Helsinki Region InfoshareTOP-5 Open data questions from public agencies

Project Manager Ville MeloniForum Virium Helsinki

22.11.11 - Apps4Finland 2011 – Workshop - Learning to publish and benefit from open data

Agenda of HRI-presentation part

1. Overview of Helsinki Region Infoshare open data pilot

2. TOP-5 topics that public agencies typically raise when discussing open data with them

HRI - Project Overview

11.04.23 Forum Virium Helsinki 3

“Making regional information quickly and easily accessible to all. The information can be used freely at no cost”

To develop a network of

information owners who maintain and

open their data following common

guidelines.

To build a web service through

which the data can be easily found, accessed and

utilised.

Provide information as machine readable ”raw data” which is easy to

utilize in various applications and web-services.

To pilot an open data activity model and its implications to both the

producers and end users of the data.

Timeline, financing, implementation

11.04.23 Forum Virium Helsinki 4

Collaboration with many different organisations to open data i.e. government, other municipalities, municipal organizations, etc.

Financing•Helsinki, Espoo, Vantaa, Kauniainen•Finnish innovation fund (Sitra)•Ministry of Finance

Implementation•Directive board

•City of Helsinki Urban Facts

•Forum Virium Helsinki

Timeline2010-2012 (pilot)

2012- (on-going function)

Collaboration between data producers and developers using that data!

Why open data ?

• Government efficiency

• Business and innovation

• Transparency and democracy

What data is opened ?

1. Statistics and estimates– Urban phenomenon: demographics,

employment, housing, commuting, etc.– Geographical granularity: municipal,

district, grid-level, etc.

2. Geospatial data– Data that supports presentation of

statistical and other data on a map, i.e. district-level shapefiles.

3. Other data– Public services, mass-transportation,

infrastructure related data, etc.

11.04.23 6

HRI-Open data operational model

11.04.23 Forum Virium Helsinki 7

CLEARING HOUSE

END-USERS

DISTRI-BUTION

Public data/producers and sources

HELSINKI REGION INFOSHARE

•Maintenance of the web service•Collecting users feedback •Updating of data catalogs

•Definition of HRI data -criteria, information policy and principles, …, licensing•Support to data providers

Production, maintenance, provision according to agreed rules and legal framework

•Employees of the municipalities •State government•Enterprises •Research and education•Citizens

”www.hri.fi”

”extra.Hri.fi”

•Data Catalogs• (data + metadata)

•Criteria and instructions•Tools to open the data•Feedback

•Data Catalogs

•Feedback on data•Feedback on the service

UTILISATION DISTRIBUTIONOPENING PRODUCTION

PHASED APPROACH

”Easy to find, access and utilize data”

•Maintaining of the metadata. Actual data is hosted elsewhere.•A channel for data users to give feedback and request new data.•Brings visibility to existing data pools and encourages more usage.

Open for all: companies, citizends, municipal administration, research institutions, etc.

www.hri.fi -web-service

www.hri.fi -web-service

Data-search, access, feedback, rating and discussions

News about project progress , experiences from different stakeholders

www.hri.fi -web-service

HRI - Open data publishing process

http://www.hri.fi/fi/nain-julkaiset-dataa-hri-verkkopalveluun/

Lessons learned from public agency visits

TOP-5 topics that public agencies raise when discussing open data

with them

-based on HRI-experiences so far talking with the public agencies

in the Helsinki metropolitan area

Lessons learned from public agency visits

#1 Need to understand direct benefit

Q: “Developers benefit and the society benefits at large, sure…But what’s in it for us right now?”

Lessons learned from public agency visits

#1 Need to understand direct benefit

Q: “Developers benefit and the society benefits at large, sure…But what’s in it for us right now?”

A: Cost savings. Achieving more with less. Driving agency’s key goals. Getting wider, external input to internal development. Doing things that would otherwise be impossible.

Lessons learned from public agency visits

#2 Worry about extra effort (time, money) needed

Q: “Open data starts to sound interesting - but our resources are fully booked now. This probably requires lots of IT-competence etc. Maybe we can start something in 6 months time. And after that we probably need more budget.”

Lessons learned from public agency visits

#2 Worry about extra effort (time, money) needed

Q: “Open data starts to sound interesting - but our resources are fully booked now. This probably requires lots of IT-competence etc. Maybe we can start something in 6 months time. And after that we probably need more budget.”

A: Start piloting with “15 minutes time investment”. Your IT probably already knows how to do it. Further small & quick steps first. Invest more when ROI becomes clearer.

Lessons learned from public agency visits

#3 Nowhere to put the open data (files)

Q: “OK. So we can export public CSV-files out of our database contents to pilot this. Sounds simple. But where do we put the files ? Do you have any storage for us?”

Lessons learned from public agency visits

#3 Nowhere to put the open data (files)

Q: “OK. So we can export public CSV-files out of our database contents to pilot this. Sounds simple. But where do we put the files ? Do you have any storage for us?”

A: How do you publish your existing PDF-files ? Use that same mechanism to get started with piloting. But data-storage and API-hosting issues need to be tackled in the long run.

Lessons learned from public agency visits

#4 Worry of misuse or misunderstanding of the data

Q: “This data is for experts. Heck – even some of our own people have trouble understanding it fully. So what if someone creates a popular application out of the data that misguides the public to believe something that is not true?”

Lessons learned from public agency visits

#4 Worry of misuse or misunderstanding of the data

Q: “This data is for experts. Heck – even some of our own people have trouble understanding it fully. So what if someone creates a popular application out of the data that misguides the public to believe something that is not true?”

A: Describe your data. Provide links to data descriptions. Remind users (developers) to credit the source and provide links to your original data. Many people understand that data is not always perfect and can live with it.

Lessons learned from public agency visits

#5 Worry of data feedback overload

Q: “What if our data is so popular that we get tons of questions and new requests. Who is going to handle that ?”

Lessons learned from public agency visits

#5 Worry of data feedback overload

Q: “What if our data is so popular that we get tons of questions and new requests. Who is going to handle that ?”

A: This probably happens seldom that we think – world is a big place. Encouraging public feedback that everyone can learn from and help each other. Getting (constructive) feedback is a good sign – someone is interested. Use feedback to start a conversation that helps you.

Lessons learned from public agency visits

Other topicsQ: “Do we get the credit for publishing our data ? i.e. is it HRI-data or our (agency) data?”

Q: “We currently sell the data. How do we get compensated if we give it for free?”

Q: “We are worried about the privacy issues. Data we have is very granular. We would need to make it less granular. To what extent do we need to do that?”

Q: “Is there any way that the public can submit us complementing data ?”

…and many more…

Thank you !

www.hri.fisemantic.hri.fihttp://www.facebook.com/helsinkiregioninfoshare

Ville MeloniForum Virium HelsinkiProject Managerville.meloni@forumvirium.fiwww.forumvirium.fi

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nney/139447386/sizes/z/in/photostream/