The latest issue of the Open Knowledge Foundation Newsletter provides details of some new tools that may be of interest to list members. I've included relevant excerpts below.
Best regards,
Joy
Joy Davidson
DCC Associate Director
Humanities Advanced Technology and Information Institute (HATII)
George Service House, 11 University Gardens,
University of Glasgow
Glasgow G12 8QJ
Scotland
Tel: +44(0)141 330 8592
Fax: +44(0)141 330 3788
http://www.dcc.ac.uk
GET THE DATA AND OPEN DATA SEARCH
==================================
It's amazing to see the pace with which more and more data is becoming
openly available, and to help everyone navigate the rising tides we've
launched two new tools. The first, Get The Data
(<http://getthedata.org/>), lets you ask and answer data-related
questions, like "Where can I find historical weather data?" or "Where
can I find a list of airports with their locations?" In the words of
the developers, "if you want to GetTheData, but can't for whatever
reason, just ask GetTheData.org"!
The second tool we've launched is the site Open Data Search -
<http://opendatasearch.org/>, a new meta search engine for open data.
It's a global version of the publicdata.eu site we announced in the
last newsletter - an aggregator for datasets, providing a simple and
unified search interface to all of the catalogues contained. We'd love
to have your contributions - get in touch with ckan-discuss:
<http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/ckan-discuss>!
* Launch of Get the Data:
<http://blog.okfn.org/2011/01/20/introducing-getthedataorg-ask-and-answer-data-related-questions/>
* Launch of Open Data Search:
<http://blog.okfn.org/2011/03/16/open-data-search-finding-useful-datasets-worldwide/>
* Congratulations to our friends over at Publish What You Fund, the
global campaign for aid transparency: after two years of negotiations,
the 18 donors of the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI)
have agreed the final details of a new global standard for publishing
aid information. AidData, an initiative to make information on
development aid more transparent and accessible, are planning to make
all their respository, covering over 90 donor agencies between 1945
and 2009, available in the new format that the IATI has created by
May. See <http://blog.okfn.org/2011/03/25/the-aid-revolution-begins-with-xml-the-aid-revolution-begins-here/>
for more!
* We're excited by the launch of Figshare, a new tool for
researchers to share their scientific data, including negative results
and unpublished figures:
<http://blog.okfn.org/2011/03/02/introducing-figshare-a-new-way-to-share-open-scientific-data/>.
All the data that goes up there will also be available through the new
CKAN science group: <http://ckan.net/group/science> - so get
publishing!
* Probono Publico have announced that the second edition of the
Desafío AbreDatos (Open Data Challenge) will take place in Spain on
the weekend of May 7th-8th. The contest aims to raise awareness about
the potential of Open Data by having teams compete in developing
services and applications using public data in only 48 hours. Find
out more at <http://www.epsiplatform.eu/news/news/desafio_abredatos_spanish_open_data_challenge>.
* Montreal has passed a mandate for an official city working group
on open-data. You can see the full mandate at
<http://montrealouvert.net/2011/03/30/mandat-relatif-a-l'ouverture-des-donnees-de-la-ville-de-montreal/>
- let's hope it inspires other cities to do the same!
* Another city-level challenge is coming from Berlin, where a
campaign has been launched to open up Berlin public transport data:
<http://blog.okfn.org/2011/03/15/public-transport-data-for-berlin/>.
Why not write to the BVG or the VBB and tell them you think it's a
good idea!
* As Wikipedia celebrated its 10th birthday in January, Wikimedia
Research Comittee have launched a survey to understand why
scientists, academics and other experts do (or do not) contribute to
Wikipedia. Find out more, and contribute to the debate, through the
OKF blog: <http://blog.okfn.org/2011/02/24/experts-to-underpin-wikipedia%E2%80%99s-open-wisdom-turning-anecdotes-into-data/>.
The Open Knowledge Foundation is a not-for-profit organization. It is
incorporated in the United Kingdom as a company limited by guarantee
with company number 5133759. The registered office is 37 Panton
Street, Cambridge, CB2 1HL, UK.
Compiled by Theodora Middleton, Newsletter Editor -
theodora[dot]middleton[at]okfn[dot]org
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