[okfn-coord] Aidinfo contract

Thu Apr 2 21:27:17 UTC 2009

Brilliant. I'll meet or talk to Simon ASAP - and let you all know what
the outcome is.

J.

On Wed, Apr 1, 2009 at 10:14 AM, Becky Hogge <becky.hogge at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi Jonathan
>
> I'm really interested in open knowledge for development, you're right.
> And I was inspired by what I heard from Simon at OKCon.
>
> I didn't speak to Simon much (I spoke more with Sara from
> PublishWhatYouFund), but it seemed to me that he faced a conflict - on
> the one hand, he knew that the best next steps for him was to organise
> some kind of BarCamp, where he could let coders loose on some of the
> data sets he's identified. On the other hand, he was inured in a
> political situation with the various NGOs he was working with and
> didn't seem in a position to "steal" data in order to create a proof
> of concept product (the "ask forgiveness not permission" model that
> was so successful for MySociety). If OKF were to get involved, I would
> want to know that we could do something that helps this situation,
> rather than become inured in it ourselves.
>
> I don't want to over-commit at this stage (I've spotted your long
> email in response to my 4IP work, so I know there's quite a bit
> already for me to follow up on there). I've got very little free time
> before mid-May, thanks to a rather exciting contract I'm working on.
> But after this, I would be interested in parts of the
> community-building aspect of the project, if that meant reaching out
> to renowned screen-scrapers such as Harry Metcalfe, Julian Todd and
> Rob McKinnon (some/all of whom may be on this list - hello!) and
> seeing if they were interested in playing around with some data and
> encouraging others to do the same. That would be contingent on there
> being the political space to undertake such an exercise with regards
> to Simon's partner NGOs.
>
> Perhaps it's best if you and Rufus proceed with the meeting in the
> next couple of weeks (and raise this issue there?) and keep me in the
> loop. Then, come mid-May, if there's an opportunity to organise a
> BarCamp, I can get cracking with that.
>
> Let me know what you think, and also if you think there's some other
> skill I can offer to help with this partnership that I'm not yet
> volunteering, all the best
>
> Becky
>
>
>
> 2009/4/1 Jonathan Gray <jonathan.gray at okfn.org>:
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Simon Parrish - who spoke at OKCon - is interesting in contracting the
>> OKF to help with some of the things they are working on (data
>> discovery, standards, legal options, community building, ...). We plan
>> to meet up with him in the next couple of weeks. What do people think?
>>
>> Becky - it would be great if you were free at some point to come along
>> with Rufus and I to meet Simon, as I understand you're particularly
>> interested in open knowledge for development?
>>
>> Very best,
>>
>> Jonathan
>>
>>
>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>> From: Simon Parrish <simon at devinit.org>
>> Date: Tue, Mar 31, 2009 at 7:16 PM
>> Subject: aidinfo - next steps
>> To: rufus.pollock at okfn.org, Jonathan Gray <jonathan.gray at okfn.org>
>>
>>
>> Rufus, Jonathan,
>>
>>
>>
>> Well done for organizing such an interesting and fun event on
>> Saturday. It was good to engage with the OK crowd.
>>
>>
>>
>> We discussed the possibility of a role for OKF to provide some support
>> to aidinfo. I would like to follow up with this.
>>
>>
>>
>> As agreed I have made a list of areas I think we need some support –
>> I’m sure it is not exhaustive,  nor is it intended to be a list of
>> things I am asking OKF for help with - there are other tech partners
>> that will be involved with the IATI/aidinfo initiatives that I’m sure
>> will also have a role to play here, but I have a feeling you guys
>> could provide valuable expertise into some of these areas.
>>
>>
>>
>> Can we meet to discuss this further? I could  get to London any day
>> this week, or mon/fri next week. (I could probably juggle things to be
>> more flexible next week if necessary)
>>
>>
>>
>> For info,  I also attach the (rather long) IATI scoping paper (not yet
>> available for consultation, so grateful if you could not circulate too
>> widely at this stage)
>>
>>
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>>
>>
>> Simon
>>
>> Simon Parrish | aidinfo @ Development Initiatives | * email:
>> simon at devinit.org | : Web: http://www.aidinfo.org  | : Web:
>> http://www.devinit.org  | : Web: http://www.commit4africa.org  | ( UK
>> mobile: +44 (0) 7794 147 644| ( Skype: simon.parrish73
>>
>> Independent research on aid, development policy, NGOs and government relations
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> __________ Information from ESET NOD32 Antivirus, version of virus
>> signature database 3978 (20090331) __________
>>
>> The message was checked by ESET NOD32 Antivirus.
>>
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>>
>>
>> --
>> Jonathan Gray
>>
>> Community Coordinator
>> The Open Knowledge Foundation
>> http://www.okfn.org
>>
>

-- 
Jonathan Gray

Community Coordinator
The Open Knowledge Foundation
http://www.okfn.org