Observations and Recommendations: on the Republic of Ireland Open Data Strategy (Working Paper 3)

1. Introduction - Context The Republic of Ireland Department of Public Expenditures and Reform (DPER) launched its first Open Data Portal data.gov.ie on July 22nd. It also conducted three public consultations, one with public sector bodies on September 22nd, and later on September 8th with civil society organizations and the public, while also accepting responses and recommendations by email. Open Data in the Republic is being led and coordinated by the DPER Government Reform Unit and the Chief Information Officer. The new CKAN portal was created by Insight Galway and it marks an important milestone toward meeting the following government objectives to: • enhance openness and transparency, • strengthen public governance and • yield economic benefits. The following are the information products delivered by Insight at National University of Ireland at Galway (NUIG): 1. Best Practice Handbook 2. Data Audit Report 3. Roadmap 4. Evaluation Framework 5. Open Data Publication Handbook Information products were delivered as per the DPER Request for Tender (RfT) and according to the following high level requirements: • Provide advice and support to facilitate the implementation of key objectives and actions related to the Open Data initiative. • Identify and align with national requirements best practice and international standards for Open Data; • Help specify short- , medium- and long-term objectives for Open Data in Ireland; • Identify potential opportunities for Ireland to design its Open Data drawing on the experience of what has worked and has not worked in other jurisdictions and also drawing on the scope for positively differentiating Open Data in Ireland; • Establish an inventory of datasets currently available in the public domain as well as assist in identifying priority areas for the publication of datasets in the future; and • Develop a roadmap for how Ireland could achieve its objectives in the area of Open Data. In the spirit of collaboration and openness, after the July 22nd launch the DPER solicited input on the following questions from public sector bodies that have expertise and a stake in the initiative: • What do you see as the priorities for Open Data and next steps? • Any issues/concerns that need to be addressed in standardisation and publication of data? • How we would maintain this type of group going forward given the level of expertise and experience in the room today – maybe meet as a Forum 3 times a year? • Indicate whether you are willing to participate in a smaller group and work in an engaged way to support DPER on particular aspects and on the development of an Open Data strategy in the coming months? • How we should engage with civil society, business interests and other users to ensure we focus our attention on high value datasets that will be used so that potential economic, social and political benefits can be realised? Finally, the DPER solicited input from the public but unfortunately submissions were to be made to an email address in lieu of an open forum whereby others could see who and what was submitted. This launch marks a turning point in Ireland’s open data story which was sketched out in the 1st of this 3 part series on Open Data and Open Government. This milestone affirms Ireland’s international commitment to the Open Government Partnership (OGP) and it is also a precondition for Ireland’s ability to sign onto the G8 Open Data Charter whereby signatories commit to: • Open Data by Default • Quality and Quantity • Useable by All • Releasing Data for Improved Governance • Releasing Data for Innovation OGP membership, signing onto the G8 Charter and the launch of the Open Data portal, are positive steps toward the advancement of public sector reform and Minister Howlin, DPER and Insight are to be lauded for moving this plan forward. The rest of this paper examines the DPER Open Data plan, the DPER/Insight portal, research documents, their recommendations and provides answers to a series of questions DPER officials posed after the July 22, 2014 public sector consultations. It is also The Programmable City Project submission to the DPER Open Data Consultation

Observations and Recommendations: on the Republic of Ireland Open Data Strategy (Working Paper 3)

