Open data-y activities are happening from California to Canada, so we’ve assembled a little round-up here with all the details. Hackathons, Appathons, pick your -thon and -thon along.
Pittsburgh, PA is going hard on open data – simultaneously working on codifying a citywide open data policy and upgrading the 311 system. Laura Meixell, the city’s first data and analytics officer will be tasked with managing those projects. Meixell as previously a Code for America Fellow.
This Thursday Open Data Ireland will be running their 12th community meet-up at the University College Cork. They will be prepping for the International Open Day Hackathon in February.
Canada is hosting its first country-wide open data hackathon, dubbed CODE for Canadian Open Data Experience. The event is designed to bring in local developers to work on the dearth of datasets the government has released recently, that are also in want of applications or other dev work. The 48 hour hackathon will take place on February 28 and has some notable prizes. There is a $25,000 grand prize for CODE, donated by OpenText, with a $5,000 second prize and $1,000 for third place.
The city of Palo Alto, California is also hosting a civic hackathon in an effort to bring together the local dev community around civic engagement issues. The website for the competition is here: http://www.hackpaloalto.org. Call for Entries begins on January 21 and runs through February 28. Submissions are free and open to anyone legally residing in the United States. Cash prizes will be awarded for 1st place ($3,500), 2nd place ($1,000) and 3rd place ($500). Additionally, winners receive a commemorative plaque and free incorporation services.
Finally a new ‘Open Contracting Data Standard’ launched. Backing for the work comes from Open Contracting, the World Wide Web Foundation and the Omidyar Network. The development of a common standard for the disclosure of contracting data is a pillar of the work of the Open Contracting Partnership (OCP)to promote disclosure and participation in public contracting.
The Web Foundation will spearhead the technical work and will deliver the Open Contracting Data Standard v1.0 by the end of 2014. The Open Contracting Data Standard will be essential to advancing the OCP’s objective of achieving a new norm in which all public contracting is open. The working group says the standard will be developed via an extensive process of research, consultation, development, testing, feedback and refinement – including with non-government actors and across multiple sectors and countries.
