A Cook’s Tour of Open Data from a User’s Perspective (Directors Forum)

Presentation to Prince Edward Island Directors Forum on December 17, 2015, looking at open data not from a policy or regulatory perspective, but through the eyes of someone who has been consuming open data, and pointing to general principles that have been learned along the way.

1. A Cook’s Tour of Open Data from a User’s Perspective Presentation to 
 Prince Edward Island Public Servants Peter Rukavina, Hacker in Residence, Robertson Library, University of PEI December 17, 2015 http://hacker.vre.upei.ca/
2. Open Data Principles (from a user’s perspective)
3. Windmill by Stephen Downes is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
4. Photo of Richard Brown from Liberal Party of Prince Edward Island
5. Photo of Ron Estabrooks taken at the open house to officially launch the Hermanville/Clearspring wind development from www.gov.pe.ca.
9. Golf at 50BPM by user707748013 50 MW 50 BPM
10. W&W - Bigfoot (Uriel M Deephouse Remix) by urielm 122 MW 122 BPM
11. Clip of audio from CBC Spark interview with Peter Rukavina by Nora Young, recorded June 19, 2011.
13. [ { "data1":164.2, "data2":17.63, "data3":0, "updateDate":1437139741, "error":0 } ]
14. [ { "on-island-load":164.2, "on-island-wind":17.63, "on-island-fossil":0, "updateDate":1437139741, "error":0 } ]
17. 155% of our electricity load from the wind 10:30 p.m. 7:30 a.m. 8 Hours with wind at more than 100% of load }
22. Open Data Principle № 1 You have no idea (at all) what open data might be used for.
27. pdftotext -raw
 Weekly_approvals_webpage_21_Oct_2011.pdf \ Weekly_approvals_webpage_21_Oct_2011.txt
28. 10-533 335067 402-bld-10 20-Oct-10 3-Oct-11 18-22 Water Street... 10-569 363556 439-BLD-10 17-Nov-10 3-Oct-11 20 Lapthorne Avenue... 11-002 1018274 001-bld-11 4-Jan-11 6-Oct-11 375 Mount Edward Road... 11-136 342436 326-bld-11 26-Aug-11 3-Oct-11 134 Kent Street...
29. 10-533 335067 402-bld-10 20-Oct-10 3-Oct-11 18-22 Water Street... 10-569 363556 439-BLD-10 17-Nov-10 3-Oct-11 20 Lapthorne Avenue... 11-002 1018274 001-bld-11 4-Jan-11 6-Oct-11 375 Mount Edward Road... 11-136 342436 326-bld-11 26-Aug-11 3-Oct-11 134 Kent Street... 363556 20 LAPTHORN AV CHARLOTTETOWN 46.24454 -63.12606
30. -63.12688,46.23066,22 WATER ST,"10-533 335067 402-bld-10… -63.12606,46.24454,20 LAPTHORN AV,"10-569 363556 439-BLD-10.. -63.14558,46.27834,375 MOUNT EDWARD RD,"11-002 1018274 001-bod-11… -63.12808,46.23572,134 KENT ST,"11-136 342436 326-bld-11…
34. Open Data Principle № 2 PDFs are where 
 data goes to die.
36. scale drawings drawn to Parking Design Standards and certified (stamped) by a qualified engineer, architect, or public land surveyor Shall be submitted where there are ten (10) or more Parking Spaces or for less than ten (10) spaces as required by the Development Officer with the application for the Building permit showing entrances and exits to such Parking facilities, all proposed and Existing Parking Spaces, aisles, lighting, and drainage of the Lot;
37. scale drawings drawn to Parking Design Standards and certified (stamped) by a qualified engineer, architect, or public land surveyor Shall be submitted where there are ten (10) or more Parking Spaces or for less than ten (10) spaces as required by the Development Officer with the application for the Building permit showing entrances and exits to such Parking facilities, all proposed and Existing Parking Spaces, aisles, lighting, and drainage of the Lot; scale drawings drawn to Parking Design Standards and certified (stamped) by a qualified engineer, architect, or public land surveyor Shall be submitted where there are ten (10) or more Parking Spaces or for less than ten (10) spaces as required by the Development Officer with the application for the Building permit showing entrances and exits to such Parking facilities, all proposed and Existing Parking Spaces, aisles, lighting, and drainage of the Lot;
38. GENERAL PROVISIONS FOR BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES ................................................ 26 4.1 ACCESSORY BUILDINGS 4.2 BUILDING HEIGHT 4.3 DECKS, AND OTHER PROJECTIONS INTO YARDS 4.4 EXISTING BUILDINGS OR STRUCTURES 4.5 FENCES 4.6 GROUPED DWELLINGS 4.7 ONE MAIN BUILDING ON A LOT 4.8 RESTORATION TO A SAFE CONDITION 4.9 SATELLITE DISHES AND COMMUNICATION TOWERS 4.10 WINDMILL TOWERS 4.11 SUBDIVIDING OF ATTACHED DWELLINGS 4.12 SWIMMING POOLS 4.13 VEHICLE BODIES
