Open Data Promotion Consortium

Noboru Koshizuka,

Chair Person, Technical Committee

Open Data Promotion Consortium

Activities of Technical Committee in the Fiscal 2013

December 9, 2013Open Data Symposium

Members

Chair Person ： Noboru Koshizuka

(Professor, the University of Tokyo)

Sub Chair Person ： Hideaki Takeda

(Professor, National Institute of Information) Committee Member ： Akihiro Nakao

(Associate Professor, the University of Tokyo) Committee Member ： Kenji Hiramoto

(Executive Advisor for Chief Information Officer / Ministry

of Economy, Trade and Industry) Committee Member ： Yoshiaki Fukami

(Visiting Researcher, Keio University

Object of Activities of Technical Committee

Consideration of Significance of Technical Standards Required for the Promotion of Open Data

(1) Consideration of Technical Specifications for Distribution of Open Data

Normal Data Standards Description Model for Open Data Vocabulary for Describing Open Data

Standard API Rules for Standard Methods for Acquisition & Exchange of

Open Data (2) Consideration for International Standardization

ITU-T, W3C, …. (3) Consideration of Systems for Long Term

Operation of Open Data

3

Plan of Consideration for 3 Years 1st Year 2nd Year 3rd Year

Basic Principle for Consideratio

n

Consideration of Standard Specifications & Preparation

of Standardization

Examination of Standard Specifications & Consideration of

Standardization Activities

Examination of Standard Specifications &

Standardization Activities

Major Points for Consi-deration

(1) Consideration of Standard Specifications based on the Draft(Selection of Items to be Standardized)

(2) Survey on Trends of Standardization

(3) Consideration of System for Standardization Activities

(1) Examination of Standard Specifications ∙ Response to Technical Requirements from Data Governance Committee & Utilization / Dissemination Committee ∙ Improvement of Standard Specifications based on Actual Open Data

(2) Consideration of 　　 Technical Materials & Tools in Connection with Standard Specifications (Users’ Guides, Operation System, etc.) (3) Progress Report on Standardization Activities & Discussion

(1) Continuation of Improvement of Standard Specifications

(2) Examination of 　　 Technical Materials & Tools Connected to Standard Specifications (incl. Operation based on the Consideration Results) (3) Progress Report on Standardization Activities and Discussion

Major Achievements in the Fiscal 2012

5

１． Outline

6

Date Title Outline

2012.10.241st Technical Committee Mtg.

Discussed the Operation and Mission of the Committee, and others.

2013.01.092nd Technical Committee Mtg.

Discussed points of issues of the Committee.

Discussed advanced trends of vocabularies, etc.

2013.01.283rd Technical Committee Mtg.

Discussed the technical guide for data preparation for the open data system.

Reported overseas investigation including NIEM.

Reported international standardization trend, etc.

2013.03.213rd E-Government Open Data Working Level Meeting

Reported the approach & proposal of the Tech. Committee.

Proposed the technical requirements for data formation for open data, Technical Guide for Open Data Realization, draft CSV Data Standards for Open Data Realization, draft Specifications for Infrastructure Development for Collaboration for Data Circulation together with technical proposals for open data.

2013.06.034th Technical Committee Mtg.

Reported the case studies for Specifications for Infrastructure Development for Collaboration for Data Circulation.

Discussed the TC Report of Activities of 2012 and the Proposed TC Activities of 2013, etc.

2. Achievements Preparation of 3 Technical documents

Technical Guide for Data Preparation for Open Data Realization (*1)

CSV Data Standards for Open Data Realization (*2)

Specifications for Infrastructure Development for Collaboration for Data Circulation (2012 version) (*3)

Implemented “Call for Comments”

(*1) and(*2) were proposed to “the E-Government Open Data Working Level Meeting”. The article of “Numerics (Table), Sentences, Points to

Note for Data Preparation for Geospatial Information (the Guideline is attached)” (*4) was based on the documents the Technical Committee presented.

7

(*1) See the 3rd TC Ref. 3-4 http://www.opendata.gr.jp/committee/technical/documents.php(*2) See the 3rd TC Ref. 3-6 http://www.opendata.gr.jp/committee/technical/documents.php(*3) See the 4th TC Ref. 2-4 http://www.opendata.gr.jp/committee/technical/documents.php(*4) http://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/singi/it2/info/h250524-g2.pdf

Proposal to the E-Government Open Data Working Level Meeting

The Technical Committee proposes followings based on the consideration made so far. We hope you could use them as reference, taking account of trials made by other government organizations, for legislation of promotion of open data to be discussed in the E-Government Open Data Working Level Meeting.

For your consideration of data structure and format for transforming the existing data in tabular or document formats, geographical data and real-time data to be used for open data, we suggest to consult the draft Technical Guides and draft Specifications which have been considered by the Technical Committee.

