I’m on my way home from the Birmingham Social Media Cafe “Data, Mashups and APIs” event, sponsored by The Guardian.
The purpose of the event was to present a range of ways that open data is being generated, processed and implemented, ranging from maps showing live data on where trains are on a map based on train time information, to lists of how many times the police use tasers in different parts of the country, from the Guardian Data store.
Here’s Christian talking to Michael Brunton-Spal about the Data Store:
Most of the data being showcased at the event was in some way being used to improve accessibility to useful information by the general public, and to advance the democratic process by presenting data in ways that makes it easier for us to hold our various elected bodies to account for what they do on our behalf (particularly, the MySociety suite of sites and services).
Christian talking to Matthew Somerville of MySociety about data, government and FOI requests:
One of the pleasing things about being there with an Amplified hat on (both Christian Payne and I went along) was that the language used about data information was similar to the way that we approach the sharing of ideas at Amplified events. The pooling of intellectual resources in this kind of way can only be a good thing, and it’s great to see The Guardian leading the way in making the information in their data store available for anyone to mash-up, remix, and visualise in whatever way they like (with proper accreditation, of course).
Amplified events are all about digging deeper into ideas, tossing them around, building on each other’s thoughts and processes and documenting those so people outside can benefit and maybe run with a particular project or find collaborators, or inspiration. When people from different networks are exposed to the ideas that have been percolating within each of the groups, all kinds of collaboration of fresh thinking can ensue. That’s what we hope to continue to facilitate.
So many great ideas have come out of the various Amplified events so far, and we’re looking forward to seeing what comes out of the £1.40 conference that we’re holding in November in London - more on that soon!
Here is where you'll find the things that we are working on at the moment.
This could be anything from an unconference to Amplifying an event to helping to start a conversation.
Open Data, Open Ideas
(written by Steve on the train, late last night)
I’m on my way home from the Birmingham Social Media Cafe “Data, Mashups and APIs” event, sponsored by The Guardian.
The purpose of the event was to present a range of ways that open data is being generated, processed and implemented, ranging from maps showing live data on where trains are on a map based on train time information, to lists of how many times the police use tasers in different parts of the country, from the Guardian Data store.
Here’s Christian talking to Michael Brunton-Spal about the Data Store:
Most of the data being showcased at the event was in some way being used to improve accessibility to useful information by the general public, and to advance the democratic process by presenting data in ways that makes it easier for us to hold our various elected bodies to account for what they do on our behalf (particularly, the MySociety suite of sites and services).
Christian talking to Matthew Somerville of MySociety about data, government and FOI requests:
One of the pleasing things about being there with an Amplified hat on (both Christian Payne and I went along) was that the language used about data information was similar to the way that we approach the sharing of ideas at Amplified events. The pooling of intellectual resources in this kind of way can only be a good thing, and it’s great to see The Guardian leading the way in making the information in their data store available for anyone to mash-up, remix, and visualise in whatever way they like (with proper accreditation, of course).
Amplified events are all about digging deeper into ideas, tossing them around, building on each other’s thoughts and processes and documenting those so people outside can benefit and maybe run with a particular project or find collaborators, or inspiration. When people from different networks are exposed to the ideas that have been percolating within each of the groups, all kinds of collaboration of fresh thinking can ensue. That’s what we hope to continue to facilitate.
So many great ideas have come out of the various Amplified events so far, and we’re looking forward to seeing what comes out of the £1.40 conference that we’re holding in November in London - more on that soon!