39. GENERAL PROVISIONS FOR BUILDINGS AND STRUCTURES ................................................ 26 4.1 ACCESSORY BUILDINGS 4.2 BUILDING HEIGHT 4.3 DECKS, AND OTHER PROJECTIONS INTO YARDS 4.4 EXISTING BUILDINGS OR STRUCTURES 4.5 FENCES 4.6 GROUPED DWELLINGS 4.7 ONE MAIN BUILDING ON A LOT 4.8 RESTORATION TO A SAFE CONDITION 4.9 SATELLITE DISHES AND COMMUNICATION TOWERS 4.10 WINDMILL TOWERS 4.11 SUBDIVIDING OF ATTACHED DWELLINGS 4.12 SWIMMING POOLS 4.13 VEHICLE BODIES General Provision for Buildings and Structures ................................................................................. 26 4.1 Accessory Buildings 4.2 Building Height 4.3 Decks, and Other Projections into Yards 4.4 Existing Buildings or Structures 4.5 Fences 4.6 Groups Dwellings 4.7 One Main Building on a Lot 4.8 Restoration to a Safe Condition 4.9 Satellite Dishes and Communication Towers 4.10 Windmill Towers 4.11 Subdividing of Attached Dwellings 4.12 Swimming Pools 4.13 Vehicle Bodies
41. Open Data Principle № 3 Sometimes “open” can simply mean following 
 basic rules of design.
46. Metadata Issues • Lot 50 was mislabelled as Lot 66. • Lot 66 was unlabelled. • Georgetown Royalty was mislabelled as Lot 73 • Princetown Royalty was missing.
47. I'm writing to report what I believe to be incorrect metadata for one of the GIS Catalog items that you are listed as contact for, the "Lot / Townships" layer: http://www.gov.pe.ca/gis/index.php3?number=1011342&lang=E There are two polygons that appear to have incorrect metadata; I have attached a screen shot labelling these, which are in eastern PEI in the Orwell Point area. One polygon currently has a LOT value of NULL, and I believe it should, instead, have a value of 66. The other polygon, currently labelled 66, should, I believe, be labelled 50. As a reference, I am using the Samuel Holland map, a version of which has been digitized at: http://www.islandimagined.ca/fedora/repository/imagined:209165 I am attaching a screen shot of that map showing the lot labels. As next year is the 250th anniversary of the Samuel Holland Map, I would expect this layer to attract more attention than it otherwise would, so it would be nice to have the issue rectified.
48. Correcting the Metadata • Relabelled Lot 50. • Added a label to Lot 66. • Changed Lot 73 to Georgetown Royalty. • Princetown Royalty was missing.
51. WhatsMyLot.com
57. The Confederation Trail passes 
 through 47 lots and 2 royalties.
58. Open Data Principle № 4 Open data is a conversation.
63. (902) 367-3694
65. Open Data Principle № 5 Sometimes your users will create open data for you. 
 Follow their lead.
66. Open Data Principles 1. You have no idea (at all) what open data might be used for. 2. PDFs are where data goes to die. 3. Sometimes “open” can simply mean following rules of design. 4. Open data is a conversation. 5. Sometimes your users will create open data for you.
67. Open Data Principle № 6 Open data is a necessary precondition for 
 tenacious citizenship.
69. Open Data Principle № 7 Ask yourself: how can I make this data more open, accessible, readable, useful, public?
71. <?xml version="1.0"?> <ROWSET> <ROW> <Expense>Primary Care</Expense> <Per_Capita>275</Per_Capita> </ROW> <ROW> <Expense>Home Care</Expense> <Per_Capita>100</Per_Capita> </ROW> <ROW> <Expense>Long Term Care</Expense> <Per_Capita>590</Per_Capita> </ROW> <ROW> <Expense>Hospital Services</Expense> <Per_Capita>875</Per_Capita> </ROW> <ROW> <Expense>Physicians</Expense> <Per_Capita>810</Per_Capita> </ROW> <ROW> <Expense>Drug Program</Expense> <Per_Capita>205</Per_Capita> </ROW> <ROW> <Expense>Ambulance</Expense> <Per_Capita>75</Per_Capita> </ROW> </ROWSET>
72. Open Data Principles 1. You have no idea (at all) what open data might be used for. 2. PDFs are where data goes to die. 3. Sometimes “open” can simply mean following rules of design. 4. Open data is a conversation. 5. Sometimes your users will create open data for you. 6. Open data is a necessary precondition for 
 tenacious citizenship. 7. How can I make this data more open?
73. Slides are online at http://l.ruk.ca/directors These slides are released under a Creative Commons license. You are encouraged to distribute them as far and as 
 wide as possible under the terms of the license.