Signal 2: From Public Data to Public Knowledge

Open data initiatives have spread around cities in recent years, becoming a must in any city’s innovation strategy. Currently, no mayor would dare to say she doesn’t have an open data portal, or that it’s not on her roadmap. This is great news for transparency and accountability, and also for civic technologists and innovators.

However, with tons of public data available it becomes increasingly difficult to find what you are looking for. And if the question you are trying to answer is complex and involves three or more data sources, you may need a data science degree and considerable analysis to answer it. Is that really public and open data?

To solve this, NYC-based Enigma is developing a Knowledge Graph of Public Data, which connects disparate public data sources into entities — people, places and companies. They promise this will enable people to answer complex questions in just moments through a simple search in their public data portal.

I believe city governments should cooperate with each other to build similar tools, and transform public data into public knowledge. Partnering with companies like Enigma and make a joint effort to build a Public Knowledge Graph could be the way to go.