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ODD 2019: eventos no Brasil

- February 28, 2019 in accountability, Dados Abertos, debates, hackathon, LAI, Lei de acesso à informação, Open Data Day, transparência

O Open Data Day é um momento anual onde todo o mundo debate e promove, por um dia, o uso de dados abertos. Em geral, acontecem eventos, workshops, fóruns online, hackatons e todo o tipo de atividade usando informação livre. O intuito da data é incentivar governos, empresas e a sociedade civil a usarem dados abertos em suas iniciativas. A gente explicou um pouco melhor o que é o dia neste texto aqui. Em 2019, o evento acontece pela nona vez. Este ano, a data escolhida pela nossa rede internacional foi o dia 2 de março, sábado. No entanto, como no Brasil a data será carnaval, estamos aconselhando que os eventos locais sejam marcados para o dia 9 de março ou datas posteriores. Já temos eventos marcados em Fortaleza, Porto Alegre e Natal. Confira os detalhes abaixo. Fortaleza Dia: 23/03 Hora: 09:00 Local: Casa da Cultura Digital (Rua dos Pacajus, 33 – Praia de Iracema) Mais informações em breve. Natal Dia: 23/03 Hora: 08:30 Local: IFRN Central (Avenida Senador Salgado Filho, 1559, Tirol). Submeta sua palestra no SpeakerFight do evento. Mais informações em breve. Porto Alegre Dia: 09/03 Hora: 09:30 Local: Unisinos Programação e inscrição disponíveis aqui. Pretende realizar um Open Data Day na sua cidade? Envie um e-mail para comunicacao@ok.org.br para que a gente possa listar sua atividade aqui! Flattr this!

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Open Knowledge Brasil participa da Trilha para Governo Aberto do Imaflora

- February 28, 2019 in accountability, agricultura, clima, controle social, Dados Abertos, florestas, Imaflora, Meio ambiente, Open Knowledge Brasil, Parceria para Governo Aberto, transparência

* Com informações do site da Parceria para Governo Aberto O Instituto de Manejo e Certificação Florestal e Agrícola (Imaflora) lança a Trilha para Governo Aberto, site que reúne os principais conceitos sobre transparência e acesso à informação, dados abertos, participação social e accountability aplicados às políticas de clima, floresta e agricultura.   Na plataforma, que adota recursos de animação, de literatura de cordel e do percurso de uma trilha, especialistas explicam diversos conteúdos que compõem o conceito de Governo Aberto ao longo de 20 vídeos. Natália Mazotte, diretora-executiva da Open Knowledge Brasil, participou do módulo de dados abertos, mostrando o potencial de geração de conhecimento e de controle social destes dados e indicando que eles podem trazer algumas soluções para diversos desafios que enfrentamos na sociedade, com foco especial no potencial de uso de dados na área de clima, floresta e agricultura. Conheça a iniciativa: https://trilha.imaflora.org   Flattr this!

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Open Data Day 2019: 2nd March

- February 28, 2019 in Events, Open Data Day

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How to deal with IP rights of growing projects and products at hackathons – experience from the Japanese context

