I went along to the Open Data Camp in Douglas. Here’s some of the things I learned about:
- The IATI (International Aid Transparency Initiative) has guidance about what data governments and organisations should make available, and what format it should be in.
- The UK government has moved to publishing data using open standards, but it failed to educate people about why it was important.
- Digital Scotland have a really innovative procurement model, which the Isle of Man Government could learn a thing or two from! Instead of throwing money at things by drawing up a list of specifications and seeing who bids, it seems much more cost effective to solve problems by asking questions instead, and the solutions are often of a higher quality.
- The Things Network has continued to grow in the UK
- Russia publishes details of all its government contracts over about £1200. Yes, open data from Russia!
Oh, and beer tastes better when someone else pays!