Attending the Open Cities Summit and the International Open Data Conference has challenged me to think more critically about open data and the issues that surround the free release of information. My perspective on open data is simple: laws describe what should happen and data describes what did happen. We have open laws so the […]
A few months ago, I dug into the issue of how state and local governments regulate sharing economy companies that operate in their jurisdictions. I argued that open data should play an key role in a new regulatory approach for these 21st century companies. With a new battle over how the sharing economy is regulated […]
This past Sunday’s New York Times had an interesting interview with Walt Bettinger, the CEO of Charles Schwab, during which he said: I draw a distinction between management and leadership. There’s a contractual relationship with your manager. And you can do your job and fulfill the terms of that contract and never really have your […]
Recently I had the great honor to join a number of other distinguished Civic Hall members in meeting with a delegation of five digital infrastructure professionals visiting from India as part of the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program. The title of the study tour is “Showcasing the American Technological Experience.” The group included […]
I was recently given the opportunity to develop a series of geospatial information system (GIS) classes for the New York City Department of Transportation. These classes build on the successful series of data analytics classes I’ve been teaching for NYC employees and are intended to help develop the ability of NYCDOT employees to better leverage open […]
As I wrote about in a recent blog post, I’m interested in the idea of building and fostering a data-driven culture within government and non-profit organizations. My inspiration is the work of Carl Anderson and his book Creating a Data-Driven Organization. While I’d been intending to let these ideas ferment ahead of the NYC DCAS […]
I think like most people, I often use the adjective “data-driven” without having really thought about what it means. I often use it in my data analytics classes as shorthand for how government can be led by data without stopping to discuss the concept or even explain the term. A recent webcast with Carl Anderson changed that. He was talking […]