- February 28, 2019 in hackathon, IP, japan, OK Japan, Open Data Day, tools

Ahead of Open Data Day on Saturday 2nd March 2019, Tomoaki Watanabe from our Japanese chapter Open Knowledge Japan shares more information on a tool they developed to facilitate dealing with intellectual property (IP) rights during hackathon events. This year, many Open Data Day events are planned in Japan: Open Knowledge Japan created an overview at https://odd.okfn.jp/. The main idea is simple: a tool to facilitate consensus formation on the intellectual property (IP) rights in the materials generated out of a hackathon. That is so that interested participants, or even others, know that they can develop a promising project further after the event is over. You would see many gems generated at a hackathon: interesting projects, promising products and services, inspiring ideas, sketches, mockups and so on. The excitement and the passion it produces may fade away over time. And sometimes, you may be disappointed by the fact that a seemingly promising project does not get anywhere, even when there are some people who want to develop it further. It is just that the one who wants to carry on cannot figure out if doing so is okay. Another problem related to the rights and licenses issue happens when a for profit company hosts a hackathon and claims all the IP rights – this may make some participants feel surprised and exploited. In Japan, a research project related to digital fabrication <http://coi.sfc.keio.ac.jp/> saw this problem and came up with a rather simple set of templates, called “a participation agreement,” <https://github.com/IAMAS/makeathon_agreement> to facilitate and document participants’ consensus on the rights issues around hackathons or makeathons. (Disclosure: I am currently a member of the research project, although I am not one of the members who developed it.) It has been developed with the help of a lawyer to ensure proper legal force. The main developer helped introduce them to well over a dozen hackathons and similar events, and a small study found that all private and public sector organizers knew about the tool (Kobayashi & Mizuno, 2016). The tool is published under an open license (CC-BY-SA 4.0), and meant to be customized by the organizer(s) of the event adopting the tool.

Legal hack group brainstorms solutions to stakeholder challenge by MC Legal Hackathon and Franklin Graves, CC0

How to Use and Major Features

The tool is a set of documents. The Participation Consent Form is like a terms of service for the event, so that the participants know, prior to the event, what happens to his rights. The Post-Event Confirmation Form is to be agreed after the event. The “default settings” of the documents are such that participants’ intellectual property rights stay with participants. The exception is when a participant becomes unreachable, in which case his rights are deemed waived. It means that, at least, participants can explore what to do with the unfinished project and negotiate over the terms. Additionally, it has a clause stating that contributing ideas alone would not result in any ground for an IP right. These settings are in the pre-participation document, and the post-participation document is for writing down an agreement among the contributing group members over their rights, permissions, terms, etc. so that they know what they can do with the output of their team. One important “default setting” there is the statement that those who do not participate into commercialization after the event will waive all their IP rights. Some organizers may think that some revenue sharing scheme or acknowledgement of contribution (attribution / crediting) should be adopted as a default. In order to customize the documents, a good starting point would be to change the very first part – from title, organizer’s name, and to Art. 1, which is about the purpose of the event. Another section to customize may be the Art. 2, where the IP rights are discussed. If a Creative Commons Attribution license (CC-BY) should be adopted as a baseline for copyrights in participants’ contributions, for example, this would be a good place to state that. Art. 2 of the post-event document has the “default setting” mentioned above on non-participating members of post-event commercialization waiving the IP rights. One additional thing to note is that because the tool was originally developed for Japanese context, they contain references to the Japanese copyright law. There is a repository at GitHub so that people can report suggestions, bugs or questions. Forking the tool is also welcome, according to a Japanese material by the developers. To recap, these documents (templates) are good for avoiding the avoidable rights-clearance issues arising out of collaborative events like a hackathon.   Reference: Kobayashi & Mizuno (2016). “Making rules regarding intellectual property rights at co-creation events such as hack-a-thons: proposal of a participation agreement.” Digital Practice, v.7, n.2, pp.128-135. (in Japanese)  

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Construindo um mundo mais aberto

- February 27, 2019 in Conhecimento Livre, Dados Abertos, Destaque, Open Knowledge Internacional

