Posts

WHY I CAME BACK TO OPEN DATA

Image
I thought I was done with Open Data in the late Spring of 2015. I had experienced severe brain trauma from an accident and penned my retirement letter on my blog the same day Mike Bracken left the UK’s Government Digital Service. So why did I come back? Mostly because I have recovered. But I also came back because I believe that there is a superior product to deliver data storytelling. That product is OpenDataSoft. I have spent the last half-decade as an open data pundit. I worked hard to keep my comments agnostic to the technology. But OpenDataSoft's platform, work culture and ethics won me over. I am a believer, and I believe the best Open Data Platform solution is OpenDataSoft. If you live in the US and have something to do with Open Data then you probably know my name. Among the American Open Data portals I have built are the City of Raleigh, City and County of Durham, Gainesville, Roseville, Newark, Rutgers and now the Town of Chapel Hill. We may have met at the World

WHO IS JASON HARE, AND WHY DID HE BECOME THE OPEN DATA EVANGELIST FOR OPENDATASOFT?

Image
I thought I was done with Open Data in the late Spring of 2015. I had experienced severe brain trauma from an accident and penned my retirement letter on my blog the same day Mike Bracken left the UK’s Government Digital Service. So why did I come back? Mostly because I have recovered. But I also came back because I believe that there is a superior product to deliver data storytelling. That product is OpenDataSoft. ABOUT JASON HARE   This is me at Colorado’s GoCode Civic Engagement Event. I helped to build the program and worked as a mentor. Photo by 23 Studios. I have spent the last half-decade as an open data pundit. I worked hard to keep my comments agnostic to the technology. But OpenDataSoft’s platform, work culture and ethics won me over. I am a believer, and I believe the best Open Data Platform solution is OpenDataSoft.

What Open Data Intended

Image
From the Cincinnati Enquirer @2008 The Yu and Robinson article "The New Ambiguity of 'Open Government'" was something I read a few years ago. I disagree that the edge of open government is going away. Yes there are data sets being published that have nothing to do with accountability. Yes there are open data initiatives that stand up a few data sets and call it "open". This does not mean that all or most open data professionals do this. This whole line of "government versus the people" is one of the reasons Public Sector Agencies (PSA's) have trouble getting open data initiatives launched in the first place. The main issue is the disconnect between PSAs and the private sector. There is little, if any, discussion on the value-add of releasing these data. This is not purely a government issue. Private sector, with a few shining exceptions (BuildingEye for example) have shied away from using or even trying to use these data. PSAs see this lack of

FIRST U.S. CUSTOMER FOR AWARD-WINNING OPENDATASOFT

Image
The City of Durham and Durham County governments in North Carolina have chosen OpenDataSoft, an award-winning Paris-based internet platform, to power their growing Open Data initiative. THE DEAL MARKS OPENDATASOFT’S FIRST CUSTOMER IN THE UNITED STATES. “We chose OpenDataSoft because it was best suited to help us achieve specific distinctive project objectives,” said Greg Marrow, CIO of Durham County. “Our vision is to build a highly sustainable opendata program that empowers our citizens, employees, private industry while being open to other local,state and federal governments.”After sifting through dozens of open data platforms and API architectures available the team, led by recently retained open data consultant, Jason Hare, chose ODS based upon the criteria established by the joint City and the County team. Kerry Goode, CIO for the City of Durham, said, “We specified a platform that was easy to use, worked with almost any device, and integra

Enabling Students In A Digital Age: Charlie Reisinger at TEDxLancaster

Image
 

Knowing An Organization’s Data Management Maturity Promotes Effective Open Data Program Planning

  By Dennis D. McDonald, Ph.D Hearing about an open data program like the EPA's makes you realize how the many interrelated program components can impact open data program planning in a complex organization. Inventorying the assets of such an organization makes you aware of this very quickly, especially when you step back and evaluate where each data element in the inventory came from, where each data element is going, and how it's going to get there. Each data element in a data asset inventory has its own "lifecycle" that when properly managed provides a framework for tracking and optimizing how data are used from creation through obsolescence. In most cases data are managed in groups. Data groupings can be defined in a myriad of ways. Some approaches reflect how data are physically organized. Other groupings involve development different categories of metadata that have been standardized for use across different data sets. An example of the latter is shown in India’

BALEFIRE GLOBAL IS A MICROSOFT CITYNEXT PARTNER

Image
                    Engage with your citizens and choose the right open data platform by using BaleFire Global CityNet Services OPEN DATA IS CHANGING HOW CITYNEXT CITIES OPERATE For the first time in history, more than 50 percent of the world’s population lives in urban areas, and by 2050 nearly 70 percent of the global population will live in cities. That is an additional 2.7 billion people. Cities are gathering places for higher education, they drive advances in public safety, healthcare, and the modernization of public services – they are the engines of new ideas and businesses that will drive technology adoption and breakthroughs in the future. FIND OUT MORE ABOUT BALEFIRE GLOBAL AND MICROSOFT CITYNEXT  Microsoft CityNext is a global people-first initiative to position Microsoft as a trusted advisor and vendor of choice for regions, cities and municipalities. It is an umbrella campaign that brings together the breadth of Microsoft technology tailored to the needs of local and regio