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Open Data – Founder Thoughts for the #GOOD16

GOOD Conference

Caroline Vrauwdeunt – CEO and Founder of ANDRS talks about Open Data as part of the GO Open Data Conference 2016 in Markham, Ontario, Canada.

GO Open Data (GOOD16) is a community-driven annual conference by and for the Ontario Open Data community. GOOD16 is a collaborative effort between civil society, IT professionals, bloggers, community and economic developers, city planners, civil servants and more.

The conference started in 2013 in Waterloo Region, and has also been held in Toronto, Niagara Region and Markham.

What is Open Data?

By definition, open data is machine-readable data that can be freely used, reused and redistributed by anyone – subject only, at most, to the requirement to attribute and share-alike.

But what it can do is far more important. Open data means transparency and efficiency in government. It means developers can use open data to create innovative solutions and new businesses that help address community problems such as transportation or affordable housing. It means more engaged citizens, bringing together public and private organizations and bridging gaps.

Founder Thoughts on Data as a Commons

Commons are what belongs to all of us and what we look after communally. Should Data be considered a Commons? – This is the opening question in a 4-minute short film.

The film was partly shot at the Fab City Lab in Amsterdam and produced for the Conference. In the interview Caroline Vrauwdeunt sheds her light on the use of Data and reflects on whether the Open-Data concept currently possesses 3 key elements of a Commons.