* Texto da CEO da Open Knowledge Internacional, Catherine Stihler. Esta é minha primeira semana no meu novo papel como Diretora-Executiva da Open Knowledge Internacional. Habilidades digitais e uso de dados sempre foram uma paixão pessoal, e eu não posso esperar para trabalhar com e conhecer tantas pessoas talentosas lutando por um mundo mais aberto. É um privilégio fazer parte de uma organização que estabeleceu o padrão global de compartilhamento genuinamente livre e aberto de informações, com base na visão de seu fundador, Dr. Rufus Pollock, que deseja criar uma era da informação aberta. Houve muitos ganhos nos últimos anos que tornaram nossa sociedade mais aberta, com especialistas – sejam cientistas, empresários ou ativistas – usando dados para o bem comum. Mas eu me junto à OKI no momento em que a abertura está em risco. A aceitação de fatos básicos está sob ameaça, com muitas opiniões de especialistas descartadas e uma cultura de “anti-intelectualismo” daqueles que estão nos extremos da política. Os fatos são simplesmente chamados de “notícias falsas”. A ascensão da extrema direita e da extrema esquerda traz uma abordagem autoritária que pode nos levar de volta a uma sociedade fechada. O caminho a seguir é ressuscitar os três fundamentos de tolerância, fatos e ideias, para evitar a deriva para os extremos. Quero ajudar a aproveitar o poder dos dados abertos e liberar seu potencial para o bem público. No último século, o filósofo Karl Popper argumentou que a abertura à análise e ao questionamento promoveria o progresso social e político. Sua visão pode hoje ser vista da maneira como dados abertos podem melhorar nossa vida no século XXI. Há cidades na Europa que usam dados de sensores em tempo real para informar aos motoristas a disponibilidade precisa de vagas de estacionamento nas ruas e a localização dos ônibus em tempo real. Os dados abertos podem ajudar o meio ambiente, analisando as tendências de uso na forma como tratamos o lixo doméstico, podem melhorar a saúde de uma nação prevendo surtos de doenças e podem permitir que as autoridades respondam a eventos climáticos extremos como tempestades de neve e inundações de forma coordenada. E isso pode beneficiar os consumidores também. Na semana passada, em uma conferência de tecnologia em Edimburgo, encontrei uma empresa escocesa chamada Get Market Fit, que criou uma ferramenta on-line gratuita chamada Think Check. Ela permite que os compradores verifiquem se um produto ou vendedor é o que parece e avisam se você está exposto a falsificações ou fraudes. Quando os dados abertos se tornam úteis, utilizáveis ​​e usados ​​- quando são acessíveis e significativos e podem ajudar alguém a resolver um problema – é quando se torna conhecimento aberto. E não se trata apenas de tornar nossas vidas mais fáceis. O conhecimento aberto pode tornar as instituições poderosas mais responsáveis, e informações vitais de pesquisa podem nos ajudar a enfrentar desafios como pobreza, doenças e mudanças climáticas. Se sabemos como os governos gastam nosso dinheiro – tanto em seus planos quanto na realidade – eles são mais responsáveis ​​perante os cidadãos. O poeta Robert Frost, que falou na posse do presidente John F. Kennedy, escreveu sobre um homem que disse que “boas cercas fazem bons vizinhos”. Mas a verdade é que bons vizinhos não colocam cercas – eles compartilham conhecimento através de um espaço aberto. Compete a todos nós nos tornarmos bons vizinhos para que possamos construir um mundo mais aberto. Flattr this!

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Hans Prinzhorn’s Artistry of the Mentally Ill (1922)

- February 27, 2019 in Uncategorized

Artworks from Prinzhorn's landmark text in the history of thinking about mental illness and creativity.

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Hans Prinzhorn’s Artistry of the Mentally Ill (1922)

- February 27, 2019 in Adolf Wölfli, art brut, Artistry of the Mentally Ill, Hans Prinzhorn, mental illness, outsider art, raw art

Artworks from Prinzhorn's landmark text in the history of thinking about mental illness and creativity.

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Protecting libraries and the vital role they play in local communities

