Building an Open Data Community? DataBC Building an Open Data Community? Loren Mullane, DataBC Evangelist Ministry of Citizens’ Services and Open Government

Demo of how to find and dowload the data in the Catalogue.

Governments collect a lot of data to inform our policy decisions, to design and implement our projects and programs. There is operational data used at the ministry and sectoral level. Enterprise that is shared across ministries and sectors. And Open Data which is shared with members of the public with few limitations on use.

Quality data is the foundation of good decision-making Quality data is the foundation of good decision-making. Good data does not guarantee good decisions, but a lack of data or bad data likely means we make the wrong choices.

Our data matters The data we collect is about stuff that people care about. How good is my kid’s school? How is government spending my tax dollars? What is the air quality in my city?

“Government data is the people’s data.” -Christy Clark Leadership Platform, 2011 Citizens pay for the collection of government data, so they own it. They should be able to find and use government data.

Open Data helps inform citizens’ decisions Open data holds the opportunity of increased citizen engagement at a time when there is a general move away from the public sphere. Open data can help citizens make better decisions, and inform them about why government may be making certain decisions.

Civic Apps School Zone – Get you kid safely to school Global News – Class Sizes in BC

The wisdom of the crowd

Open Source Communities The open data movement has a historical precedent in open source communities who improve software such as WordPress, Firefox and Linux. The principles that drive open source communities can apply equally to open data communities. We recognize there’s many bright people outside government. We want to engage with them and build a community of data users who not only improve government data but also improve government.

How do we build community? Open source does not mean that we as government should be passive data suppliers. Open data will only be a success if people use the data. That is why we need to engage with citizens and build a community of data users.

Being Social We use social media to actively engage and promote the open data program. We have a Twitter account with over 800 followers, and a blog where we tell stories about open data, including about events like today. We are also active in LinkedIn and a Google Discussion Forum run by the Open Data Society of BC, a grassroots organization of citizens passionate about open data.

Curating Opportunities Apps for Climate Change Hackathons GISday – a global event on November 14th. It’s an opportunity to promote data literacy, specifically geographic data literacy. We are working with GeoBC and the Ministry of Education to create educational materials using the province’s geospatial data and tools. Developed for elementary and high-school students, these educational materials will be a great opportunity for B.C. students, teachers, parents, librarians and citizens to explore their province and learn about the value of GIS.

Public libraries Are community platforms We go where the people are. We are not trying to recreate new space. We use Twitter because it is popular with developers and journalists, two groups that are interested in government data. We are here today because we see a natural fit with librarians. People in this room have daily contact with the community and understand what the community wants. We think the educational materials we are creating for GISDay would be something librarians are interested in sharing, but we want to hear from you today on how we can meet the needs of library users.

Contact us: data@gov.bc.ca @data_bc If you are interested in knowing more about DataBC, check out our blog or contact us. We would love to talk to you. You can also reach us by email or on Twitter. Or better yet come and talk to us after the session. Start with an example Drop lead in More examples at end 3 priorities Show data Demo how to find data on the site @data_bc