First Meeting Report of the local group in Canada, July 9th 2013

2013/07/13, by

Translation by Fabian Rodriguez

[Version française]


The local Open Knowledge Foundation Network group in Canada is a self-managed group dedicated to the promotion of open knowledge.

Open Knowledge includes any content, information, data, document and any information system that everyone is free to access (FAI), use, reuse and redistribute without any legal restrictions, technological or social, or based on a person’s status or field of activity.
Open knowledge becomes open data when knowledge is useful, usable and used.
Source : Gene Shackman

This July 9, 2013, fifteen passionate open knowledge activists shared their expectations of action and projects. One by one, they explained an idea or a project important to them. They identifies two main areas of interventions. The first concerns the education of citizens to open knowledge. The second focuses on the creation of links and collaboration between existing individuals and groups as well as the construction of communities across Canada. We took ideas as expressed.

I. Educate citizens to open knowledge

  • Promote best practices for data quality (metadata, open formats and databases);
  • Make people aware that the data available on the Web should be open but isn’t always. (FLO software is important, as long as the data it uses is open);
  • Offer a open data journalism scholarship to attract media attention;
  • Do events around the development of digital literacy to foster engagement and autonomy of non-profit organizations, journalists and civil society in order to join forces between groups around data and common goods of interest to them;
  • Develop open data around journalism and access to knowledge and information. As a citizen, open data should help to improve the city (“smart city”);
  • Provide training about open knowledge and collaboration;
  • Use OpenStreetMap database as a common platform for geo data open data projects;
  • Promote the release of scientific data;
  • Map the commons;

II. Create links, collaborate and build communities

  • Make connections with European activities, projects and initiatives as well as developing countries, specially where the Open Knowledge Foundation is present;
  • Organize a national annual event to reach different organizational levels;
  • Connect the local group to different groups and communities across Canada;
  • Connect organizations, such as Open Knowledge Foundation Network and organizations promoting FLO software;
  • Promoting a unique identifier for social media and other sites (using Mozilla Persona, OpenID);
  • Push the collaboration between different movements that promote access to knowledge: FLO software, linked open data, open access, open infrastructure;
  • Rally all those working to promote open data in various sectors (academic, scientific, entrepreneurial, community, etc..) to increased visibility and to stimulate greater attention on the part of citizens and leaders.

Finally, the question of formalizing the group in a structure such as a non-profit organization may be considered when deemed appropriate by the members.