1. Introduction - Context The Republic of Ireland Department of Public Expenditures and Reform (DPER) launched its first Open Data Portal data.gov.ie on July 22nd. It also conducted three public consultations, one with public sector bodies on September 22nd, and later on September 8th with civil society organizations and the public, while also accepting responses and recommendations by email. Open Data in the Republic is being led and coordinated by the DPER Government Reform Unit and the Chief Information Officer. The new CKAN portal was created by Insight Galway and it marks an important milestone toward meeting the following government objectives to: • enhance openness and transparency, • strengthen public governance and • yield economic benefits. The following are the information products delivered by Insight at National University of Ireland at Galway (NUIG): 1. Best Practice Handbook 2. Data Audit Report 3. Roadmap 4. Evaluation Framework 5. Open Data Publication Handbook Information products were delivered as per the DPER Request for Tender (RfT) and according to the following high level requirements: • Provide advice and support to facilitate the implementation of key objectives and actions related to the Open Data initiative. • Identify and align with national requirements best practice and international standards for Open Data; • Help specify short- , medium- and long-term objectives for Open Data in Ireland; • Identify potential opportunities for Ireland to design its Open Data drawing on the experience of what has worked and has not worked in other jurisdictions and also drawing on the scope for positively differentiating Open Data in Ireland; • Establish an inventory of datasets currently available in the public domain as well as assist in identifying priority areas for the publication of datasets in the future; and • Develop a roadmap for how Ireland could achieve its objectives in the area of Open Data. In the spirit of collaboration and openness, after the July 22nd launch the DPER solicited input on the following questions from public sector bodies that have expertise and a stake in the initiative: • What do you see as the priorities for Open Data and next steps? • Any issues/concerns that need to be addressed in standardisation and publication of data? • How we would maintain this type of group going forward given the level of expertise and experience in the room today – maybe meet as a Forum 3 times a year? • Indicate whether you are willing to participate in a smaller group and work in an engaged way to support DPER on particular aspects and on the development of an Open Data strategy in the coming months? • How we should engage with civil society, business interests and other users to ensure we focus our attention on high value datasets that will be used so that potential economic, social and political benefits can be realised? Finally, the DPER solicited input from the public but unfortunately submissions were to be made to an email address in lieu of an open forum whereby others could see who and what was submitted. This launch marks a turning point in Ireland’s open data story which was sketched out in the 1st of this 3 part series on Open Data and Open Government. This milestone affirms Ireland’s international commitment to the Open Government Partnership (OGP) and it is also a precondition for Ireland’s ability to sign onto the G8 Open Data Charter whereby signatories commit to: • Open Data by Default • Quality and Quantity • Useable by All • Releasing Data for Improved Governance • Releasing Data for Innovation OGP membership, signing onto the G8 Charter and the launch of the Open Data portal, are positive steps toward the advancement of public sector reform and Minister Howlin, DPER and Insight are to be lauded for moving this plan forward. The rest of this paper examines the DPER Open Data plan, the DPER/Insight portal, research documents, their recommendations and provides answers to a series of questions DPER officials posed after the July 22, 2014 public sector consultations. It is also The Programmable City Project submission to the DPER Open Data Consultation

Towards critical data studies: Charting and unpacking data assemblages and their work. The Programmable City Working Paper 2

Pre-print version of chapter to be published in Eckert, J., Shears, A. and Thatcher, J. (eds) Geoweb and Big Data. University of Nebraska Press. Abstract The growth of big data and the development of digital data infrastructures raises numerous questions about the nature of data, how they are being produced, organized, analyzed and employed, and how best to make sense of them and the work they do. Critical data studies endeavours to answer such questions. This paper sets out a vision for critical data studies,building on the initial provocations of Dalton and Thatcher (2014). It is divided into three sections. The first details the recent step change in the production and employment of data and how data and databases are being reconceptualised. The second forwards the notion of a data assemblage that encompasses all of the technological, political, social and economic apparatuses and elements that constitutes and frames the generation, circulation and deployment of data. Drawing on the ideas of Michel Foucault and Ian Hacking it is posited that one way to enact critical data studies is to chart and unpack data assemblages. The third starts to unpack some the ways that data assemblages do work in the world with respect to dataveillance and the erosion of privacy, profiling and social sorting, anticipatory governance, and secondary uses and control creep. The paper concludes by arguing for greater conceptual work and empirical research to underpin and flesh out critical data studies

Crowdsourcing: A Geographic Approach to Public Engagement, The Programmable City Working Paper 6

In this paper we examine three geographic crowdsourcing models, namely: volunteered geographic information (VGI), citizen science (CS) and participatory mapping (PM) (Goodchild, 2007; Audubon Society, 1900; and Peluso, 1995). We argue that these geographic knowledge producing practices can be adopted by governments to keep databases up to date (Budhathoki et al., 2008), to gain insight about natural resources (Conrad and Hilchey, 2011), to better understand the socio-economy of the people it governs (Johnston and Sieber, 2013) and as a form of data-based public engagement. The paper will be useful to governments and public agencies considering using geographic crowdsourcing in the future. We begin by defining VGI, CS, PM and crowdsourcing. Two typologies are then offered as methods to conceptualize these practices and the Kitchin (2014) data assemblage framework is proposed as a method by which state actors can critically examine their data infrastructures. A selection of exemplary VGI, CS and PM from Canada and the Republic of Ireland are discussed and the paper concludes with some high level recommendations for administrations considering a geographic approach to crowdsourcing

