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Enabling Open Innovation with Open Data using the JValue Open Data Service

Today I gave my JValue Open Data Service talk at USM (University of Sciences, Malaysia, at Penang). I am grateful for the opportunity and the recording.

Abstract: Open data has the potential to create significant practical value for its users through open innovation. Yet, to realize this value, we need an open ecosystem, next to open data, that allows app developers to create that value. In this talk I present my view of this open ecosystem of open data and how it should be structured. I then present the JValue Open Data Service (ODS), an open source software under development at my research group, that provides a key piece of this ecosystem. The goal of the JValue ODS project is to enable open innovation through app developers.

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Open Data: Source of Public Income or Invaluable Common Good?

Not surprisingly, this huddling panel at the 2018 Berlin Open Data Day came to no specific conclusion, just different opinions on business models and who should earn what income.

Some nuggets of insight: Leave it to public institutions to decide for themselves — open data should be freely available, otherwise some commercial business models break down — cities should be neutral to startups and establish collaborations for everyone’s benefit — leave it to companies to generate value from open data and they will give back #muwhaha — don’t monetarize open data at all — if users don’t pay, public institutions won’t have the funds to provide open data — open data should be considered public infrastructure and follow established practices — the data belongs to the public anyway — selling data is too expensive for a city.

In related news, some cheap laughs for public institution bashing from one panelist. Personally, I find this less than helpful.

One amusing quote from another panelist:

In theory, we all agree, in practice, we do not.

I guess more sustainability research is needed.

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Open Data is Moving, Slowly but Surely

I’ve been participating in various workshops and working groups on open data now. It is hard scrabble, but things are moving. Today I participated in a workshop of the open data task force of Bitkom which I am a member of. The highlight of the day was the participation of Saskia Esken who explained some and handled questions and answers on the new open data for government law that is coming up in Germany.

In related news, the task force finished its open data manifest, a collection of quality attributes of what good open data are and what to ask of providers and the government. A small handbook is in work as well.

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Offene Daten und die Deutsche Bahn als Vorbild #opendata #deutschebahn

Die Deutsche Bahn hat letztes Jahr ihr Offene-Daten-Portal (Open Data Portal) ins Web gestellt. Ein erster Schritt und ein wichtiges Angebot, das wahrgenommen werden sollte.

Die Deutsche Bahn ist auch ein Vorbild für Deutschland und Deutsche. Meine Meinung, vereinfacht: Ist die Deutsche Bahn dreckig, fühlt sich Deutschland dreckig; ist die Deutsche Bahn verspätet, bemühen sich Deutsche auch weniger, pünktlich zu Meetings zu kommen.

Die Deutsche Bahn arbeitet zur Zeit stark an Qualitätsverbesserungen, auch als Reaktion auf die Kundenkritik. Was der Deutschen Bahn als erstes unangenehm erscheinen mag (die Kritik) ist aber auch eine Chance: Die Bahn liegt Ihren Kunden weiterhin am Herzen.

Hier kommt dann wieder das Offene-Daten-Portal ins Spiel. Die Deutsche Bahn ist ein großes Unternehmen, aber auch nicht allmächtig. In einen Konzern mit über 500 Tochtergesellschaften und über 2 Milliarden Beförderungen pro Jahr ist viel zu tun. Die offenen Daten der Deutschen Bahn ermöglichen die Entwicklung von innovativen Apps und anderen Diensten durch die Community oder Unternehmen. Mit diesen Apps können Kunden, Partner und auch die Deutsche Bahn einen Beitrag leisten, dass sich Reisende weiterhin in und mit der Bahn wohlfühlen.

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Call for Papers: OpenSym 2016, the 12th International Symposium on Open Collaboration

OpenSym 2016, the 12th International Symposium on Open Collaboration

August 17-19, 2016 | Berlin, Germany

http://opensym.org/os2016

About the Conference

The 12th International Symposium on Open Collaboration (OpenSym 2016) is the premier conference on open collaboration research and practice, including open source, open data, open education, wikis and related social media, Wikipedia, and IT-driven open innovation research.

