En Avant! From the Apple to the Tulip: The GovLab Goes to Ottawa

This week members of the GovLab team will participate in the Third International Open Data Conference (IODC) in Ottawa, Canada on May 28th and 29th. As a “think and do tank” focused on how to govern better using new technology, GovLab looks at how data, and especially the policy of opening data for free reuse, can improve decision-making. So it’s only natural that eight of us are heading to Canada.
With 2,000 attendees anticipated from around the world including government officials, civil society organizations, and business leaders, we are eager to learn from one another about where open data is driving social change, what’s working and what’s not. We want to exchange ideas about such topics as: the use and impact of open data around the world; who is and who isn’t using open data and for what; training strategies for helping open data innovators take projects from idea to implementation; data collaboratives where companies and governments share data for public good; how business are using open data to create jobs and drive economic impact; and how governments are using open data to solve problems.
Come talk with us on…..

• Wednesday, May 27 at 9:30am when Stefaan Verhulst will chair a panel at the Open Data Research Network on Measurements and Methods, where the discussion will be about how to assess the demand for and use of open data.
• Thursday, May 28th at 9:30am when Beth Noveck will speak at the Open Data Around the World session and talk about the impediments to and opportunities for deriving impact from open data, especially for governing.
• Thursday May 28th at 12pm when The GovLab will announce the launch of Open Data 300 Korea, the newest member of the Open Data 500 Global Network, the community of partners looking at how business is benefiting from open data.
• Friday May 29th at 11:30am when Stefaan Verhulst will moderate the panel Corporate Data Sharing for the Public Good: Shades of Open and explore how private entities are sharing data for public good.
• Friday May 29th at 1:30pm when Arnaud Sahuguet will speak at the Strengthening Open Data Leadership in Government session about how expert networking can embolden open data leadership around the world.

Throughout the conference, the GovLab will have a booth dedicated to sharing our work and connecting with the open data community.

Come meet GovLab team members: Maria Hermosilla, David Sangokoya, Andrew Young, and Lauren Yu and GovLab visiting researcher from Italy Francesca de Chiara here at our table.
If you can’t make it to Ottawa in person, you can follow our liveblogging and tweeting from the conference @TheGovLab to get the latest news on developments out of the IODC or sign up to receive the GovLab Digest, a weekly curation of popular and academic articles about governance innovations like open data. We’ll have an issue coming out from Ottawa this Friday!
Also check out our coaching programs dedicated to helping innovators take a project — including an open data project — from idea to implementation at http://www.thegovlabacademy.org.
We hope to see you there!