Crowdsourcing: A Geographic Approach to Public Engagement, The Programmable City Working Paper 6

In this paper we examine three geographic crowdsourcing models, namely: volunteered geographic information (VGI), citizen science (CS) and participatory mapping (PM) (Goodchild, 2007; Audubon Society, 1900; and Peluso, 1995). We argue that these geographic knowledge producing practices can be adopted by governments to keep databases up to date (Budhathoki et al., 2008), to gain insight about natural resources (Conrad and Hilchey, 2011), to better understand the socio-economy of the people it governs (Johnston and Sieber, 2013) and as a form of data-based public engagement. The paper will be useful to governments and public agencies considering using geographic crowdsourcing in the future. We begin by defining VGI, CS, PM and crowdsourcing. Two typologies are then offered as methods to conceptualize these practices and the Kitchin (2014) data assemblage framework is proposed as a method by which state actors can critically examine their data infrastructures. A selection of exemplary VGI, CS and PM from Canada and the Republic of Ireland are discussed and the paper concludes with some high level recommendations for administrations considering a geographic approach to crowdsourcing

Data Access in Canada: civicaccess.ca

Movência e imagologia : percursos macaenses de Ondina Braga e das suas personagen

Geospatial Data Preservation Prime

This primer is one in a series of Operational Policy documents being developed by GeoConnections. It is intended to inform Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI) stakeholders about the nature and scope of digital geospatial data archiving and preservation and the realities, challenges and good practices of related operational policies. Burgeoning growth of online geospatial applications and the deluge of data, combined with the growing complexity of archiving and preserving digital data, has revealed a significant gap in the operational policy coverage for the Canadian geospatial data infrastructure (CGDI). Currently there is no commonly accepted guidance for CGDI stakeholders wishing or mandated to preserve their geospatial data assets for long-term access and use. More specifically, there is little or no guidance available to inform operational policy decisions on how to manage, preserve and provide access to a digital geospatial data collection. The preservation of geospatial data over a period of time is especially important when datasets are required to inform modeling applications such as climate change impact predictions, flood forecasts and land use management. Furthermore, data custodians may have both a legal and moral responsibility to implement effective archiving and preservation programs. Based on research and analysis of the Canadian legislative framework and current international practices in digital data archiving and preservation, this primer provides guidance on the factors to be considered and the steps to be taken in planning and implementing a data archiving and preservation program. It describes an approach to establishing a geospatial data archives based on good practices from the literature and Canadian case studies. This primer will provide CGDI stakeholders with information on how to incorporate archiving and preservation considerations into an effective data management process that covers the entire life cycle (DCC, 2013) (LAC, 2006) of their geospatial data assets (i.e., creation and receipt, distribution, use, maintenance, and disposition. It is intended to inform CGDI stakeholders on the importance of long term data preservation, and provide them with the information and tools required to make policy decisions for creating an archives and preserving digital geospatial data

Understanding spatial media

Over the past decade a new set of spatial and locative technologies have been rolled out, including online, interactive mapping tools with accompanying application programming interfaces (APIs), interactive virtual globes, user-generated spatial databases and mapping systems, locative media, urban dashboards and citizen reporting geo-systems; and geodesign and architectural and planning tools. In addition, social media produces spatial (meta)data that can be analysed geographically. These technologies, their practices, and the effects they engender have been referred to in a number of ways, including the geoweb, neogeography, volunteered geographic information (VGI), and locative media, which collectively constitute spatial media. This chapter untangles and defines these terms before setting out the transformative effects of spatial media with respect to some fundamental geographic and social concepts: spatial data/information; mapping; space and spatiality; mobility, spatial practices and spatial imaginaries; and knowledge politics. We conclude by setting out some questions for further consideration