OpenSym is the first conference series to bring together the different strands of open collaboration research and practice, seeking to create synergies and inspire new collaborations between computer scientists, social scientists, legal scholars, and everyone interested in understanding open collaboration and how it is changing the world.

OpenSym 2016 will be held in Berlin, Germany, on August 17-19, 2016.

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Call for Papers: OpenSym 2015, the 11th International Symposium on Open Collaboration

OpenSym 2015, the 11th International Symposium on Open Collaboration

August 19-21, 2015 | San Francisco, California, U.S.A.

http://opensym.org/os2015

About the Conference

The 11th International Symposium on Open Collaboration (OpenSym 2015) is the premier conference on open collaboration research and practice, including free/libre/open source software, open data, IT-driven open innovation research, wikis and related open collaborative media, and Wikipedia and related Wikimedia projects.

OpenSym brings together the different strands of open collaboration research and practice, seeking to create synergies and inspire new collaborations between computer science and information systems researchers, social scientists, legal scholars, and everyone interested in understanding open collaboration and how it is changing the world.

OpenSym 2015 will be held in San Francisco, California, on August 19-21, 2015.

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Call for Papers: OpenSym 2014, the 10th International Symposium on Open Collaboration

OpenSym 2014, the 10th International Symposium on Open Collaboration

WikiSym 2014, the 10th International Symposium on Wikis and Open Collaboration

August 27-29, 2014 | Berlin, Germany

Jump ahead to call for submissions for

About the Conference

The 10th International Symposium on Open Collaboration (OpenSym 2014) is the premier conference on open collaboration research, including wikis and social media, Wikipedia, free, libre, and open source software, open data, open access, and IT-driven open innovation research.

OpenSym is the first conference series to bring together the different strands of open collaboration research, seeking to create synergies and inspire new research between computer scientists, social scientists, legal scholars, and everyone interested in understanding open collaboration and how it is changing the world.

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Call for Proposals: 2nd Open Data Dialog

November 18-19, 2013, Berlin

“Open data has the potential to transform society, government and the economy, from how we travel to work to how we decide to vote,” declared Rufus Pollock, co-founder of Open Knowledge Foundation, at the 1st International Open Data Dialog, which took place in December 2012 in Berlin.

With this year’s motto THINK OPEN, THINK BUSINESS the Dialog emphasizes the high potential of Open Data for businesses. The dialog likes to challenge our view that open data is not only a matter for administration, but also for enterprises, NGOs and science. No one will be able to take this step on his own. Administrations, economies, and societies must come together to open up the potential of data.

As in the past year, we invite all free thinkers from industry, civil society, government and research institutes to join the dialog and to share your ideas and projects with other open data enthusiasts. We invite you to give your ideas, approaches or results for example on, but not excluding: Opening, transforming or visualizing data – Data research or journalism – Data to support transparency and participation – Open data platforms and tools – Data-intensive services and applications – Secure integration of open, closed and private data – Business cases and legal settings.

We are seeking proposals for presentations, demonstrations, workshops and tutorials for the 2nd Open Data Dialog, November 18-19, 2013.

Sumission Deadline: July 15, 2013

Read more…

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Call for Participation: WikiSym + OpenSym 2013, the 9th International Symposium on Open Collaboration

WikiSym, the 9th International Symposium on Wikis and Open Collaboration

OpenSym, the 2013 International Symposium on Open Collaboration

August 5-7, 2013 | Hong Kong, China

Registration >> Program Overview | Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Industry Tutorials

Conference Program

The conference program is led by three renowned keynote speakers: Phil Bourne, founding editor of PLOS, will talk about the era of open, Pockey Lam, of the Digital Freedom Foundation, will talk about open education, and Dario Taraborelli, of the Wikimedia Foundation, will talk about current and future Wikipedia research.

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