W3C eGovernment Interest Group: Today's Meeting Rescheduled

Hi all--

First, thanks so much to everyone who attended in person or virtually the
eGovernment meeting at the TPAC on 31 October-1 November.  It was hugely
fruitful, lots of great ideas were exchanged, and actions highlighted.
See again Phil Archer's excellent notes below.

Our next regularly scheduled meeting should be today, but unfortunately I
am speaking at a conference and the time changed unexpectedly.  We will
not be meeting today.  However, Sandro and I will get out a list of the
action plan suggestions that came from the TPAC and post those for
suggestions, comments, and expansion.  Additionally, one of the actions
that came up was that we should meet both more frequently and perhaps at a
different time/day.  We'll also put up a quick survey to see what is the
best times for everyone.

So, we'll get those up this week and give a week's notice before our next
meeting as soon as we hear back from a majority of people on the time.

Thanks so much, and looking forward to an amazing set of activities we'll
be working on together!

--Jeanne

**********************************************************
Jeanne Holm
Evangelist, Data.gov
U.S. General Services Administration
Cell: (818) 434-5037
Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn: JeanneHolm
**********************************************************




On 11/10/11 12:56 PM, "Phil Archer" <phila@w3.org> wrote:

>Hi,
>
>is it really a week since I landed back at Heathrow after TPAC. My
>calendar says it is so it must be - which means it's taken me longer
>than I would have liked to write a little summary of the two days'
>discussion.
>
>Basics:
>=======
>
>Agenda, including links to slides where available, is at [1]. This also
>links to the minutes of the meeting (top of the page) which I've now
>cleaned up so it knows who was who.
>
>Overview
>========
>It's hard to compress two full days' discussion into something short and
>manageable but I'll try.
>
>A recurring theme was that getting government departments to one star is
>the hardest part (i.e. publishing any information at all under an open
>licence in any format [2]). The GLD WG, with which there is a lot of
>crossover in the IG of course, is the place to focus on 4 and 5 stars.
>
>Dave McAllister (Adobe) made the point that PDF is an open standard and
>that we shouldn't condemn any particular standard.
>
>The eGov IG is more tech neutral. We can partner with W3C WGs if
>necessary.
>
>Social media is important.
>
>Jeanne and other who were there reported on the Open Gov Data Camp in
>Warsaw. See Bernadette's blog [2a] This prompted a short discussion on
>the difference between publishing and leaking data.
>
>Hadley talked about her work to help translate gov data. If you don't
>know the magic terms to search for (i.e. the jargon), you won't find
>what you want.
>
>Several comments around the fact that this is a huge change in working
>patterns for gov employees. What to publish? What records to keep etc.
>No one is assigned to do this, no one sees the need. It's just one more
>thing for busy people to have to do.
>
>Lead to talk of building an ecosystem.
>
>Engaging with different communities - not just hackathons, although they
>are a useful tool. Ref. Random Hacks of Kindness [3], Rewired State [4].
>
>Possible Task Force: Why should companies produce tools to work with
>open data? Sustainable business models, not just Apps for kudos.
>
>Talk of provenance, data correction etc. Even if you know who published
>the data, if you tell them about a mistake, the responses vary. Poss
>links to Provenance WG? New work on defining APIs for data correction
>etc.?
>
>Josema joined the meeting (remotely, late at night in Spain) and told us
>about Open data in Developing Countries [5]
>
>Kenya concerned about making open data sustainable - echoes thoughts
>about commercial apps etc. data.gov.uk now operating with much reduced
>resources, little linked data activity etc.
>
>Josema also talked about Organisational Identifiers Workshop [6]. Dunn
>and Bradstreet identifiers - need something better (note - since then,
>UK Companies House has now set up URIs for all registered companies [7].
>See also Open Corporates [8]).
>
>This touches on work in the EU and elsewhere. Raises problem of
>duplication of effort. Personalities come is, as do jurisdictions,
>different time scales etc. One big group is not achievable.
>
>This merged into a discussion about role of W3C, standards, concept
>schemes etc.
>
>Dave McAllister put it well: So what I'm hearing is that we need to
>decide what problem(s) we are solving, and for whom. And whether they
>see it as a problem
>
>Hadley then lead a session on open gov (slides at [9]). Different types
>of data, different data quality, difficulty of merging data, different
>levels of, and need for, trust.
>
>Who is a user?
>
>I talked about the EU projects W3C is involved in [10]. Includes series
>of workshops that we're organising or involved with.
>
>Discussion of DCAT, ADMS, other core vocabulary work under SEMIC.
>
>John Erickson talked about long standing work at RPI on catalogue
>metadata.
>
>Showed a demo of a Semantic Water Quality App [11]. Raises questions
>about gov fears about misinterpretation, lack of context etc.
>
