Socrata's Q&A with Tyrone Grandison, Deputy Chief Data Officer for the U.S. Department of Commerce, includes some wonderful advice on “making open data interesting”: “Whenever possible, tie it to a standard. Always ensure that it meets one or more use cases. Provide an example of a story that can be told with the open data you are creating.”
I believe this advice can be extended to the corporate setting as well. We need to keep humanizing the value of data and relating data to processes and outcomes people care about.
Note how and continues into stories. It's as if you need data standards as Grandison's advice begins with standardsthe foundation for the picture you're going to paint about the usefulness of the data. Even if you're only going to produce one case, one story, you still want to be sure – whenever possible – that the data you're talking about has multiple uses in different scenarios, and data standards are about making sure of exactly that.
From the perspective of commerce, I don't think the open data movement has too much to worry about when it comes to generating interest. There's a natural enthusiasm for open data which is expressed by the great levels of volunteering we see in open data, and the growth of related start-up activity. We could do with more of this spirit inside our corporations. And I believe it's coming – the zest for data is leaking into organizations and the excitement about what can be achieved with data is continuing to grow. Socrata
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