Data is a Team Sport is our open-research project exploring the data literacy eco-system and how it is evolving in the wake of post-fact, fake news and data-driven confusion.  We are producing a series of videos, blog posts and podcasts based on a series of online conversations we are having with data literacy practitioners. To subscribe to the podcast series, cut and paste the following link into your podcast manager : http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:311573348/sounds.rss or find us in the iTunes Store and Stitcher. The conversation in this episode focuses on the challenges of getting governments to prioritise data literacy both externally and internally, and incentives to produce open-data and features:

• Ania Calderon, Executive Director at the Open Data Charter, a collaboration between governments and organisations working to open up data based on a shared set of principles. For the past three years, she led the National Open Data Policy in Mexico, delivering a key presidential mandate. She established capacity building programs across more than 200 public institutions.
• Tamara Puhovski, a sociologist, innovator, public policy junky and an open government consultant. She describes herself as a time traveler journeying back to 19th and 20th century public policy centers and trying to bring them back to the future.

Notes from the conversation:

Access to government produced open-data is critical for healthy functioning democracies. It takes an eco-system that includes a critical thinking citizenry, knowledgeable civil servants, incentivised elected officials, and smart open-data advocates.  Everyone in the eco-system needs to be focused on long-term goals.

• Elected officials needs incentivising beyond monetary arguments, as budgetary gains can take a long time to fruition.
• Government’s capacities to produce open-data is an issue that needs greater attention.
• We need to get past just making arguments for open-data, but be able to provide good solid stories and examples of its benefits.

Resources mentioned in the conversation:

• The Google Doc on Open Data: Concerns about opening up data, and responses which have proved effective
• From the Open Data Charter and the Transparency and Accountability Initiative: Rethinking data for accountability
• A Checklist for Open Government Beginners
• From Global Integrity: Exploring How Data Can Make A Difference: A Call for Collective Action
• Doing Anti-Corruption Differently: The New ACE Research Programme at SOAS
• On the Open Knowledge International Blog: Open data quality – the next shift in open data?
• From the GovLab: Why we should care about bad data
• White Paper from the WebFoundation: A smart web for a more equal future
• Rob Davidson’s Open Data vs Post Fact Politics Presentation

Also, not mentioned, but be sure to check out Tamara’s work on Open Youth

View the full online conversation: