Presentation by Jose Alonso on Open Data 2.0 in Montevideo, Uruguay, 26th June 2013.

1. Advance the Web to
Empower People
Towards Open Data 2.0
José M. Alonso, Open Data Program Manager
World Wide Web Foundation
<josema@webfoundation.org>
@josemalonso
Montevideo, Uruguay
26 June 2013

2. 1. Why Open Data matters?
2. How should one do Open Data well?
3. What do we really know?
4. How is Open Data evolving?
(all through examples, promise!)
Summary
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3. o SARPAM = Southern Africa Regional Programme on Access to
Medicines and Diagnostics
o interventions to ensure better availability of quality, affordable,
essential medicines within southern Africa by 2015.
Why Open Data Matters?
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Example via Adi Eyal (SARPAM Infohub)

4. o How much should be paid for Ferrous Sulfate + Folic Acid?
o Hardly any Open Data available
o and most excuses known heard…
o Deployment of “Network of Monitors”
o sort of crowdsourced (but curated) data
o Compilation of Data that leads to this…
SARPAM (cont’d)
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Example via Adi Eyal (SARPAM Infohub)

5. SARPAM (cont’d)
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25x is difficult to justify when you
look at this graph

6. o And some took action, such as Botswana:
o “We used the R10.00 tender price in South Africa to push Bayer for
a lower price (the new price should hopefully be implemented in
the next 2-3 weeks). We are currently paying R99 per pack, but we
have paid as high as R152 in the past. This will amount to a saving
of around P10,000,000 per year.”
SARPAM (cont’d)
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Example via Adi Eyal (SARPAM Infohub)

7. Heaps of Learnings from SARPAM
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o Political willingness vs. people’s power
o Data from various sources, from multilaterals to people on the
ground
o Transparency
o Accountability
o Government savings
o Cross Jurisdictional power
o Legal, standardization-related…
o Capacity Building
o …

8. How Should One Do Open Data Well?
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9. Context, Context, Context!
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10. Low Hanging Fruit
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11. Marry Supply and Demand
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12. Build Capacities
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13. Show Progress
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14. Bottom Line: Six Dimensions
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15. What Do We Really Know?
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CC-BY Justin Grimes
Not all OGD is created equal…

16. o Increased transparency of governments
o Increased internal government efficiency and effectiveness
o Increased citizen participation and inclusion through
extended offers of services closer to people’s needs
o Increased number of services to people due to an increased
base of potential service providers
o New business opportunities and jobs for application and
service developers
o New synergies between government, public administration
and civil society organizations
o New innovative uses of OGD that can help spur innovation
and development in the IT sector
o …
(Promised) Open Data Benefits
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17. Still Anecdotal Evidence
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o Be aware of methodologies
o “if European citizens each saved only 2 hours per year from
better access … EU market would worth EUR 1.4 billion per year”
– Graham Vickery
o And Open “Data-ness”
o UK surgeons story on the OGP launch video as “Open Data saves
lives”
o dates back to 2005 and relates to FOI

18. o We are far from using the Web to its full potential
o Web Architecture and not Web as file server
o Linked Data is a good tactic but it’s tough, needs
improvement
o It just doesn’t work
(out of the box)
o Better tooling is needed
o Capacity building
o But benefits are great
IT-Wise…
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Source: Price Waterhouse Coopers – Technology Forecast, Spring 2009

19. o Open Government Data 1.0
o Strong push from demand side to have supply side
(Governments) releasing as much data as possible
o “put it up there on any way you’ll have it”
o “cost is minimal, close to zero”
o “someone will find out useful things to do with them”
How Is Open Data Evolving?
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20. OGD Portals (Hype Cycle - Warning)
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Time
Use/Downloads
o OGD portal use and downloads
o Do we even know if a portal is the best way to go?

21. Edelman’s Trust Barometer 2012
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22. Spain: 11/61
Open Data Index  Open Data Barometer
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23. ODDC: Understanding Impact (Systematically!)
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24. o Budget Transparency and Governance
o Measuring budget transparency impact
on people’s rights
o Urban Governance
o Quality of civic data and life improvement
o Poverty Alleviation
o Impact on marginalized communities (slums and rural settlements)
o Emerging Issues
o Regulation of energy sector
o Higher education
ODDC: Can Open Data Solve Real Problems?
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A
Open
Data?
B

25. Bottom Line
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26. Release Data That Matters!
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27. o Moving from Open Data as end to Open Data as mean
o And raising the bar: Global Open Data Initiative
o Personal data and user-generated data as an asset
(McKinsey report)
o Blue Button (and Green Button) (2012)
o Blue Button at more than 1 Million users
o Smart Disclosure (USA), MiData (UK)
(Consumer.data.gov launched on Feb 2013)
o Open Corporates (50+ Million companies)
o Data Philantropy
o Non-public data that can contribute to the public good
Entering Open (Government) Data 2.0
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28. o African Bus Routes Redrawn Using Cell-Phone Data
(Abidjan, Ivory Coast)
o The largest-ever release of mobile-phone data yields a
model for fixing bus routes
o IBM + Orange
o Think of adding OGD to the mix
o Improved Urban Planning
o Lower Emissions
o …
o Epidemiology may come next…
We Are (Hopefully) Yet to See The Full Potential
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via MIT Technology Review

29. oBig Powers Come With Big Responsibilities
o“Remember: What You Do Matters”
- Chris Testa
Two Final (Important) Thoughts
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