Talk for NextGen October 2013

EMPOWERING THROUGH OPEN KNOWLEDGE

Dr Laura James, CEOPRESENTED BY

imagine

• You’re a parent

• You’re ill

• You’re curious. Or sceptical. Or concerned.

The power of the internet

• Sharing information is easy

The power of data

• Data can be broken down into components

• Data can be combined and remixed to create new information

• Computers make this easy

What is open data?

Open Data can be freely used, reused, and redistributed, by anyone, anywhere, for any

purpose(we also work with public domain cultural

works - content - as well as data)

What is open knowledge?

Open Knowledge is what Open Data becomes when it is made

useful - accessible, understandable, meaningful,

and able to help someone solve a real

problem

OpenDefinition.org

all kinds of knowledge

• any kind of knowledge can be open

• any format: spreadsheets, databases, pictures, words…

• any field: transport, science, products, education, sustainability, maps, legislation, libraries, economics, culture, development, business, design, finance …

all kinds of peoplein all kinds of organisations

• open data can be published by anyone: government, public sector bodies, researchers, corporations, universities, NGOs, startups, charities, community groups, individuals….

• open data can be used by anyone: government, public sector bodies, researchers, corporations, universities, NGOs, startups, charities, community groups, individuals….

• all kinds of people can get involved with the open knowledge movement: as a campaigner, coder, writer, donor, trainer, tweeter, meetup organiser, data wrangler, ambassador, analyst, researcher, manager…

The Open Knowledge Foundation

• We build tools to make working with information easier

• We help people learn the data skills they need

• We connect and support individuals and organisations and projects to create collaborations and make things happen

we are makers

Creating the open infrastructure and tooling to power and support the open ecosystem and innovation

CKAN.org

Data.gov.uk

Data.gov

OpenSpending.org

WhereDoesMyMoneyGo.org

OpenDataCommons.org

Licences used by OpenStreetMap, OpenCorporates, Farm Subsidy and more

OKFNLabs.org

Europe’s Energy

Timemapper.org

we bring people together & advise & campaign & collaborate

Meetups and workshops – online and offline

Key convening events such as the first international Open Government Data Camp in 2010

Direct technical and legal contributions to a large number of projects and initiatives in dozens of countries around the world, shaping essential policies at the World Bank, US, UK, French, Finnish, Brazilian governments

OKFN.org/WG

OKFN.org/local

OKFestival.org

we help people learn

Learning through doing at datathons & hackathons - online and offlineOpen materialsPartnerships around the world

Schoolofdata.org

ES.schoolofdata.org

escoladedados.org

Data Expeditions

OpenDataHandbook.org

OpenDataHandbook.org

Datajournalismhandbook.org

So… Open knowledge empowers people

• But it’s not a magic bullet

• We need: tools, communities, skills

• And we need access to data

The data revolutionThe 21st century as information age

• Data is everywhere

• Data is powerful (especially when it’s shared openly!)

• But it shouldn’t all be open data

Data about me• A lot of the data which could help me improve my life is

data about me

• This data might be gathered directly by me or harvested

by corporations from what I do online, or assembled by

public sector services I use, or voluntarily contributed to

scientific and other research studies, or…

• There’s a lot of it. I don’t even know what’s out there

My data / our data

• Who collects it?

• Who moves it around or stores it?

• Who licenses it?

• Who uses it? And for what?

• Who controls what happens to it?

• Who is the data about?

Whose information is it anyway?

Warning: non-trivial!

• Data ownership

• Data control

• Individual awareness

• Privacy

• This isn’t an open data debate: it’s a data debate!

Personal data becoming open data

• Important datasets that are (or could be) open are

created from personal data via aggregation,

anonymisation, etc

• By personal choice

• Through the public record

Summary

• If it’s a shared good, commons-style data: open it

• If it’s personal information: think hard

• (It’s not about opening everything)

• Open is not anti-business!

Conclusion

The 21st century knowledge society should be an open knowledge society

Knowledge is power;Open Knowledge is empowerment

@OKFN http://OKFN.org