the geomatics sector, the work of non profit organizations and their need for open government to better serve their client base which is often marginalized people and the great work of the Community Data Consortium.  In addition I discussed the Resolution endorsed by the Federal, Provincial and Territorial Governments on Open Government, ways to do public participation consultations and provided some useful examples of good open government apps.  Finally, I discussed the fantastic work done in Québec to change the procurement practices around the acquisition of open source technologies and the move toward developing a Québécois coding workforce in lieu of reliance on large US IT companies to provide government services. The links I referred to in my talk are below:

Geomatics and Cartographic Research Centre (GCRC):

Information Commissioner:

Canadian Council on Social Development (CCSD):

GeoConnections

Salon du Logitiel Libre, Québec City

Meaningful Public Consultations:

Open Government App Examples:

Traffic Study held back by a City Official (My case study):

Social & public policy examples using government data:

Reading Material:

Wish:

The FCM and MISA collaborate to develop open government and open data indicators as a civic engagement indicator for Canadian Cities as part of the Quality of Life Reporting system.

Open Data Open City? McKellar Park / Highland Park / Westboro Area Traffic Management Study

September 21, 2011 in Access by Tracey | Permalink

The document below is a scanned copy of a report that I requested from the City of Ottawa.  I was advised that I could go to the City and read it at the counter.  The copy you see embedded below was sent to me by a friend who received it from a friend who scanned the paper copy they received by mail from the City.  Also below are the responses I received from the City in relation to my request for the document.

Recall the City of Ottawa had passed in Council and Open Government Policy and has an Open Data Policy.  I had made an official request for this document via the Open Data Channel, and also directly with the official involved with the study.  The nice Open Data official that followed up received the same response I did.  Hmmmm.  It seems that the City needs some criteria that is a bit more objective in these instances as it seems that “the document is outdated” and a “community group and the Councilor disagree” does not seem grounds enough to refuse access.  I have therefore chosen to post the document on slideshare and embed it here so that the community groups that want this document can access it and also to demonstrate how harmless it really is to share this type of public information.  I will also be making an access to information request for the minutes and reports to see how that all goes next week.  Enjoy.

“This is related to a McKellar Park / Highland Park / Westboro Area Traffic Management Study that is still on-going.  The specific reference is to notes of a meeting of the Public Working Group for the study.  These notes were not intended as an information source for the general public.  There is no final report available for this study.  Here’s a link to basic website information that is available, which unfortunately is somewhat out-of-date:
http://www.ottawa.ca/public_consult/mckellar/index_en.html

This study has essentially been on-hold since 2009, at the request of the Ward Councillor, pending further input from the McKellar Park Community Association.

Of note, there is a construction project taking place later this fall on Highway 417. The Ministry of Transportation is closing the eastbound ramp on Carling for an 8 week period.  All eastbound traffic will be directed to get off the 417 at Maitland and directed to use Carling Avenue. As a result temporary measures are planned on 4 streets off Sherbourne in the McKellar Park Community to deal with any extra traffic that may not abide by the detour (i.e. using Carling).  This current plan during the construction phase on the 417 has no relation to the traffic study in McKellar which has been ongoing for a number of years.”

In a seperate email from the same official on the topic:

The biggest concerns with this information package is it’s substantially out-of-date.  Significant parts of the information were later updated, and in some cases corrected, as part of an on-going study process.  Having such materials widely circulated within the community at this point would not be particularly helpful for providing them with up-to-date information.  For example, we have an updated version that we shared with the same Public Working Group in 2008, but we are also not comfortable having this widely distributed within the community as some of the Community Association representatives on this committee and the former Ward Councillor were in disagreement with some of the information and the staff conclusions reached.  There are also notes of several notes of on-going meetings with various parties and technical analyses of numerous alternative suggests that were brought forward by community groups for consideration.

We are trying to respect the needs and expectations of all groups, as best we can, but this has proven to be a real challenge for this study.  Until we are able to reach consensus within the public working group for the study, and the Ward Councillor, it would not be appropriate for the City to distribute, or encourage the distribution of, draft materials that may be seen by some as unfair or inappropriate.

What I can offer, as I have done for others recently, is make this information available to you at our office, if you like.  I can also make myself available to answer questions about the study process.  This is not about trying to hide anything secret, but rather our attempt to ensure everyone is treated fairly and respectfully. (emphasis added by me!).

Would it not just be easier to post all the minutes, reports and updates on the dedicated webpage?  In addition there could be a comments section.

Surely, citizens can read the material and make up their own minds, we are grown ups afterall, and  this neighbourhood is off the charts in terms of PHDs, Masters, Medical, Dental, engineers and Legal degrees.  Demographics should not be criteria for who can and cannot access a document, I merely share that piece of information to illustrate the underestimation of a citizen’s ability to decipher reports. 

Working Group Meeting 3 – Analysis of Key Issues and Preliminary Recommendations

World Bank & Open Data

July 4, 2011 in Access by Tracey | Permalink

World Bank Is Opening Its Treasure Chest of Data

Robert B. Zoellick, the World Bank president “argues that the most valuable currency of the World Bank isn’t its money — it is its information”.

