Web 2.0 and Official Statistics: The UK Perspective Alan Smith
the internet is here to stay… map of selected portion of the internet (Britt, 2005) …but it is evolving…
change driven by users…
enabled by technology…
Web 2.0 is about collaboration but, even for the public sector…?
?
Matt Raymond, Library of Congress “From the library’s perspective, this pilot project is a statement about the power of the Web and user communities to help people better acquire information, knowledge and – most importantly – wisdom”
Web 2.0 and Statistics Producers… Source: Jessica Gardner, UNECE (2008)
the UK Perspective “Today the most successful websites are those that bring together content created by the people who use them” “Over the next few months we will be embedding data mash-up into thinking across all of government” Tom Watson MP Minister for Transformational Government Cabinet Office
“The Power of Information” taskforce the UK Perspective “The Power of Information” taskforce http://powerofinformation.wordpress.com/ = there is no option to stand still
new opportunities…
“statistics.gov.uk” statistics gov - the right channel? web 2.0 PIC – BBC edition,1st 24 hours PIC – ONS launch Jedi PIC – ONS normal web 1.0 daily hits 200,000 100,000
Web 2.0 CAN be a vehicle for expertise Is it so hard to imagine ONS – or its users - using these techniques?…
AJAX/RIA = the maturing browser
new tools for working
UK civil servants can even BLOG
Risks “The Cult of the Amateur” Andrew Keene (2007) Credibility and authority of official statistics Access for people with disabilities Employee access to online tools Cultural issues – lack of a strategy …
Towards a progressive web strategy for ONS A ‘future of the web’ strategy endorsed by national statistician and directors Alignment with ‘Power of Information’ philosophy A decision to embrace Web 2.0 : development of an API dedicated data visualisation centre for presenting outputs = being smarter and more efficient in our approach …an example
Being smarter and more efficient… An Application Programming Interface (API) for ONS Statistics
Silo Based Development Not good for us… Not good for our users
Remove the silos……
Join it up… API API
And consider the wider opportunities.. External Access (web 2.0) API OGDs API
Further reading…
? alan.smith@ons.gov.uk