The world-wide Open Data Hackfest

An iPhone app for tracking bus schedules. A Google maps mash-up showing events by season. A budget tracking app that “finds the gravy.”

These are just a few of the applications that began development today all over the world using municipal data released under “open data” policies.

The past year has seen a trend of more and more city governments posting data online for anyone to use, encouraging groups of hackers to create applications making use of that information.

It could be said that the trend has reached critical mass with hackers in 73 cities gathering today to hack away at the data. Toronto, New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal, Vancouver, Victoria and Guelph were just some of the cities taking part. Cities across the United Kingdom, India, France and Brazil among other countries also took part.

The event was put together in part by Vancouver open data advocate David Eaves and Ottawan Edward Ocampo-Gooding.

As the Hackfest opened, a long table was covered with a large sheet of white paper where participants were encouraged to write down ideas then move over two steps to the left and expand on other’s ideas.

Ideas like being able to find out where a bus is, tracking apartment vacancies, visualizing census data and many others.

According to Ocampo-Gooding, the plan is to show the ideas to city committees to demonstrate what data citizens are interested in accessing.

“Give us that data and we’ll make it happen,” he said.

Getting data from the City of Ottawa has been easier since the city adopted a formal open data policy in May, but much of it has been slow to make it online. Ocampo-Gooding said he is looking to have the Open Data Ottawa group set up their own data catalogue to help speed things along.

“We can help each other out,” he said.

One idea that came out of the Hackfest was a game to crowdsource the data from local residents.

Jesse Kaunisviita explained that he and others are working to create a site that hosts “quests” for data. For example, they could post “Find all water fountains in the city,” and assign points to users who identify water fountain locations.

There would be a leaderboard to show whose getting the most points, though people could simply tag a location they spot on the way to work.

“They don’t need to seek it out,” said Kaunisviita.

The Hackfests have provided a new wave of citizen engagement in the digital age.

“This makes people realize it’s not just about council, they can get involved too,” said Ocampo-Gooding.

TransGaming licenses 3D technology to Adobe Flash platform

TransGaming, founded in Ottawa and now headquarted in Toronto, has licensed the company's SwiftShader 3D technology to Adobe to improve 3D effects in Flash-based applications.

SwiftShader is a pure software 3D renderer that allows computers without high-end graphics cards to run 3D effects.

The software renderer has previously been used by casual gaming companies to add 3D effects that would run on computers not built for gaming.

"Working with Adobe on next generation 3D capabilities is a natural fit for TransGaming’s SwiftShader graphics technology and means that Adobe developers will be able to deliver 3D content on practically any hardware,” said TransGaming founder and chief technology officer Gavriel State in a press release. ”In addition to broader hardware compatibility, SwiftShader is portable, flexible and efficient - adding as little as 100kb to the size of the distributable content for Flash Player and Adobe AIR.”

“Future Adobe Flash Platform tools and technologies will drive 3D innovation on the web just as we powered the web video revolution,” added Anup Murarka, director of product marketing for the Flash Platform at Adobe.

 

Ottawa firm brings an alternative to Google AdWords

Ottawa-based AffinityClick is looking to take on Google's AdWords advertising platform.

Launched at BlogWord 2010 earlier this month, AffinityClick allows bloggers to insert product placements into their blog.

AffinityClick currently has a roster of 50 million products from 15,000 online retailers. The products that appear once a blogger has signed up and pasted the code into the blog are chosen based on context - similar to Google's AdSense.

AffinityClick also features filters that allow users to control what types of products and brands appear on their site.

Online publishers receive payment when readers click on one of the ads.

“AffinityClick is a simple, elegant alternative to Google’s AdWords. It makes it easy for publishers to add relevant advertising content to support their websites and blogs,” said AffinityClick president and CEO Justin Shimoon in a press release. “We listened to bloggers and online retailers during the development process and built an advertising service that simply performs better.”

The ad service is currently available to publishers in the United States, France, Germany, U.K and Australia, as well as Canada.

Ottawa looks to bring more Swedish tech to the city in wake of Ericsson profits

Purchasing Nortel assets during the Ottawa tech firm’s bankruptcy sale last year has paid off handsomely for Swedish telecom giant Ericsson, which posted record Q3 profits last week.

Now a consortium of Ottawa tech companies are in Sweden pitching Ottawa as an ideal city for more wireless firms to do business.

Looking to convince more European companies that Ottawa is ideal for expansion, a delegation from the Ottawa Centre for Research and Innovation (OCRI) and member companies like SiliconPRO, TransGaming Inc, YOU I Labs Inc and Flick Software are showing off tax incentives and other benefits in Stockholm and Helsinki.

As well as tax incentives, Ottawa is also home to many R&D centres, both public and private sector.