The broader release of such data will enable more “scientific” policy-making, cut down on corruption in Kenya and engage more people in government by empowering them with knowledge they can use to challenge political leaders, he says.

“As opposed to some imperious bureaucracy in Washington, we’re making things open and accessible to people,” he says. “That makes for better performance, it makes for a more open system, it makes for people having a different attitude about the World Bank.” (Robert B. Zoellick, the World Bank president).

Some WB Initiatives to look at:

Census 2011: Who Are We? The Canadian Census Used to Tell Us

June 13, 2011 in Uncategorized by Tracey | Permalink

Census 2011: Who Are We? The Canadian Census Used to Tell Us

Take Away: Understanding of the history of the Canadian census. The use of census data through Canadian history and the effects of changing census data collection methods.
Objective: Understanding the following: what a national census is; the history of the Canadian national census; effects of changes to the 2010 long form; survey versus census; where we are and what do we have in May 2011. Methods: lecture and presentation Results: increase awareness of what comprises census data and how it is used by Canadians (individuals, researchers, business, governments, libraries who serve these users) Conclusions: If the Census 2011 is vastly different from previous national census’, what alternative resources are available for libraries and their users?
Description: The long form census was changed in the summer of 2010 to a long form survey. What are the long term effects of this change for Canadians (individuals, researchers, business, governments, libraries) who use census data.

Canada’s Access to Information Act: An Epic Introduction

May 24, 2011 in Uncategorized by Tracey | Permalink

This is a guest post by Mark Weiler:

It’s with great pleasure that OpenGovernmentRecords.net announces the launch of the video “Canada’s Access to Information Act: An Epic Introduction”

The video begins with a brief overview of the Access to Information Act, which is a mystery to most Canadians. The video then removes some of the mystery by providing an example of an order for documents filed through the Access to Information Act. The video then replaces the “mystery of not knowing ATI” with the “wonder of using ATI” by opening a door to a world of FOI magic, mages, dragon’s, and re/quests! The video includes a movie titled “Re/quest”, which is about the greatest Freedom of Information Legislation mage on her first re/quest into an unknown world — the Federal Other World. Join her as she crosses scorching deserts, lush forests, and frigid mountains to find in the Federal Other World materials that some adults in This World might be able to use to learn the magic of freedom of information legislation!

The video and movie were made with creative works – music, industry quality computer animation, and images – released through the Creative Commons. The video and movie are released through a Creative Commons Attribute 2.5 license which means you are free to remix and distribute them, even for commercial purposes.

Watch the trailer to the movie “Re/quest” and/or the full epic introduction.

The video and movie are intended for civically-minded adults with a creative spirit.

Mark Weiler
OpenGovernmentRecords.net

Atelier national de formation Initiative de démocratisation des données (IDD) : L’image globale: Qu’est-ce qu’il y a de neuf dans le monde des données

May 16, 2011 in Uncategorized by Tracey | Permalink

L’image globale: Qu’est-ce qu’il y a de neuf dans le monde des données

Atelier national de formation de l’IDD – session d’ouverture

À tous les jours on retrouve de l’innovation dans le monde des données : le web sémantique, l’informatique en nuage, la visualisation, la cartographie, les portails, les infrastructures de données géospatiales, etc.  Cette partie de la journée de formation portera  sur les nouvelles initiatives canadiennes concernant l’accès public aux données en mettant l’accent sur ??la transparence et les données ouvertes. Dans cette session, les participants/tes seront initiés à la démocratie participative et à l’utilisation des données numériques, aux définitions de données ouvertes et à des exemples de politiques gouvernementales éclairées.  En outre, nous nous pencherons sur ce que certains groupes communautaires font, la direction dans les grandes villes du Canada et dans la province de la Colombie-Britannique par les administrations et les citoyens. Nous traiterons notamment de licences, d’initiatives de données ouvertes, de « hackfest », de « hackathons », d’applications, des défis et des possibilités. Il est espéré que ce survol fournira aux participants/tes un aperçu des nouveautés dans le monde des données publiques au Canada.

DLI-IDD – L’image globale: Qu’est-ce qu’il y a de neuf dans le monde des données – The Big Picture: What is new in the Data World

Data Liberation Initiative (DLI) Training Day – The Big Picture: What is new in the Data World

May 16, 2011 in Uncategorized by Tracey | Permalink

The Big Picture: What is new in the Data World

DLI National Training Day – Opening Session

Data innovations happen daily: the semantic web, the cloud, visualization, mapping, sensors, spatial data infrastructures, etc. This portion of the Training Day will focus on recent access to public data initiatives in Canada with an emphasis on open government and open data. In this session participants will be introduced to data and participatory democracy, open data definitions and examples of good government policy. In addition, we will look at what some community groups are doing, the leadership in Canada’s big cities and the Province of BC by administrations and citizens. This will include licenses, open data initiatives, hackfests, hackathons, applications, challenges and opportunities. It is hoped that this overview will provide participants with insight about what is new in the Canadian access to public data world.

DLI-IDD – L’image globale: Qu’est-ce qu’il y a de neuf dans le monde des données – The Big Picture: What is new in the Data World

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