I am about to head into Berlin to join #okcon2011. As described at http://okcon.org/2011 (check that out for more info about the conference) “OKCon is a wide-ranging conference that brings together individuals and organizations from across the open knowledge spectrum for two days of presentations, workshops and exchange of ideas.” This is my last conference (hopefully) in Berlin before I move back to Bainbridge Island later in July, and I am looking forward to taking some time out again to connect with people about Open Data.
I haven’t done much with my “slash open the net” idea (http://slashopen.net and @slashopen on twitter) since the Open Data for Development Camp in May despite the interest from many organizations and great potential. The idea is to create a site to encourage organizations to maintain a page on their websites at the /open URL which explains in clear language their Open Data policies and how to get at the data. Right now slashopen.net just points to a page on my blog but I’d like to join up with others to set up a separate site with tools and resources for organizations that are already or have a roadmap for going open data and want to show it.
The Open for Change folks in Amsterdam recently published a proposed Open Data Manifesto that I am very pleased to see includes a /open component – this can be very powerful and go a long way to helping organizations overcome the political and organizational hurdles to going open data.
Anne-Marie and Rolf from Open for Change will be at OKCon and I look forward to brainstorming with them. Have ideas or want to get involved? Leave a comment and mention @tobiaseigen on twitter to find me.
At OKCon, an Open Data for Development lunch is planned for Friday – you can also join us there!
I will be at #okcon2011 in #berlin today and tomorrow – looking forward to discussing open data and @slashopen http://kb2.org/mt6VFb