>Hadley talked more about LinkedGov work, helping creation of mashups,
>importance of metadata, cleaning up data and more.
>
>In summary: this session looked at the problems from multiple angles.
>Helping gov employees to publish is important, but so too are
>demonstrations of direct benefit to those individuals as well as the
>citizens.
>
>Jason Kiss, of New Zealand's Department of Internal Affairs talked about
>accessibility which is a big issue for government publishers. It's an
>important topic for eGov therefore with several govs mandating WCAG or
>variations on that theme. Jason took an action item to gather a list of
>gov policies on accessibility.
>
>Social Media
>============
>
>The use of social media as a means of connecting govs to citizens is an
>interesting topic that we discussed at length on the morning of day 2.
>
>Some govs have official guidelines on soc med use by staff and elected
>officials. Experience varies around the world in the use of Soc Med by
>legislators on the floor of the relevant house.
>
>Kevin Simkins presented his work on virtual worlds. On one level, this
>has possibilities for more effective conference calls but add in
>artificial intelligence etc. and virtual worlds could be important in
>policy modelling, town planning etc.
>
>Soc Med used to solicit campaign contributions.
>
>eGov can get carried away with the idea that everyone is connected and
>on social media. A lot of people are not online at all. Some homeless
>people are given mobile devices with time limited access so that they
>can interact with govt. agencies. Echoes use of mobile in developing
>world.
>
>Interesting discussion around whether a Tweet from an elected official
>should be part of the public record. If so how? Possible Task Force
>within eGov?
>
>Yosuke Funahashi, co-chair of the Web and TV WG, talked to us about the
>use of soc med for emergency alerts, such as tsunami alerts (hence
>interest from Web and TV group).
>
>-> Poss Task Force on how to use the Web for emergency alerts?
>
>Interesting Perspectives from Taiwan, Switzerland, Russia, Taiwan gov
>not great users of social media, for example. Idea of 2 way
>communication not entirely bedded into the minds of all politicians.
>
>Kevin Simkins pointed to poss uses of Augmented Reality in posting
>notices etc., about queue lengths for public services and so on. 2 years
>out but coming fast.
>
>Community Directory
>===================
>
>Bernadette Hyland talked through the work of the GLD WG [12] and showed
>us the Community Directory her company has produced that is now
>available via a w3.org URI at http://www.w3.org/egov/directory/ [13].
>BAsed on the Callimachus platform, it's driven entirely by Sem Web
>technology. Action - enter your details! mailto:support@3roundstones.com
>to get login credentials.
>
>Lego Session
>============
>As well as Hallowe'en treats, Jeanne also provided a big bag of Lego
>bricks for us to build a model as a metaphor for eGov. Those on remote
>were invited to find images and share those.
>
>See Bernadette's coverage of this
>http://www.w3.org/egov/wiki/F2F4-Lego-Modeling
>
>Sandro
>http://www.w3.org/People/Sandro/egov-images
>Talked about open spaces with structure. Organic elements.
>
>Jeanne
>http://www.w3.org/egov/wiki/File:IMG00210-20111101-1437.jpg
>http://www.w3.org/egov/wiki/File:IMG00210-20111101-1437.jpg
>Talked about incomplete elements that don't always connect. A super hero
>can do radical things that might help or hurt.
>Some parts under development.
>The alligator and bird symbolised different agendas
>Shield and spear to symbolise security needs.
>
>Dave McAllister
>http://www.w3.org/egov/wiki/File:IMG00216-20111101-1505.jpg
>Talked about need for guidance, translation. Last guy is a geek. He has
>a tie and a propeller on his head. Someone has to actually do the work
>Said we have to deliver in any environment.
>Build on what we have now. bridge between IT and the people.
>Steps and Ramps to help people up.
>
>PhilA
>http://www.w3.org/egov/wiki/File:IMG00214-20111101-1440.jpg
>Talks about a solid base, with guidance, a-political guide (red/blue).
>Lots of apps and multimedia.
>Missing piece is app made up from lost of different data sets.
>
>John Erickson
>http://www.w3.org/egov/wiki/File:IMG00215-20111101-1503.jpg
>Talks about lost of different people involved. One robotic, industrial
>strength, last guy is quality control. Edward Scissorhands to do the
>semantification. LD isn't magic, it just tales time.
>
>
>Bernadette Hyland
>=================
>http://www.w3.org/egov/wiki/File:AMH_Lego_castle_and_town.jpg
>http://www.w3.org/egov/wiki/File:AMH_Lego_turret.jpg
>http://www.w3.org/egov/wiki/File:AMH_Lego_mixed_food_table.jpg
>
>Used her son's model to say "if everybody cooperates and shoots in the
>same direction, it's an unstoppable force"
>mixed date interoperable: unending lego sets intermixed
>Think of the humble URI as the Lego brick.
>Where lego has been, the web is going
>
>
>John: if lego was just separate things. it wouldn't be as cool.
>
>Education and Outreach
>======================
>
>John Erickson lead a session on E&O. Lots of good education material
>within the group. How to use this?
>
>PhilA talked about W3C online training [14]. This is expanding. provides
>a platform on which existing material can use re-purposed for online
