Update (2009-02-23): registration for this workshop is now open. There is also a provisional programme.

We are pleased to announce that the 5th COMMUNIA Workshop, “Accessing, Using and Reusing Public Sector Content and Data” will take place in London in March 2009. Details are as follows:

  • When: 26-27th March 2009
  • Where: New Academic Building, London School of Economics, London UK

From the blurb:

Across the world there is a growing recognition of the social and commercial value of public sector content and data: be that the text of laws, the holdings of public museums, or the geospatial and environmental information collected by government agencies. Moreover, it is likely that better access to and use of such information is central to improving governance and increasing democratic participation.

The 5th COMMUNIA workshop, co-organised by the Open Knowledge Foundation and London School of Economics, will focus on how we can unlock the huge potential of public sector material. It will also examine the current obstacles to doing this — legal, technological and social — as well as how they can be overcome. In particular, much of the value of public sector material can only be realized if it is reused and interlinked — both activities that are currently difficult for a variety of legal and technological reasons.

The workshop will bring together researchers, policy-makers, stakeholders and representatives from across Europe for presentations and discussions about projects, policies and practices aimed at disseminating, connecting and building upon public sector material.

There will be four main sessions focusing on:

  1. Social and economic value of public sector material
  2. Getting the rights right: law and policy
  3. Getting the right tools for the job: technology and communities
  4. Exemplars and Obstacles: case studies

A full list of speakers and presentations will be published in the New Year!

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Dr. Jonathan Gray is Lecturer in Critical Infrastructure Studies at the Department of Digital Humanities, King’s College London, where he is currently writing a book on data worlds. He is also Cofounder of the Public Data Lab; and Research Associate at the Digital Methods Initiative (University of Amsterdam) and the médialab (Sciences Po, Paris). More about his work can be found at jonathangray.org and he tweets at @jwyg.

4 thoughts on “5th COMMUNIA Workshop: Accessing, Using and Reusing Public Sector Content and Data, London, 26-27th March 2009”

  1. Anyone is welcome, the event will be free, and registration details will be posted in the near future – watch this space!

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