OpenData - DatosAbiertos.org - Open Data in the developing world?
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Facilitated by Evan Henshaw-Plath, protest.net
Session Description
Discussing a project to create a portal of open data for Latin America. DatosAbiertos.org is a work in progress to adapt the sunlight foundation's national data catalog to publish and track open data in Uruguay and Argentina.
Session Notes
- I've been scraping government data, and the government agencies are using my data sets because I release it as a spreadsheet and it's easier that using their databases
- Law in SF requiring meta data to be released with all data sets
- Building datasets from journalists. Things that they have dug up rather than relying on governments
- In south america, free software movement is very strong
- Many governments have laws requiring them to use open source software, or prefer it
- They have to justify using not-free software
- A lot of it is based on nationalist or anti-imperialist arguments
- In the first world, the dialog has been more about open data
- Recently, a number of activists have gotten open data laws passed
- But there is no implementation
- No definition of what "release" means
- Individual sys admins and programmers have been taking data they have access to and uploading it
- There is data which geocoded every tree in Montevideo. Exact location and type of tree
- There is an agency in Montevideo that tracks prices of every product sold in supermarkets.
- Rabble will post the link
- Sunlight foundation made a catalog: National Data Catalog
- Adapted it for South America
- It took two people two months
- If you wanted to do it again it would probably take a week
- Where is the best level to get this data? Municipal? State?
- In Latin America, probably municipal because it's easier to connect to people
- It really depends on the country
- Normalizing data is a big issue. Even internally to an agency.
- There is common ID systems for contractors
- The mapping agency, the first thing they release were their maps as pdfs. But they they followed up with a posgis data dump
- Because there is a Value Added Tax, each company has a unique ID
- Each person has an ID number (from residents to passports). Having dictatorships are good for tracking people.
- When you don't have concerns about privacy, it's great for unique ids and tracking people
- Semantic media wiki
- Crowdsourcing landlord data in New York
- Have people submit who they send their rent check to
- The Guardian in the UK has been doing a lot of work to collect and release data
- Geocoding
- Run your own geocoder
- Called Geocoder
- It's on Github
- Once you get the data out, who are your allies to actually push it for application?
- In Uruguay, we work with two groups. Friends of the Earth started daily newspaper. They added the concept of home delivery which didn't exist before.
- There is a difference between having data and open licensed
- Wikileaks. The data is there but if you use it the pentagon might not be happy
- In Uruguay, we've had the mapping data for years because the techies were happy to give it to their friends. But once the laws changed it was possible
- Each country in Latin America is different. But there are some general trends
- In Argentina, it's clear that the government data that is released on the economy is totally fake
- In Uruguay, there release their entire dataset, so it's easy to check the inflation rate
- If you say inflation is based on only locally produced products, it looks like inflation is much lower than reality
- Brazil has fantastic laws
- They are about to pass a low on internet and intellectual freedoms.
- Most laws say what you can't do, they are pushing a really forward set of laws
- For crisis situations, people will go to Geo Eyes (who have a satellite)
- Google's satellite imagery is freely available to build derivative works
- Eventually the world bank took higher res imagery of Haiti, and that's what
- Open Areal Map project
- Helping folks build their own drones (there is a group in the Bay Area doing this)
- Look up Chris Anderson and Areal Drones
- The Gulf after the oil spill
- All the plans and details are open
- Sometimes getting someone to help you write a Freedom of Information Act request is the best assistance
- Every Block
- Open Block
- Often the data is there, but it is being sold to commercial interests
- Lobbyists wanting to buy legislative data for example
- Often the people in organizations who actually deal with the data every day are techies and want the data to get out
- They can be big allies
- In Montevideo, a random person built a bus mapping site. Only then did the city finally build their own. But they were resisting that
- Outside of the US, arguing that this is better for outside investment is a good way to convince people to open their data
- Encouraging agencies to provide a contact list and a basic inventory of what data they have
- DataSF: The site for the release of data sets from the city of SF
- In New York, the mayor did a one time big data dump
- There was no guarantee of continued data
- It totally derailed the open data legislation
- Commercial use clauses are a huge problem
- It seriously restricts what you can do with it. Even just using google ads to pay for your server
- Share alike
- Open Knowledge foundation
- Creative Commons has a data license
Summary
- Who you talk to about opening up data, every country and place is different.
- In south america, free software and open data is very strong
- A lot of it is based on nationalist or anti-imperialist arguments
- Many places including the US, there are issues of normalizing data
- But in some parts of South America, each person has an ID number (that follows you from resident papers to passports).
- It turns out having dictatorships are good for structured data.
- Open data projects and transparency are hot right now. It's seen as forward and progressive for government agencies. Now is a good time to push for data you want.
- Often the nerds inside organizations who actually deal with the data every day want the data to get out
- Brazil has an internet rights law in the pipeline that is really forward thinking. If you are doing legislative work take a look.