>training. Has worked well for Mobile Web, SVG, now HTML5. Self-financing
>(tutors get paid %age of revenue - yes, we charge for courses!)
>
>Problem is we'd need not just a server, but access to data store, SPARQL
>endpoint etc. if talking about LD.
>
>Hosting JS etc is easy cf. hosting LD.
>
>Some communities are huge (millions) with v. few support staff.
>
>We need to engage with data journalists (action Jeanne).
>
>Think in terms of real world problems. How to find out about a
>brownfield site etc.
>
>Jeanne pointed to example of open data in the classroom
>http://www.data.gov/story/datagov-in-the-classroom
>
>John talked about David Schuff
>http://community.mis.temple.edu/mis5101sec401f11/
>
>John's summary:
>
>1. Think about re-purposing teaching material for online course.
>2. Resources is an issue. If teaching LD, you need LD hosting.
>3. Value of mobile Web course is the forum - how to enable that
>    to persist?
>
>Cards:
>======
>
>During the two days, Jeanne invited us all to write ideas on cards
>either physically or electronically. Here's a collated list of those
>from across the two days. They give a flavour of the topics that were
>discussed and that are on people's minds:
>
>- Collect the resources of everyone's social media network
>- I would like to see a discussion towards the end on what
>   other sub groups are required
>- How do "FOI" policies/practices vary in regions outside USA?
>- Several people have asked for the collection of use cases
>   (stories, benefits, outcomes) around open data
>- Should we have a task force on the business cases?
>- How to make open data + apps sustainable. How can we provide
>   guidance that is peer-reviewed and properly advertised on the
>   Web, possibly even coming from some standards body or hub site?
>- What can be done to associated basic provenance info, even an
>   authority & URL of source, of data in a mashup. John Erickson gave
>   an example that he had to email some developers to find out where
>   they pulled data from; Bernadette gave examples of mashups where data
>   was just incorrect and there was no way to reach back to the
>   developer and cite correct data.
>- develop the persona of constituents
>- Should we consider helping to inform a standard API(s) that could be
>   included to show how to correct the data?
>- sub force on reputation and trust
>- No more papers, only instances of the use of the data
>- Coordinate with Crossover project for June 2012 (Barcelona) or final
>   March 2013 (Lisbon) <- Correction, the event will be in Brussels but,
>   confusingly, organised by the Lisbon Council.
>- for GLD WG: clarify the DCAT development/recommendation process
>   within the context of the GLD's work.
>- How does eGov fit into the model of digital have-nots
>- we should collect and look across for commonalities of elements
>- possible Task force on how to record/archive social media usage
>   that needs to be archived as part of the public record.
>
>ACTIONS
>=======
>And so to the action items collected at the end of Day 2.
>
>Jason Kiss to provide list on international policies and guidelines on
>accessibility
>
>Jeanne H to invite data journalists to the group.
>
>Jeanne to Convene a small team to develop an immediate and long term
>mechanism for collection use cases
>
>HadleyBeeman Create a way of organizing and analyzing use case content
>to take back to governments and other stakeholders by 2012-01-15
>
>bhyland Explore the augmentation of the GLD Directory project to support
>some aspects of data quality 2011-12-15
>
>Jeanne Share the eGov IG membersą social networks (to be assigned to
>eGov co-chair TBD) by 2012-1-15
>
>Dave McAllister Create a way of organizing and analyzing social media
>policies to identify commonalities 2012-03-15
>
>PhilA Identify the proper W3C parties that would be part of exploring
>the solutions to making apps developed from open data sustainable
>
>sandro Identify other activities in the W3C that could inform or be
>recipients of requirements from the eGov IG 2012-04-01
>
>kevinsimkins Identify activities in the IEEE that could inform the eGov
>IG by 2012-01-2
>
>Jeanne Change frequency and perhaps time of meetings to better
>accomodate broad participation
>
>Jeanne Invite additional industry/commercial participation in the IG
>
>[1] http://www.w3.org/egov/wiki/F2F4
>[2] http://www.w3.org/DesignIssues/LinkedData.html
>[2a]
>http://3roundstones.com/2011/10/28/keeping-up-the-momentum-from-the-open-g
>overnment-data-camp-2011/
>[3] http://www.rhok.org/
>[4] http://rewiredstate.org/
>[5] http://opengovernmentdata.okfnpad.org/open-development?
>[6] http://wiki.okfn.org/OGDCamp_2011_Organizational_Identifiers_Workshop
>[7] http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/about/miscellaneous/URI.shtml
>[8] http://opencorporates.com/
>[9] http://www.w3.org/egov/wiki/File:Open_data_egov_IG_slides.pdf
>[10] http://www.w3.org/2011/Talks/TPAC/phila/euwork.html
>[11] http://inference-web.org/wiki/Semantic_Water_Quality_Portal
>[12]
>http://www.slideshare.net/bhylandwood/20111101-b-hylandw3ctpacegov-9979983
>[13] http://www.w3.org/egov/directory/
>[14] http://w3techcourses.com/
>
>--
>
>
>Phil Archer
>W3C eGovernment
>http://www.w3.org/egov/
>
>http://philarcher.org
>@philarcher1
>
>

Received on Tuesday, 15 November 2011 12:04:04 UTC