[open-development] Blog post: Some of my thoughts following OKCon in Geneva

Tue Oct 29 09:24:44 UTC 2013

There are two stories in my inbox today

ODI Global Network announced<http://theodi.org/blog/odi-global-network-announced>
Global??

and
Railway Lines of Internet Connectivity in Africa<http://whiteafrican.com/2013/10/29/railway-lines-of-internet-connectivity-in-africa/>

An illustration of the point I made earlier in this thread about enthusiasm ...

Bill

From: Sarah.Louise.johns [mailto:sarah.louise.johns at gmail.com]
Sent: 23 October 2013 17:31
To: Bill Anderson; D.Edwards at ids.ac.uk; open-development at lists.okfn.org
Subject: Re: [open-development] Blog post: Some of my thoughts following OKCon in Geneva

Hello, completely agree with this and if anyone is going to the OGP CSO day it would be good to make the point there, in advance of the OGP Summit?

Cheers,

Sarah

Sent from Samsung Mobile

-------- Original message --------
From: Bill Anderson <Bill.Anderson at devinit.org>
Date:
To: Duncan Edwards <D.Edwards at ids.ac.uk>,open-development at lists.okfn.org
Subject: Re: [open-development] Blog post: Some of my thoughts following OKCon in Geneva

Duncan, I hope this stimulates wide debate in the open data movement.

You are not alone in making the points that you do.

Here's Jay Naidoo at the Making All Voices Count event in Johannesburg two weeks ago:

"No country in the world is run by Facebook or Twitter. Don’t fool yourself that social media is going to create the revolution of social values that we need. It’s actually going down to the people and explaining to them what their rights are, equipping them with the right tools and making sure they fight their own battles." http://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2013-10-11-mind-the-gap-using-technology-for-a-better-life/#.UmeFo_msiM4

Here's Ben Leo from the Centre for Global Development commenting on US aid transparency:

"Herein lies the problem with the USG’s aid transparency efforts. It more often resembles a document and data dumping ground instead of a user-friendly interface for government officials, media and interested citizens in developing countries..."   http://international.cgdev.org/blog/it%E2%80%99s-high-time-usaid-join-user-defined-information-age?&co=f000000009816s-1158206718<http://international.cgdev.org/blog/it%E2%80%99s-high-time-usaid-join-user-defined-information-age?&co=f000000009816s-1158206718>

Very little data makes sense on its own. It needs joining up with other data to be contextualised. It needs curation, analysis and interpretation to turn it into meaningful, usable, accessible information. And after all this it becomes a useful component (not the driver) of socio-economic change.

Open Data is important, but so is joined-up data, interoperable data standards, access to information and a host of other priorities.
Open Data is important, but an app plotting potholes is just an app plotting potholes.
Open Data is important, but we shouldn't let our enthusiasm turn to tunnel-vision or arrogance.
This is where the current danger lies...

Best,
Bill Anderson
Data Standards Advisor @ Development Initiatives
IATI Technical Lead

From: open-development-bounces at lists.okfn.org [mailto:open-development-bounces at lists.okfn.org] On Behalf Of Duncan Edwards
Sent: 23 October 2013 07:54
To: open-development at lists.okfn.org
Subject: [open-development] Blog post: Some of my thoughts following OKCon in Geneva

Hello everyone,

I thought you may be interested in a blog post I posted to the OKFN blog which captures some of my thoughts on what was talked about at some of the Open Development sessions at OKCon in Geneva back a few(ish) weeks ago.

“The revolution will NOT be in Open Data”
http://blog.okfn.org/2013/10/21/the-revolution-will-not-be-in-open-data/

Interested to hear people’s thoughts on this.

Best wishes,
Duncan
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Duncan Edwards
ICT Innovations Manager
Institute of Development Studies, Brighton BN1 9RE, UK
Charitable Company No. 877338
Global Knowledge for Global Change
email: d.edwards at ids.ac.uk<mailto:d.edwards at ids.ac.uk>  tel: +44 (0)1273 915797
fax: +44 (0)1273 621202
Skype: duncan_ed1
Twitter: @duncan_ids<http://twitter.com/duncan_ids>
Bio: http://www.ids.ac.uk/person/duncan-edwards
Knowledge Services at IDS:http://www.ids.ac.uk/go/knowledge-services
----------------------------------------------------------------------------

This message is for the addressee only and may contain privileged or confidential information. If you have received it in error, please notify the sender immediately and delete the original. Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of IDS. Institute of Development Studies at the University of Sussex, Brighton BN1 9RE Tel: +44 (0)1273 606261; Fax: +44 (0)1273 621202 IDS, a charitable company limited by guarantee: Registered Charity No. 306371; Registered in England 877338; VAT No. GB 350 899914
______________________________________________________________________
This email has been scanned by the Symantec Email Security.cloud service.
For more information please visit http://www.symanteccloud.com
______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________
This email has been scanned by the Symantec Email Security.cloud service.
For more information please visit http://www.symanteccloud.com
______________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________
This email has been scanned by the Symantec Email Security.cloud service.
For more information please visit http://www.symanteccloud.com
______________________________________________________________________
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.okfn.org/pipermail/open-development/attachments/20131029/e0dbd034/attachment-0001.html>