The League of Women Voters of Stamford, along with the Ferguson Library and Rippowam Labs invites you to attend a Public Forum on Open Data in Stamford.
July 8, 6:30-8:00pm
Ferguson Library
One Public Library Plaza, Stamford CT 06904
What is Open Data? And Why Should I Care?
with panelists
Tyler Kleykamp, CT Chief Data Officer
Sabina Sitaru, Chief Innovation Officer of Hartford
Jack Dougherty, Trinity College
Frank Skornia, Digital Librarian Ferguson LibraryDo you know exactly how much of your tax money is spent on street lights or on cancer research? What is the shortest, safest bicycle route from your home to your work? Where in your region will you find the best job opportunities and the highest number of trees per capita? When can you influence decisions about topics you care about, and whom should you talk to?
The answers to these and many other questions, exist in the data generated by public bodies and community organizations. Creating a centralized access point for sharing and formatting regulations makes it Open Data; a tremendous resource that is as yet largely untapped.
In 2014, the State of Connecticut launched CT Open Data (data.ct.gov) in response to Executive Order No. 39 (2013) which committed the state to creating an open data portal containing data collected across all state government agencies to be shared with the public. The website also includes access to economic development data that was made public under Executive Order No. 38. A microsite within CT Open Data was created for the City of Stamford in October 2014.
Any programmers out there who would like to take part in this project are encouraged to attend the meeting, or contact me at management@rippowamlabs.org. This effort will provide many learning opportunities and participants will gain experience with the latest in open source technologies.