Citizenship

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TODO: what's the purpose of this topic, goals, etc.

What Does the Citizen Want From Open Data? Dr. Teresa Dillon, Table 5 Outcomes of Workshop on Open Data, White Paper EI, 24 August 2011 Teresa@inventorium.org Tel: 087 684 1197

What Does the Citizen Want From Open Data? Every citizen wants the best quality of life they can achieve. For the most this quality is about striking a balance between everyday life, work and leisure – e.g., good quality housing, opportunities for work and career development, cultural and leisure spaces, which are nearby and inexpensive. Citizens want control over their environment. Empowering citizens and engaging them in the decision-making processes enables people to feel in control of their environments. Control requires trust and active participation between the government and citizen. Open data enables this relationship between the citizen and government to form by creating more inclusive democratic and transparent layers between governing bodies and the public.

Open Data should work for the citizen and enable or support: 1. Fluid links between living, working, cultural and leisure needs 2. Empower people and ensure they feel in control of how their environments are shaped 3. Provide access to content and experiences 4. Create value and insight 5. Create layers of connectivity between individuals, their communities and governing councils and parties

But does the citizen really care about Open Data? We believe the citizen has to care. We believe that all public data should be open and be free of charge to use. Cultures of care need to be fostered so as to ensure a sustained quality of life for our current and future generations. Awareness of the value of Open Data on our life will be an essential part of any campaign policy in this space. Any awareness campaign in this area also needs to tie directly into our educational systems. However to support citizen awareness of the use and benefits of Open Data we need too: Distinguish between different types of citizens from individuals, to collectives and communities. Understand the needs of the citizen by actively engaging and listening to existing groups who are working on the ground (e.g., police, social bodies etc). We need to recognise that the citizen is not just a consumer of data they are also a producer. Take advantage of our population size and geographical scale. Great goods in small parcels – we should aspire to become world leaders in this area.

Next Steps and Actions: 1) Digital/Data Literacy document with recommendations on how to support this. Integrate with education campaign. 2) Link to education reforms. Communicate with Education Department and ensure that open data is on their agenda and integrated within appropriate curriculum subjects. 3) Ad campaign – public examples of Open Data in ‘real-world’ practice. 4) Citizen Campaign Programme – no tech but continuous understanding of needs and wants. Link to the police and other community groups working in this area; support joined up thinking. 5) Learners Programme – e.g., similar to Young Rewired, UK 6) Understanding the underlying economic model that funds all this – how to make it systemic