For your consideration of the API where the government is to post the open data, and high specification data format, it is advised to refer to the “1st version (Draft) of Specifications for Infrastructure Development for Collaboration for Data Circulation (2012)” which was discussed and prepared by the Technical Committee.

For realization of open data of the government-owned information, it is indispensable to prepare the data disclosure policy and guidelines for ensuring the data reliability in addition to rule setting of formats. The environment consolidation including the preparation of manuals and tool templates as well as staff training is another requirement. Your parallel consideration for these matters is highly appreciated.

8

Source ： 3rd E-Government Open Data Working Level Meeting, “Approach & Proposal of Open Data Promotion Consortium, Mar. 21, 2013

3. Items Undertaken Survey of Existing Open-Data Technology and Organization

TC surveyed existing data formats and APIs and cases in the world, and prepared the usage guidelines and considered issues. Although there exist element technologies for open data, concrete guidelines

and best practices are yet to be available. The regulation setting in the upper hierarchy including use of vocabularies,

codes, IDs and identifiers etc. is essential. Preparation of Technical Documents

“Technical Guide for Data Preparation for Open Data Realization” The guide which prescribes technical requirements for transforming data

possessed by the government, local authorities, businesses etc. into open data as well as procedures for its realization to ensure the usage of wide range of applications and services.

“CSV Data Standards for Open Data Realization” TC noted the CSV format as an appropriate data format to satisfy the above-

mentioned Technical Guides’ requirements, and set up the rules and formats for data description. 　

“Specifications for Infrastructure Development for Collaboration for Data Circulation (2012)”

TC provided SPARQL-standards-based and REST-based APIs, as well as vocabularies to be used for the system development for open data.

TC provided them for the verification of the Infrastructure Development for Collaboration for Data Circulation in 2012, and implemented case studies

9

Major Activities in the Fiscal 2013

10

1. Technical Guide for Data Preparation for Open Data Realization

11

Background and Objectives Background

Promotion of Open Data by the Government and Local Authorities

Practical Guide for Open Data is Indispensable. “Technical Guides for Data Preparation for Open Data

Realization”

by Open Data Promotion Consortium “Numerics (Table), Sentence, Points to Note for Data

Preparation for Geospatial Information” (E-Government Open Data Working Level Meeting)

Objectives Production of User-Friendly Guides for Staff of the

Government and Local Authorities for the Operation of Open Data based on

the Achievement Made in Fiscal 2012. 12

Principles of Guide Preparation Meaning of Guide

Instruction Manual to Explain the Technical Background of Open Data and Procedures of Realization of Open Data

Principles of Guide Preparation Aiming at Accessible Introductory Book that Shows

Steps to Take by Each Type of Data for Realization of Open Data. So-Called “Beginners’ Manual”

Collecting An Array of Useful Tools for Open Data, and Listing in the Guide.

13

2. Improvement of Specifications for Infrastructure Development for Collaboration for Data Circulation

14

Meaning

It Shows “Technical Reference” for Registering and Utilizing Open Data such as Construction Methods of Applications and Servers, etc.

It Consists of API Standard and Data Standard (including Vocabulary Standard).

15

Items for Improvement Vocabulary

Systematization of Vocabularies Prepared in the Fiscal 2012, and Additions to the Specifications.

Consistency with IMI (by METI and IPA). API

Additions of Items Related to Security Examination of Consistency with Linked Data as well as Platform Review of Data Format of JSON Format (Transition to JSON-

LD Format) Additions of Peripheral Tool Development Methods for Open

Data Promotion in a Separate Volume Tools and Manuals for Data Users and Application

Developers Library Middle-Wares, etc.

Tools and Manuals for Data Holders Software for Data Compilation and Data Conversion,

etc. 16

Wisdom Earned in the Past One Year

17

Wisdom We faced “diversity” in various scenes.

Responsible Organizations Government, Local Authorities, Public Enterprises, Private

Businesses, Schools and Educational Institutions, ..... Technical Level of Staff Concerned

People Highly Conversant with Semantic Web, etc. to Complete

Laymen about ICT License Model

Perception of Conversion Perception of Responsibility

Business Model Completely Free of Charge to Chargeable Service

Technology has been advancing. Conversion to new technology is in progress in terms of

data and API as well.

How should Technical Committee do ?

18

Proposal of Open Data Declaration

19

Proposal of Open Data Declaration We propose Open Data Promotion Consortium

draft “Declaration of Promotion of Open Data”.

(Example) Open Data Promotion Consortium declares following five

principles for the promotion of open data in Japan. Making data with public nature open to the society is a

part of social duties. Importance of data’s timeliness (time), correctness

(quality), and comprehensiveness (volume). Provision of data in machine-readable (easiness of

program description) format. Provision of data in licenses easy to use. Thereby improving governance in the public sector, and

promoting innovation in the private sector.20