Data might be the new oil, but a lot of us just need gasoline
Crowdsourced data for everyone
One of the biggest tropes in the era of big data is that data is the new oil — it’s very valuable…
Open Data
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The tricky business of acting on live data before it’s too late
We’re generating more data than ever and analyzing a lot more of it, too. But when it comes to responding quickly to potential public health crises or other situations, we need more data, more analysis and more people paying attention to it all.
This analysis of modern history is a prime example of why big data really matters
A researcher has analyzed the past 35 years of world history in order to find periods most similar to present-day Ukraine and Arab-Spring-era Egypt. It’s a great example of the power of big data to point us in the direction of how to solve complicated problems.
Microsoft, Amazon target climate change with cloud computing grants
Microsoft and Amazon Web Services both announced research grant programs on Tuesday, promising millions of hours of cloud computing resources to winning researchers, as well as access to mountains of government data.
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Uber says it loves public transport and has the data to prove it
Uber is claiming that late-night train service in Boston has resulted in decreased Uber rides after bars close on the weekends. And, the company claims, it’s happy about it because its customers are happier.
Welcome to the era of big, bad open information. Context needed.
Connected devices can generate gobs of data, but if we’re going to open it up we’re also going to the need the context that will make it meaningful.
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Measuring the world’s emotions using Twitter and Amazon’s cloud
Amazon Web Services, Gnip and two Australian research institutions have teamed up to track the emotions of tweets in near real-time and offer the data to the public via visualizations, downloadable tables and an API.
Twitter’s data grants will be used to research food poisoning, cancer, happiness
Twitter has announced the winners of its inaugural data grants program, which provide select researchers with access to the entire history of tweets. The six winning projects are wide ranging, from gastrointestinal illnesses to sports.
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Senate passes DATA Act; now onto the president
The Senate passed an amended version of the Data Accountability and Transparency (or DATA) Act on Thursday, nearly five months after the House…
5 reasons why good governments should embrace open data
City of Palo Alto CIO Jonathan Reichental came on the Structure Show podcast this week and talked about the promise of open government data. However, he cautioned, we’re a long way from where we need to be — and end that will require governments to change, too.
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Building a business on OpenStreetMap data? OpenCage Data wants to make that easier
With location becoming a key part of many new apps and services, the use of free OpenStreetMap data seems like a no-brainer. But, as OpenCage Data company Lokku learned, there’s a lot of complexity involved.
Bringing data to DC: Q&A with health data’s biggest evangelist HHS CTO Bryan Sivak
Nearly one year into his tenure as Chief Technology Office for the Department of Health and Human Services, Bryan Sivak chats about how open data can transform health care and why entrepreneurs should care.
Duedil rakes in $5M for its open data-powered due diligence services
The financial technology firm will use the funding to push on into Europe, which – by happy coincidence – has just decided to adopt governmental open data policies across the board.
Newspapers and guns: If data is available, should it always be published?
A New York newspaper has come under fire for publishing a map with the addresses of registered gun owners — data that is legally public, but not often published. The incident raises a number of thorny questions about what personal information should be made public and when.
Who are the doctors most trusted by doctors? Big data can tell you
By accessing and combining publicly-available datasets, health innovators are letting patients and others view connections between physicians. The so-called “DocGraph,” as one hacktivist calls it, could give patients a valuable window into who their doctors trust.
Open transport data in Germany? Not if you’re not Google
Germany’s state-owned rail company has threatened a developer with legal action for publishing its timetables and station coordinates – data it’s handed over to Google in an exclusive deal. The developer says he’s just trying to keep the public informed.
Why Europe is opening up its cultural history online
Moves to allow the digitization of ‘orphan works’ and free up the metadata around 20 million cultural objects will benefit the public and could inspire a new wave of apps and web services. But the underlying motivation is fundamentally political.
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Data Markets: a category in search of new business models
In domains like financial services, the buying and selling of data is commonplace, and providers such as Bloomberg and Thomson Reuters are…
Junar gets $1.2M to make open data more useful
As more “open data” comes online, finding the right data, managing its access and workflow, and fostering collaboration, is the problem startup Junar wants to attack with its new Open Data Platform. Customers can try it out for free, starting now.
In social data, a fight between science and privacy
According to some researchers, web companies such as Google, Amazon and Facebook are doing the research world a disservice because they won’t make their datasets available for peer review. These researchers have a point, but privacy concerns might always trump openness where openness matters at all.
British government bets big on open data for growth
The British government is gambling on the idea that greater access to public data will encourage economic growth — and resurrecting a plan it had previously killed to build a world-leading open data research center.
Factual Nabs $25 Million to Push Open Data
Factual, an open data start-up built by Applied Semantics co-founder Gil Elbaz, has raised $25 million in first-round funding to expand its data API service. The company is trying to build a platform for open data that developers can tap to power their applications.
Can Open Source Be Saved From Itself?
Open source is losing relevance as a standalone business strategy, but makes a great deal of sense as part of a larger strategy built on open data, open APIs, and more. Those still fixated on licensing are missing the point, not to mention big revenue opportunities.
Weekend Reading: A Desert Ghost Town, Burning PCs and Fertility Drugs For Cars
Today’s recommended reading links include a fascinating look at a ghost town in the California desert, an analysis of why more free parking would be bad for cities, an inspiring story about how open data helped Alzheimer’s research and a graveyard for computers in Ghana.
