Cugos 2016 Ricker

Motivations, practices, and

politics of open data in Cape Town, South Africa Britta Ricker, PhD

University of Washington TacomaUrban Studies &

Geospatial Technologies

What was the first thing you did this morning ?

An improved sanitation facility is defined as one that hygienically separates

human excreta from human contact.

Globally 2.4 billion people live without access to improved sanitation: Almost 1 billion of these practice open defecation.

Informal Settlements

Dreams, bricks and bodies: mapping ‘neglected spatialities’ in African Cape Town (Dierwechter, 2004)

• Dreams = planning, bricks= informal retail and bodies= pre-entrepreneurs

• Neglected spatialities of contemporary urban experiences

• ‘informailty’ has been part of the post apartheid solution in Cape Town (p. 977)

Power of Maps

Knowledge politics: – greater weight given to knowledge expressed as quantitative or

represented in cartographic forms

Risk reproducing inequalities. Call for active engagement to

combat inequalities through modern forms of mapping.

(Elwood, 2015)

Smart Cities Could help?

Taxonomy of data sources associated with “Smart Cities”

Smart CitiesData Sources

Ambient

Internet of Things

Big Data

Directed Open Data

Open Data!

The open data movement – the story goes – could variably democratize data access and knowledge production, unite cities and citizens, encourage transparent governance, strengthen democracy, and advance cities socially and economically (see European Commission, 2014; Sieber & Johnson, 2015; Zuiderwijk & Janssen, 2014).

 Grand proclamations have been met by a burgeoning critique however, which has identified its limited inroads outside of the wealthy cities of the Global North, co-optation by hackers and corporations (Kitchin, 2014),

reinforcement of power relations (Gurstein, 2011), as well as concerns about neoliberal logics (Bates, 2012) and threats to social justice (Johnson, 2014).

World Design Capital 2014Cape Town = Open Data

Models of open data provision (Sieber & Johnson 2015)

oData over the wall: Government publishing of open data

oCode exchange: Government as open data activist

oCivic issue tracker: Data from citizens to government

o Participatory open data: open data as open government

Civic Open Data at a Crossroad(Sieber & Johnson 2015)

o Conflicting motivations for open datao Shifting role of governmento Fragility of mission accomplished

Cape Town: Data Over the Wall

other models are emerge…

• Code exchange: open data activist

• Civic issue tracker: Data from citizens to government

• Participatory open data: open data as open government

Violence Prevention

through Urban Upgrading

Mobile Asset Management

Mobile Asset Management

Public Participatory GIS

Public Participatory GIS

Public Participatory GIS

Cape Town: Data Over the Wall

Code for South Africa

Civic Hacking“Easter Egg Hunts”

Data JournalismLiving Wage Calculator

Code for Cape Town @code4ct

Code for Cape Town @code4ct

Hector Eliott@hectoreliott Head of Ministry: Transport and Public WorksWestern Cape

Open Data Observed

oData over the walloCode exchangeoCivic issue trackero Participatory open data

Context

Data are there for you to comb

• Open data is an unfamiliar concept• People don’t want to share data• People don’t know how to contribute• People don’t understand GIS

Data are there for you to comb

• Open data is an unfamiliar concept• People don’t want to share data• People don’t know how to contribute• People don’t understand GIS

These are not barriers for YOU!

You can help! = Tourism

Cape Town has penguins

Digital Volunteer Tourism

The Path Forward: home and abroad

• Lessons Learned – HOST An EASTER

EGG HUNT!– Build tools for those who

can use them• Make Maps post them

on the web• Write emails & tweet to

leaders

Thanks!

Financial Support: University of Washington Office of Global Affairs Strategic International Partnership AwardAcknowledgments: Yonn Dierwechter, Don Shay, Chris Berens (VPUU) Adi Eyal (Code4SA).

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