As we announced in January, the Open Knowledge Foundation has been awarded funds from the Open Data Institute to improve the quality and interoperability of Frictionless Data. We are halfway through the process of reviewing our documentation and adding new features to Frictionless Data, and wanted to give a status update showing how this work is improving the overall Frictionless experience.
We have already done four feedback sessions and have been delighted to meet 16 users from very diverse backgrounds and different levels of expertise using Frictionless Data, some of whom we knew and some not. In spite of the variety of users, it was very interesting to see a widespread consensus on the way the documentation can be improved. You can have a look at a few of the community PRs here and here.
We are very grateful to all the Frictionless Data users who took part in our sessions – they helped us see all of our guides with fresh eyes. It was very important for us to do this review together with the Frictionless Data community because they are (together with those to come) the one who will benefit from it, so are the best placed to flag issues and propose changes.
Every comment is being carefully reviewed at the moment and the new documentation will soon be released.
What are the next steps?
- We are going to have 8 to 12 more users giving us feedback in the coming month.
- We are also adding a FAQ section based on the questions we got from our users in the past.
If you have any feedback and/or improvement suggestions, please let us know on our Discord channel or on Twitter.
More about Frictionless Data
Frictionless Data is a set of specifications for data and metadata interoperability, accompanied by a collection of software libraries that implement these specifications, and a range of best practices for data management. The project is funded by the Sloan Foundation.
Sara leads the Open Knowledge Network, which brings together experts of the digital commons globally. The Network’s main focus is the intersection of tech and democracy. At Open Knowledge Foundation Sara also supports open source and open data communities, like the Frictionless Data one, and is passionate about all issues linked to community care and health, like governance. Sara has extensive experience in managing projects. Before joining Open Knowledge Foundation, she was part of a project advocating for public libraries to be on the EU agenda (notably for the review of the Copyright Directive), and was part of the team that developed Khan Academy in French.