- February 27, 2019 in Events, library, Open GLAM, OpenGLAM

This article was originally published in The Scotsman. With councils across the UK facing major financial pressures, libraries are too often seen as an easy target for cuts. In 2017, it is estimated that more than 120 libraries closed their doors in England, Wales and Scotland. That figure is likely to have increased last year. Thousands of jobs have also been lost, with libraries’ existence more reliant on volunteers than ever before. But closing down a library has to be one of the most short-sighted decisions that public officials can make, with serious consequences for the future of local communities. There is a widespread misconception that the services offered are out-of-date – a relic of a bygone age before youngsters started carrying smartphones in their pockets with instant access to Wikipedia, and before they started downloading books on their Kindle. But a recent study by the Carnegie UK Trust found that people aged 15-24 in England are the most likely age group to use libraries. And nearly half of people aged 25 to 34 still visit them, according to the study. Today, the most successful libraries have remodelled themselves to become fit for the 21st century, and more can follow suit if they receive the right support and advice, and have the backing of governments and councils. I am encouraged by the Scottish Government’s support for adequate library services across Scotland. Tomorrow, the tenth EDGE conference held by Edinburgh City Libraries will be held in the capital, where library experts from across the globe will gather to share good practice and discuss future developments. Everyone attending shares the same belief that libraries offer crucial support to help people help themselves – to support literacy, digital participation, learning, employability, health, culture and leisure. As a former MEP who founded the European Parliament’s All-Party Library group, I’m delighted to be attending this event in my new role as chief executive of Open Knowledge International. As experts in opening up knowledge, we help governments, universities, and civil society organisations reach their full potential by providing them with skills and tools to publish, use, and understand data. Part of our role involves delivering technology solutions which are particularly relevant for libraries. One of our initiatives is called OpenGLAM, a global network that works to open up content and data held by galleries, libraries, archives and museums. All over the world, libraries are coming up with new ideas to make them relevant for the modern age. Take virtual reality as an example, which is arguably the most important innovation since the smartphone. It not only provides a source of fun and entertainment but it has also become a platform to explore science, nature, history, geography and so much more. You no longer have to pick up a book in a library to learn about the Himalayas, the Great Barrier Reef or the Grand Canyon – you can explore them in virtual reality. You can learn by time travelling back to a prehistoric age or go forward into the yet undiscovered possibilities of the future. Virtual technology can also be used to visit places that humans can never travel to other than in the Hollywood world of Ant-Man – deep inside the body to a cellular level for example. And technology can be used to examine the impact of humankind on our natural world, particularly the consequences of climate change. I have long championed the importance of coding as part of the education curriculum, especially given that Scotland is home to more than 100,000 digital tech economy jobs. But while there remains a shortfall in what is delivered in our schools, libraries can fill that gap. Our world is moulded in code, and libraries offer young people an opportunity to bring ideas to life and build things that will bring joy to millions. So by embracing the future, they can continue to be an unrivalled place of learning, like they always were for previous generations. But libraries are much more than just places to learn. They are part of the fabric of a local community. At the EDGE conference we will hear from Henrik Jochumsen of the University of Copenhagen about the Danish ‘three-function model’ for libraries: as a place, as a space and as relations. Libraries can serve as a catalyst for change and urban development and build new creative partnerships in towns and cities, which in turn create vibrant, liveable and coherent communities. We will also hear about the Richland Library in Columbia, South Carolina, which has transformed into a ‘studio’ – meaning a meeting room with four walls can be a computer lab, storytime room, homework centre, book club, stage and theatre, all in one day. Last year, Liverpool Central Library was named the Bookseller’s Library of the Year in the UK. Its success, which has resulted in a steady increase in customers, stems from the decision to make the building part of the community, with events where people create art projects, and late-night openings until midnight. And being part of the community means providing a service to every single member of that community. While some people in society become ever more marginalised, there is a job to be done to ensure that digital library services are more inclusive to all, including people with disabilities. And as more people live into old age, libraries can play vital role as a dementia friendly space. They also provide an important resource for migrant families to develop their reading skills with access to dual language titles. Public libraries have been at the heart of our communities for decades, and I dearly hope that continues for decades to come. And with technological advancements, they can become more useful than ever before. But their success is also dependent on those in a position of power recognising their worth.

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Medieval Pattern Poems of Rabanus Maurus (9th Century)

- February 26, 2019 in Uncategorized

Spectacular and complex pattern poems from Maurus' De laudibus sanctae crucis (In Praise of the Holy Cross)

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Medieval Pattern Poems of Rabanus Maurus (9th Century)

- February 26, 2019 in best of design, best of language and communication, concrete poetry, De laudibus sanctae crucis, design, pattern poetry, poetry, Rabanus Maurus, visual poetry

Spectacular and complex pattern poems from Maurus' De laudibus sanctae crucis (In Praise of the Holy Cross)

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