Presented as part of the Open Government Canada Open Data Webinar Series Nov. 28. 2019 https://gts-ee.webex.com/mw3300/mywebex/default.do?nomenu=true&siteurl=gts-ee&service=6&rnd=0.04628885597076027&main_url=https%3A%2F%2Fgts-ee.webex.com%2Fec3300%2Feventcenter%2Fevent%2FeventAction.do%3FtheAction%3Ddetail%26%26%26EMK%3D4832534b0000000422caf52da87c179b1276b4b23d153e844d3d66f21e1b0d3316b051cb98b3787b%26siteurl%3Dgts-ee%26confViewID%3D146025697428655072%26encryptTicket%3DSDJTSwAAAAR4aqYMEmzLnPNnFx0BMJCyoNhSNg1glKapjzq0AXKK6Q2%26

1. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Learning from the past:
Open data in Canada
Open Government Canada Webinar Series
Tracey P. Lauriault
Assistant Professor, Critical Media and Big Data
Communication and Media Studies
School of Journalism and Communication
Carleton University
Tracey.Lauriault@Carleton.ca
@TraceyLauriault
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1847-2738

2. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
o History of sharing government records, data and information
o Access to Data
o Data Sharing
o Access to Data and Data Sharing in Canada
o Data Enclosures & Open Smart Cities
o Systems & infrastructural thinking
Evolution of Open Data

3. History

4. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Data as a public record
The Domesday Book of 1086, William the Conqueror
SN:5694 - Electronic Edition of Domesday Book: Translation, Databases and Scholarly Commentary, 1086

5. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Government Data

6. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Public access to information
1766 Swedish Freedom of the Press Act

7. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
National Atlas

8. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
o Canada has been collecting, compiling, managing, archiving and
making data accessible for more than a century
o Kinds of data:
o Administrative data
o Government Data
o Census
o Geospatial
o Government Information
o Scientific & Research Data
Government Publications

9. Data Sharing

10. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
“It is elementary to have a worldwide network
of meteorological observations, free exchange
of observations between nations and
international agreement on standardized
observation methods and units in order to be
able to compare these observations”
Buys Ballot, 1873
Essay: Suggestions on a Uniform System of Meteorological
Observations
1st President of the International Meteorological Organization
(IMO)
Data Sharing

11. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Robert K. Merton, a sociologist of Science
developed the CUDO norms of science in 1942:
1. Communism
2. Universalism
3. Disinterestedness and
4. Organized skepticism
Scientists and scientific institutions were encouraged to
share the results of their work for the common good,
for the purpose of advancing the scientific enterprise
and to ensure that scientific claims were scrutinized
before being accepted.
CUDO Norms of Science

12. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Antarctic Treaty 1959

13. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
40.1. In sustainable development, everyone is a user
and provider of information considered in the broad
sense. That includes data, information, appropriately
packaged experience and knowledge. The need for
information arises at all levels, from that of senior
decision makers at the national and international
levels to the grass-roots and individual levels. The
following two programme areas need to be
implemented to ensure that decisions are based
increasingly on sound information:
o a. Bridging the data gap;
o b. Improving information availability.
UNCED 1992 Earth Summit in Rio

14. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
International Polar Year Canada

15. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
International Data Sharing

16. Access to Data and Open Data in Canada

17. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
o Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical
Information (CISTI), created in 1974 at the National
Research Council of Canada
o Murray Rankin (1978). Access to Information vital to
researchers.
o Data librarians as innovators with access, standards,
policies, user guides as well as technological and user
services in the days when data were only accessible on
magnetic tape
o Canadian Association of Research Libraries (CARL)
o Canadian Association of Public Data Users (CAPDU)
o Portage
Research Librarians

18. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
o Erik Nielsen Ministerial Task Force on Program Review
o Mulroney Government and cost recovery of data
o Government Data-purchasing consortia:
“knowledge is fundamental to economic development and democratic
life in advanced societies; and the information gathered by statistical
agencies is an important component of that knowledge. It is essential
that such information be made available to researchers and to the
public so that it can be used in debates and decision making”
Sociologist Paul Bernard from the University of Montreal, 1992
Politics

19. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Data Liberation Initiative (DLI)

20. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Community Based Research

21. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Geospatial Community

22. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
CGDI Principles
1. Open:
enables better decision making, the CGDI is based on
open, barrier-free data sharing and standards that
allow users to exchange data.
2. Accessible:
allows users to access data and services seamlessly,
despite any complexities of the underlying technology.
3. Evolving:
the network of organizations participating in the CGDI
will continue to address new requirements and
business applications for information and service
delivery to their respective users.
4.Timely:
the CGDI is based on technologies and services that
support timely or real-time access to information.
5. Sustainable:
is sustained by the contributions of the participating
organizations and broad user community and through
the infrastructure’s relevance to these groups.
6. Self-organizing
the CGDI enables various organizations to contribute
geospatial information, services and applications, and
guide the infrastructure’s development.
7. User and community driven
emphasizes the nurturing of and service to a broad user
community. These users, including Canadians in
general, will drive the CGDI’s development based on
user requirements.
8. Closest to source
maximizes efficiency and quality by encouraging
organizations closest to source to provide data and
services. Thereby eliminating duplication and overlap.
9. Trustworthy
is continually enhanced to protect sensitive and
proprietary data. The CGDI offers this protection
through policies and mechanisms that enable data to be
assessed for quality and trusted by users.

23. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
“We firmly maintain that democracy is reliant on an informed citizenry
and civil society that has access to the data, information, knowledge and
technology necessary to keep governments accountable” (WSIS II, 2005).
2005 UNESCO WSIS II
Civil society conference in Winnipeg

24. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Civil Society

25. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
o G4+1 - Cities
o Ottawa, Toronto, Edmonton
and Vancouver, and also
Montreal
o Canadian Open Data Summit
o BC Institute for Open Data
o GO Open Data conference
o Open Data Institute chapter
o OpenNorth
o Ajah.ca
o Powered by Data
o Multistakeholder Advisory Group
on Open Government
o Cities in Canada take the lead
with Nanaimo having the 1st
open data portal.
Open Data Formalizes

26. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Canadian Institutions and Organizations

27. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Federal Government

28. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Open Government

29. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
The Future of Open Data

30. Data Enclosures vs Open Smart Cities

31. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
o GE
o CISCO
o INTEL
o SIEMENS
o IBM
o Microsoft
o Quayside Project
Data enclosures

32. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Smart City Challenge

33. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
Open Smart Cities
Alllevelsofgovernment
Open Access
Open Source
Open Data
Open AI
Open Science
Open Firmware
Open Platforms
Open Specifications
Open Standards
Open Government

34. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
o We need to look back to see the future.
o Open data like all data and related technologies:
are more than the unique arrangement of objective and politically neutral
facts & we need
thinking that understands that data do not exist independently of ideas,
techniques, technologies, systems, people and contexts regardless of
them being presented in that way.
The future…

35. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
We may need to go back to systems thinking…

36. Dr Tracey P. Lauriault, School of Journalism and Communication, Carleton University, Ottawa, ON, Canada
o Thank you
o Q & A