[open-government] Open Data Tooling - should the OKF/others promote a set of tools for open data?

[Neil McEvoy]

This would seem like a potentially great overlap focus area with Cloud
Computing. I'm setting out to do the same, to build an 'Open Cloud
Ecosystem', which puts Open Data in the core and leverages other mechanics
to better share best practices, eg OVF

http://www.cloudbestpractices.info/Open-standards


> Hello Tim,
>
> Interesting reflections. I'm not sure the issue is so much with having one
> standard set of tools, as helping organisations to understand that open
> data
> is not just about the data, but is about creating an eco-system of
> resources
> and support to enable it to be used for positive civic gain.
>
> Suggesting some example tools and resources that could form part of such
> an
> eco-system might be useful - but advocating for one particular package of
> tools is probably less helpful (in that people will generally turn to the
> tools they have most familiarity with: and intense advocacy for a
> particular
> toolset tends to alienate some groups, or confuse others).
>
> That said, encouraging some principles for the choice of tools and
> resources
> (e.g. they themselves should be open, shared and re-usable) may be useful.
>
> So, we might explore that, in addition to releasing open data,
> organisations
> should think about:
>
>    - Releasing any source code/spreadsheets/how to guides they've written
>    for working with particular datasets, and making sure details of these
> are
>    linked to when the dataset is published; ideally licensing such
> resources to
>    allow for their re-use and modifications based on them to be shared
> freely.
>
>    - Promoting data literacy within the organisation and within partner
>    organisations: ideally making use of open learning resources;
>
>    - Openly sharing their own analysis of open data, and linking this to
> the
>    raw datasets; wherever possible, being open about who citizens can
> contact
>    directly to give feedback on a dataset;
>
>    - Developing open routes for users of data to feed back potential
>    modifications and updates;
>
> Effectively advocating for open data as the starting point for "open all
> the
> way down", and from that, talking about linux / R / python etc. as
> possible,
> but not the only, tools for that.
>
> Tim
>
> On Sun, Aug 21, 2011 at 8:28 AM, Tim McNamara <tim.mcnamara at okfn.org>
> wrote:
>
>> Alex Howard (O'Reilly Radar's government) has written a nice
>> feature[0] on Chicago city's moves towards open data. There's lots of
>> great content in the article. An excerpt I would like to draw people's
>> attention to is reproduced below:
>>
>> "To fully embrace this vision, however, Chicago is going to have to
>> build out its data capabilities to become a smarter city. "The first
>> step is moving over to a more open platform," said Goldstein. "You
>> don't have to make a multi-million-dollar investment to get a fancy
>> GUI and something meaningful. If you bring something over to Linux,
>> between Python and R you can produce some remarkable outcomes. These
>> are some really low-cost solutions.""
>>
>> One of the things he mentions on Twitter[1] is the interesting
>> coincidence of Python & R in Chicago's plans and a post I wrote in
>> early August about open data tooling[2]. It has made me wonder if
>> there should be calls for a standard set of tools for introducing
>> people to the open data. The OKF has been actively supporting
>> Python[3]. Is that the right approach?
>>
>>
>> Tim McNamara
>> Open Knowledge Foundation
>>
>>
>> [0]
>> http://radar.oreilly.com/2011/08/chicago-data-apps-open-government.html
>> [1] https://twitter.com/#!/digiphile/status/104973421519179776
>> [2] http://notebook.okfn.org/2011/08/01/open-data-tooling/
>> [3] http://datapatterns.org/
>>
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>>
>
>
>
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>
>
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> @timdavies
> http://www.timdavies.org.uk
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-- 
Neil McEvoy
Founder
Cloud Best Practices Network
http://mcevoy.biz