[okfn-discuss] An interesting question about open data for local government.

[Rufus Pollock]

On 10 October 2012 15:42, Zach Beauvais <z.beauvais at gmail.com> wrote:
> Quora sent me this question [1], which I think is of interest to the OKFN:
>
> If you were making a bill about open data for a local government, what sort
> of specifications and formats would you include in the bill?
>
> And it's starting out with a few interesting answers in situ.
>
> This subject might be a good post/paper for people to pass on to civil
> servants/local representatives with a step by step guide to transparency?

The Open Data Handbook has some basic instructions on "How to Open Up Data"

http://opendatahandbook.org/en/how-to-open-up-data/

Which includes:

http://opendatahandbook.org/en/how-to-open-up-data/make-data-available.html

Which states "open, machine-readable format" as one criteria. I would
say though, that as long as you are getting machine readable (esp. not
PDF, not scans etc) one shouldn't get too obsessed about formats and
specs -- I think that is something one can come back to *once you are
actually getting data out there under an open licence** (there's a
danger o/w that one gets enmeshed in big debates over one format
versus another that stall the actual process).

Rufus