Category Archives: Open Data

Use IFTTT & Readitlater to mine info from Twitter

Posted on 2 February 2012 by ian

While the following post uses #opendata as an example subject to pull information from Twitter, the methodolgy is generic. The background is that I love to know what is happening in the world of Open Data, but there are so … Continue reading →

Posted in Coding, Hacking, IFTTT, Open Data, Open Government, Readitlater, Twitter | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Film – What is Open Data?

Posted on 13 April 2011 by ian

Here is an excellent short film (with subtitles available in several languages), made available by the Open Knowledge Foundation. Use it as a primer for those who don’t yet get Open Data at your workplace. The original page is here

Posted in News, Open Data, videos | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

PLODS – but faster

Posted on 6 April 2011 by ian

The following article is an adaptation of one I wrote for my team’s internal blog at work. Today I coined an acronym. PLODS – Public Linked Open Data Sets. Anyone who does not understand why publishing open data is a … Continue reading →

Posted in Collaboration, Gov 2.0, Hacking, joint working, Linked Data, Local Government, News, Open Data, Open Government | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Scraping the Scottish Election 2011

Posted on 31 March 2011 by ian

A colleague at work asked me today, “Where can I get the contact details of the local candidates for the Scottish Parliamentary Election 2011?” That’s easy, I thought. After a couple of hours digging tonight I have worked out that … Continue reading →

Posted in Elections, Hacking, Open Data | Tagged , , , , , | 15 Comments

NHTG11 – a personal reflection

Posted on 27 March 2011 by ian

Yesterday I spent nine and a half hours in a room with a group of hard-core coders and not only lived to tell the tale, but thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Firstly I should say thanks to Dr Bruce Scharlau of … Continue reading →

Posted in Collaboration, Hacking, Linked Data, Open Data, Open Government | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Two great new Google projects

Posted on 23 March 2011 by ian

Two new Google projects crossed my radar today – and very interesting they both are, too. The first is Google For Non-profits.  It offers the chance to reach and engage supporters, raise awareness of campaigns, improve operations, and a mass … Continue reading →

Posted in Collaboration, Creativity, Innovation, News, Open Data, Open Government | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Hack The Government Day – how will I participate?

Posted on 21 March 2011 by ian

This Saturday sees events to mark the third National Hack The Government Day. It will also be marked across the UK by events such as the one being run at Aberdeen University by Dr Bruce Scharlau. I’ve committed to going … Continue reading →

Posted in Accessibility, Collaboration, Events, Hacking, Linked Data, Local Government, News, Open Data | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Open Data – some (mostly recent) bookmarks

Posted on 8 March 2011 by ian

Open Data The Open Data daily: http://paper.li/tag/opendata Birmingham City Council publishes electric vehicle charging points as open data KML with microformats: http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/evcp Legislation 2.0: Legislation.gov.uk  http://j.mp/cV2MRu Great article on creating open data portals http://ldata.in/d406XB Hacking code as a new way … Continue reading →

Posted in Gov 2.0, Open Data, Open Government | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Open Data Masterclass – Aberdeen University 17 November 2010

Posted on 8 March 2011 by ian

Last November I attended an Open Data Masterclass at Aberdeen University. I took notes as the day progressed and these are shared below, sometimes quite skeletally, sometimes more completely. It was a very interesting and useful day and clarified and … Continue reading →

Posted in Innovation, Linked Data, Local Government, Open Data, Open Government | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

National Hack the Government Day 2011

Posted on 6 March 2011 by ian

The third national Hack The Government Day takes place on Saturday 26th March 2011. This year’s hosts for the main event are The Guardian. As ever this day is all about having free reign, doing whatever you fancy and showing … Continue reading →

Posted in Events, Linked Data, News, Open Data | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment