Today is my last day in Vancouver – a city that has touched me personally through its social issues in ways I touch on with my write-up on the Open Data Manchester blog – and I thought it would be useful to give some context to the discussions we had when creating our statements.
We developed our statements the same way other cities did – via a workshop – this Tuesday afternoon just gone.
We decided to subvert the agenda a little and talk about Vancouver’s unique position: it has both some of the wealthiest and poorest neighbourhoods in Canada, has legislative frameworks for the the adoption of open data and standards as a default position within public authorities, has recently hosted the Winter Olympics and has broadly progressive local government. This mix is unique globally in terms of open data, social issues and serendipity.
As a result, we wished to discuss what happens when public authorities release data by default, rather than be forced into releasing data through FoIA requests or similar. The cultural shift this has created within public authorities is significant, but 12 months in the effects are yet to be widely understood within the population at large. As the World’s first city to be committed to the “open 3″, – open data, open standards and open source – many other authorities will look with interest to see how the civilian population are effected.
We also explored something that works against serendipity in cities: conscious and unconscious tribes. In sparsely populated areas, humans tend to intermingle and share knowledge with those they would not share with in an urban contexts, and people as a result can become more isolated individuals in urban settings. This contrasts with situations where entire communities are isolated and therefore individuals become more involved with each other.
The question we explored was whether technology encouraged or discouraged the urban situation of “cliques” and “echo chambers”, and concluded that choices of technology can be instrumental: “Facebook is for the people you went to school with, Twitter is for the people you wished you’d gone to school with” as one Twitter meme puts it.
One point raised was that we have reduced the number of places we talk within urban settings: up to 3.5 hours a day is spent by a North American travelling in an isolated chamber, perhaps being “informed” by talk show DJs. One participant summed it up very simply: “We need more places to talk, and to talk to more people”
We also concerned ourselves with the issue of economic diversity in a city and how that might affect serendipity in an individual’s life: a middle-class person may “discover” information via their digital devices plugged into a plethora of data, but how are the poorest in society going to be able to engage if they do not have access to such devices?
One of the points made was that open data needs open standards and open source: one alone is not enough. This is critical in answering the above question because the problem Vancouver wanted to “fix” was not of availability of data, but accessibility. The open standard by which information is shared might not be a technical specification but a meeting, or a discussion in another language: in other words, it must be culturally aware.
A strong example that threads through the issue of serendipity in the context of a data-connected society is that information that is made free can find itself landing into contexts that weren’t possible before: an individual with access to data from a computer in a public library and the numeracy skills to understand it, may choose to share knowledge gained with individuals with neither access or numeracy skills via a conversation in a bar, for example.
This does not excuse a lack in numeracy or access to technology that lowers the barrier to gaining information, but we should keep in mind that it is not our job as enablers to make people share information and experience with each other on our terms, but rather find ways to push information out on their terms. Cultural awareness is key.
Vancouver is a fascinating city in many ways, and shares a great deal with Manchester in terms of issues and values, and I have found it more than serendipitous to find myself here for the last week, and several of us involved in the workshop are going to try and make sure there is a lasting relationship between Vancouver and Manchester going forward.
For background, here are the participants who were involved:
Irwin Oostindie is the Executive Director of W2 Community Media Arts Society in the heart of Vancouver. A Dutch/Canadian artist and administrator, he is involved in cultural planning, cultural infrastructure development, and supporting a media arts cluster in Vancouver’s inner-city. He has also worked as Executive Director of Gallery Gachet, an interdisciplinary cultural centre for artists informed by mental health issues, trauma and/or addictions.
Lianne Payne is heavily involved in supporting the work of W2 Community Media Arts Society, and has been working as an arts administrator and cultural worker for 20+ years in Vancouver and beyond. Lianne is dedicated to working with projects and organisations with a social and cultural mandate, and that consider the placement of art in the public realm.
Andrea Reimer serves on Vancouver’s City Council, and is responsible for pushing through the legislation to make Vancouver an “open3″ city. The Wikipedia article dedicated to her describes her life of adversity which she openly shares in order to inspire others. She is a long time supporter of sustainability, community economic development and social justice, and has volunteered as a board member of many community organizations. She was the first school trustee to be elected in Canada under the Green Party banner, and in 2007 was chosen by Al Gore to present “An Inconvenient Truth” which she presented to over 10,000 people.
Scott Neslon describes himself as an “information technology steward”, and is a technologist with extensive experience especially in open source and open systems. He is a co-founder of (to Mancunians, best described as MadLab-like) Free Geek Vancouver and the infamous Indymedia. He is also a political activist working with the Green Party at federal, provincial and municipal levels. He has also sat on the boards of several progressive, non-profit organisations with a range of interests.
Paul Robinson is a software development consultant and “network activist” in Manchester, England. He is a co-founder and the chairman of Fly The Coop which seeks to help freelancers and entrepreneurs in Manchester collaborate and share experience. He is working with Future Everything on an open data project to try and encourage Manchester to follow Vancouver’s lead and to move to a default position of opening data.