Stap isi

9 July 2009

From retailers to wholesalers

A tweet last week from a UK public sector conference suggested that

Councils need to change from retailers to wholesalers

I’m not sure of the note’s context but I like it as a way to describe the move to open data.

The retail model we have now is a bunch of individual councils running boutique shops. Their information comes wrapped in a quirky packet, and you’ll have to check with each shop when it’s open and how they deliver. They’re all different.

Let’s concentrate on the product and get chain stores, specialist shops and local co-ops to package it up and put it on the shelves. They can tailor form and function to customers’ needs. Or present it in ways the customer didn’t think they wanted until like, now!

Developer Rob Manson says

Only allowing me to access the Public Data we have all paid for through applications and user interfaces developed by Government agencies is limiting my world to “what they think I want” and “how fast they can develop”. By starting with opening up APIs you are letting me run alongside these agencies or even run ahead of them and letting me decide how, when and where I mash up this data. For me this provides more freedom and also may free up some of the internal Government resources so they can focus on implementing these new Open Data policies instead of just trying to second guess what the increasingly diverse web user audiences really want.

Where to start for councils? How about we follow Tim Berners-Lee?

The first step of actually putting the data out there is the one that nobody else can do.

A tidy aphorism from Tim, who also has a useful paper called Putting Government Data online.

— b3rn   open data   Jul 9, 12:04 PM   #   Comment

28 June 2009

In an aroused state

Although the Government 2.0 Taskforce is a welcome initiative, the most exciting developments of late have been at OpenAustralia.

OpenAustralia is a volunteer-run open-source organisation that came together to port TheyWorkForYou to the Australian Parliament. They’re currently transforming the Hansard into a searchable, commentable and alertable document, and they’ll soon offer proceedings from State parliaments.

(And if you want to keep an eye on them, just look.)

What’s getting the sloop pointing north is their work on:

• making existing spatial information more useful – myrepresentatives.org has local government area lookups on the to-do list; and
• adapting FixMyStreet as an Australian iPhone app.

Last year I wrote out a story for a FixMyStreet derivative I called TakeMyWaste. It’s the type of web service that councils shouldn’t build in isolation. Back then I thought a local government peak body could drive it. But now I’m convinced that groups like OpenAustralia are better positioned to move such projects forward.

Open source software development is not without its difficulties but it seems infinitely preferable to monolithic projects that require years to specify, tender and deploy – and don’t necessarily succeed.

This particular project could be kicked along with some funding from the peak bodies and possibly one or more councils. Developers might come from the community, councils and/or commercial concerns. Early adopters would help troubleshoot and refine the service. Individual councils could come onboard when they’re ready and their data is accessible.

As well as a FixMyStreet and TakeMyWaste, I’d like to see a location-based planning alert service, like the UK-based Twitterplan built off the PlanningAlerts.com API.

There are some big wins just waiting to be claimed.

— b3rn   innovation, open data, open source   Jun 28, 06:57 PM   #   Comment [1]

7 December 2008

Public good to go

It might be a factor of my bias but are some of the most innovative and useful web services coming out of the public sector’s cultural institutions and activist stakeholders?

I’m thinking about:

• the BBC – for digital stations like 1xtra and services like the iPlayer
• the ABC – for commissioning content from audiences, freeing up content and just playing
• the Powerhouse Museum – for adding user-contributed metadata to their own catalogues (one of many great projects)
• MySociety – whose tools have reimagined a context for public data
• the Guardian – growing and engaging when most newspaper businesses are faltering and failing

Their charters require that the ‘public good’ is served.

Is this the not-so-secret ingredient for success?

Government – that is, the governing bit – shouldn’t be so shy about entertaining network applications. It should in fact begin to beget.

— b3rn   innovation, open data   Dec 7, 01:54 PM   #   Comment

6 December 2008

Take my waste

When looking for local government service information, should you have to know what Local Government Area (LGA) you’re in?

Some information services would benefit from a standardised state-wide implementation.

Like information on waste collection.

Continued...

— b3rn   maps, open data   Dec 6, 05:15 PM   #   Comment