People used to check the weather. Now they immerse themselves in it.
Specialized channels and websites offer far more information than temperature highs and lows and the risk of rain. Today, they tell us about ski conditions in the winter and pollen counts in the summer.
They warn us about the risk of frostbite, or sunburn. And they hold our attention longer by sharing home video of tornado near-misses and spectacular lightning shows.
The creators of modern weather content have brilliantly constructed a business on the reams of free weather information churned out by governments around the world.
It’s exactly what we want to achieve with open data: they’ve taken this resource, added value to it and served it back in a way that better informs the decisions consumers make in their day.
It is a much richer, more satisfying user experience.
None of this wonderful chemistry happens without a vigorous conversation among governments that have data, entrepreneurs who want to do something with it, and consumers who crave more useful information in their lives and less junk.
Just this sort of dialogue 20 years ago moved the Internet from being a clumsily searchable repository of information, to what it is today — Web 2.0, a multi-layered, dynamic space that holds remarkable sway over how we work and socialize.
Open data is at the 1.0 stage. Canada’s Open Data Exchange exists to push it up, to get more conversations going of the kind that turned bulk weather statistics into a media industry employing hundreds in Canada.
Governments began answering the demand for open data as a demonstration of commitment to transparency and accountability. But that’s not the end of the conversation; it’s the start.
There is so much more to open data than better democracy. By having an open dialogue about open data we are bound to raise as many questions as we answer.
How do governments pick the datasets they release? What kind of information can the private sector turn into useful, saleable products? What are the critical problems around accessibility, standardization and machine-readable content that open-data partners need to address?
Big, societal changes — horse-drawn carriages to self-driving cars, searchable data to online lives — come out of inquiring minds representing many different interests, all passionate about continuous improvement.
Open Data brings its share of opportunities and problems. Like the weather, it certainly gives us something to talk about.
Kevin Tuer is Managing Director of Canada’s Open Data Exchange.
