Don't forget that Open Data Camp – the weekend ‘unconference’ entirely devoted to open data will be in Belfast, on October 21 & 22, 2017. The team behind it are releasing batches of tickets and the last lot went in six minutes! So set your reminders for Weds 16th August at 7pm when the next batch are out.
Today is International Beer day. I got a nice reminder of that in my timeline from @ BenibenTW who reminded me of the Beer section of the OpenFoodFacts site. Drink beer and create open data! Win. Win. It also reminded me of Nathon Yua's Multivariate beer experiment from a few years ago which I'd forgotten had R script with it. An R project to try whilst drinking beer. win.win.win.
Last week I mentioned a blog post by Sally Kerr about her experiences with data over the last five years. Well, you can read part 2 of that post - You can’t get there from here- which asks us to consider open data as part of a bigger ecosystem.
Walk past a bench on the way to work? Sit on a bench in a nice spot for lunch? If it has an inscription, why not add it to openbenches.org. Great project.
A tip of the hat to Sid Ryan AKA @FOIA_Fighter who pointed out a big 'data dump' from the UK government - 103,909 items! There's the usual; mixed bag but a big pot to explore. That in turn was via @Megan_Lucero who leads the Bureau Local, a local data journalism project. If you don't know about the great work they do, or want to catch up on what they've been up to try their latest round-up.
The Welcome trust have been outlining their new policy on sharing research data - It essentially broadens their policy on sharing funded research outcomes and is pretty broad ranging. If you apply to Welcome for funding, you better have a good plan for being open (and a better reason for not being)
...Proving the value of being open with your research (academic paper klaxon) there's some new research that looks at The Cost(s) of Geospatial Open Data. There are no earth shattering conclusions but it's a good journey through the issues.
Co:Design think that the Most Crucial Design Job Of The Future will be Data Ethnographer - "the study of the data that feeds technology, looking at it from a cultural perspective as well as a data science perspective"
More immediate issues in the use of data are addressed by a new tool for journalists (and others) making ethical decisions about using data. The Utrecht Data School has developed Data Ethics Decision Aid, or DEDA. The aim is to move from a 'feels' approach to ethics, to something more systematic. There are some great resources to explore too.
In a similar vein, a new program wants to help more people in news orgs — beyond journalists — get literate with data. A collaboration between TNBLabs, the MIT Center for Civic Media, and the Engagement Lab at Emerson College, the Data Culture Project is designed to help nonprofit organizations expand data literacy to more of their staff and leadership. Its from the people who developed databasic.io/ so one to keep an eye on.
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Over on his blog, Leigh Dodds is in storyteller mode, with a parable on the challenges of 'data intermediaries' and strong data leadership; “The Rock Thane”, an open data parable. Also worth a look are Leigh's reflections on his (real life) experience of dealing with organisations and how they keep consumers in the loop using their own data.
If ever there was a modern parable in the making, the Trump Administration would be a shoe-in. The seeming 'war on open data' was more 'cold' than all out and Alex Howard's notes from a roundtable on open data at the White House highlight where things are at. At the same time it's a useful temperature take on open data and open government data in the US. Worth a look.
Benjamin Cooley is a data journalist and digital dabbler doing his Masters in Digital Journalism at Goldsmitsh. He's written a post outlining what he learned from writing, coding and designing his longform interactive piece The Network of Lifetime. A great piece of reflection and process.
Academic Klaxon alert
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If ever a bit of data needed scraping and visualising....
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