We partnered with our colleagues at the Sunlight Foundation and discussed how to effect community impact with open data, sharing best practices and lessons learned from our experiences working with cities. Through our development of the do-it-yourself open data toolkit and our 4-step cluster model approach, which posits problem framing as the key to effective engagement around data, change in […]
Canadian cities are becoming more open, whether through the growing volume of publicly available datasets, more interactive and data-driven forms of civic engagement, or principles like ‘open by default’ that set new standards for openness. Historically, these data governance reforms have been propelled by the open data movement. However, we are increasingly seeing interventions coming […]
Read More… from Fostering Collaboration Between the Open Data and Civic Tech Movements in Canada
In collaboration with the Open Data Charter Secretariat, OpenNorth interviewed city managers, local civic leaders, and elected officials from four cities in Canada, the Province of Ontario, and three cities around the world (Buenos Aires, Argentina; Lviv, Ukraine; Durham, NC, USA) to identify barriers to adoption of open data for governments and how support future […]
Read More… from Making Cities Open by Default: Lessons from Open Data Pioneers
Legislatures are increasingly attuned to the rhetoric of open data for legislative content like bills and Hansards that dictates it be freely accessible, repurposable, machine-readable, standardized across subregions, and available without licensing restrictions. The call for legislative openness also derives from open data advocates, who seek to apply the rules of open data to unstructured […]
Read More… from Linking legislative openness to open data in Canada
Since 2011, OpenNorth’s mission has been to create open and accountable government. Over the last year, we have shifted our base of impact from the civic tech industry (where we built websites and tools), to operate as an open data social enterprise at different scales, connecting the global open data movement with national and local […]
We’ve wrapped up another successful year, with over 100 cities from 1,000 to 1 million in size, having used our innovative “Citizen Budget” online platform to boost and broaden their budget engagement. 2017 saw a number of innovations. With the aim of maintaining dialogue during its 4 year budget cycle, this year, Grande Prairie utilized […]
Read More… from Leading the Way in Budget Engagement in 2017
Developing and maintaining data standards is difficult, but a necessary step to unlock the potential for open data. To maximise the potential for widespread adoption, new standards initiatives must build upon the success and failure of existing standards. We document our own experiences with Open511, Popolo and Represent to share with the open data community. […]
Read More… from From Development to Adoption: Lessons from Three Open Standards
As Canadian municipalities pursue developing and deploying open and smart city strategies and roadmaps it is suggested in this webinar that there are tools, practices, policies and legislation that can inform and assist public officials in decision making about the deployment of open smart cities and also about the processes and procedures that enable the […]
As private and public bodies become digitally connected, we need data standards to allow technologies to be shared across systems and jurisdictions. Canadians who rely on public transit know how uncomfortable it is to wait outside for a bus on the coldest day of winter. Some Canadians are turning to transit apps that display information […]
Read More… from Open Data Standards Will Improve Public Information