Projects presented @CollabDC
Last week, I had the honor of speaking at CollabDC, an event that brings folks together around open data and data journalism.
The theme was “How does changing technology change the way that media companies and startups parse data from local, state and federal government?”
Below are the projects that were discussed along with my observations and opinions (O-o). Each of these projects is interesting in its own right and I am excited that I got to learn more about them.
StreetMix
Street Mix: A @CodeforAmerica project that allows you to collaboratively design your city — http://www.streetmix.net/ | Code: http://bit.ly/streetmix | @saikofish, @streetmix
O-0: I fell in love with this project. The design was fantastic. However, the idea might need better salesmanship. I am worried that the concept might be too complicated of a jump — an idea ahead of its time. I am also wondering if Street Mix is working together with OpenPlans or if they are completely separate in their goal or if there is some overlap.
WHO’s Ebola Portal
@WHO’s Ebola data portal, presented by @ianschuler from @developmentseed — https://extranet.who.int/ebola/
O-0: I have seen a couple of projects like this before and specifically concerning Ebola. The problem with these projects is that they are often one-offs and the next time a similar event happens, everyone struggles to do the same thing. I hope this is turned into a generic dashboard for future events.
Fiscal Note
@FiscalNote, a for-profit start up to collaborate around legislation — “We have a 94% accuracy that a bill is going to pass.”- said during presentation. — https://www.fiscalnote.com/ | @JohnZoshak and @fiscalnote.
O-0: The concept behind this is really awesome. Much of the talk in the room was to make this free or offer a free version. The text on the homepage “Open Data Engineered,” makes it seem like it is riding the line of being free/open, but it is not. I found this a little deceptive. However, from a business perspective, I think that they have good a product. My only true critique is that they don’t make their product obvious on their website. From the website, I could not quite tell what the product is or really does.
Harvest of Change
Harvest of Change, experience news and information in 3-D environment. Some of the people involved: @anthonydb, @gannettdigital. More info.
O-0: This project is a lot of fun. The suggested method of viewing is Oculus Rift, but it does not require it. I am afraid it might be an idea ahead of its time. When I say this, this isn’t necessarily bad, but when an idea is too early for the marketplace, can the makers / sponsors continue to invest in it to wait for the marketplace to catch up?
Mapstory
@MapStory, a web app that helps people create and share stories told spatially and temporally — http://mapstory.org/ | @jonpmarino
O-o: Great idea, but it needs a front-end facelift. When I visited the site, I didn’t know where to click. Love the concept though!
Open Civic Data Project
Open Civic Data, a project aimed at making local data more open, creating data standards, and engaging community members to both contribute to the process by @SunFoundation — http://opencivicdata.org/ | @stereogab and @jamesturk
O-o: Love it. This pulls at my heart strings. I hope they extend passed just political data. Also, I wonder if there is any overlap between this project and Civx.us.
Washington Post Crime Data Automation
Washington Post crime data automation, is a project to try to automate the posting of crime reports. This is currently happening, but requires human hands, clean up, and monitoring. Some of the people involved: @DeniseDSLu, @pezondispenser, @PostCrime.
O-o: This is a method that has been used at multiple newspapers, and it seems that everyone who has to deal with multiple jurisdictions are having the same problems. If they can solve how to get past this and genericize a framework, it would be a huge help to newspapers everywhere.
Presidential Tracker
U.S. News & World Report’s Presidential Campaign Tracker, is a campaign tracker — http://bit.ly/1xmUM2h | Add the tracker to your site | @Lindzcook, @ASoergel, @usnews.
O-o: Again, another project that pulls at my heart strings. These kinds of trackers first started in 2008 (I think. I am unaware of any from 2004). We had one when I worked at WashingtonPost.com. The difference between this one and the WaPo one was that this one is embeddable, which is awesome. The only thing that I don’t like is that they used Tableau, so they don’t have a site around the data, but just have one-offs. A tracker of sorts seems like a tool that could be built out in a generic fashion and multiple people could contribute.
Epilogue
Last but not least, my husband, who edited this post gave me his own critique of using “O-o” for “observations and opinions” in my writing. He asked, “Why does every post start with a surprise crazy face?”