The record profits at Ericsson are attributed to both profits in the handset division (held jointly with Sony) as well as savings that came from purchasing Nortel divisions.

Perhaps neighbouring companies will follow.

Collaborative research project harnesses more power from the sun

Working together, several Canadian research groups have developed a method of powering a typical household on a sunny day using solar power.

Dubbed SUNRISE (Semiconductors Using Nanostructures for Record Increases in Solar-cell Efficiency,) the project is able to generate two kilowatts of power from solar energy.

Although solar power is already in use in many places, the amount of equipment required to make it work is not yet cost effective enough for the average homeowner to buy into the technology.

The collaboration between the University of Ottawa, National Research Council of Canada, University of Sherbrooke, Cyrium Technologies and Opel International has received a $1,751,000 investment from the Government of Canada to keep working towards the goal of renewable, sustainable energy.

The system is currently set up at the Canadian Centre for Housing Technology, located in Ottawa.

100 Gigabit network connects researchers even faster

Canada’s Advanced Research and Innovation Network (CANARIE) now has an ultra-fast lane on their network, thanks to a collaboration with Ciena to get a 100 gigabit network up and running some powerful applications.

CANARIE, which connects many research institutions including government, university, hospital and other labs, can now collaborate on even more complex undertakings thanks to the faster network.

With the ability to stream live, uncompressed high-definition video, doctors can better connect with medical students and patients while allowing better imagery for collaboration as well.

Meanwhile, the ability to transmit even larger amounts of data than before will assist the Canadian Brain Imaging Research Network (CBRAIN) to access, process and analyze brain imaging and mapping data.

“Our demonstration with Ciena showcases the value of our technology investments and 100G capabilities, as it proves CANARIE’s network to be a flexible platform supporting researchers, educators and innovators across Canada working to improve our health, our economy, our environment and our future,” said Jim Roche, president and CEO of CANARIE in a press release.

“More importantly, the actual applications demonstrated over the live network help move the industry conversation beyond simply building faster networks to how that bandwidth can be utilized – through applications in healthcare, as demonstrated today, but also in applications exploring everything from carbon-free computing to new energy sources, from easing traffic congestion to better managing our ocean resources.”

The technology behind the 100 gigabit network was developed by Ciena, who recently bought Nortel’s Metro Ethernet Network.

“Today’s demonstration not only underscores our continued market leadership in 100G technology, but also extends our long history of collaboration and deployments with research and education customers who are at the forefront of advanced technology adoption,” said Philippe Morin, senior vice president, global products group at Ciena in the press release.

“Beyond needing to push more traffic to smartphones or stream online videos, our work with CANARIE highlights the capabilities of its 100G-ready network and the real impact high-capacity networking can have on improving research collaboration to accelerate discoveries in science, medicine, education, renewable energy and other disciplines.”

GTEC 2010: Why aren't wireless routers secured by default?

Canadian Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddard wants to know why wireless routers are not secure by default.

Many people purchase a wireless router, plug it in then simply connect their computer to the one called Linksys with virtually no security. This leaves the router available for anyone to use, particularly those who might have malicious intentions.

Or users do secure their router but use an outdated and easily cracked security protocol like WEP.

Speaking at a GTEC keynote, Stoddard said manufacturers should include a setup process that “takes users through a series of steps to make sure their home network is secure.”

This is just one of many privacy concerns that have emerged in the digital age leading the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada to start work on reports which will recommend updates to Canadian privacy laws.

Another issue affecting both the private and public sector: secure transactions.

Stoddard suggested that e-government and e-commerce transactions should be set up so that they only take place over secured devices.

“Every chain is only as strong as its weakest link,” she said, noting that the best security practices by public and private organizations fall apart when used by someone with no firewall or virus protection.

There are many other issues that suggest privacy laws need updating, including newer genetic and biometric technology and identity protection.

While Stoddard said the Government of Canada should create the model for privacy laws, it must work with the private sector in order to generate a shared vision of privacy.

“We can’t do it alone,” she said.

In the meantime, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner has been working to encourage tech companies like Google and Facebook to consider privacy first, rather than trying to clean up a mess after the fact – like Google’s much maligned launch of Buzz which inadvertently made Gmail users’ contacts public.

“Think of privacy before you launch a service,” she said.

Start-up lessons from serial entrepreneur Mark Ruddock

Years ago, entrepreneur Mark Ruddock was sitting in his start-up’s server room feeling depressed.

It was 5:30 a.m. and the start-up’s launch client had delayed the next phase.

Never mind that it wasn’t really a server room.

“It was a bunch of Ikea tables with desktops stacked on them,” said Ruddock, speaking at the Ontario Venture Summit.

However, things were about to change.

When Ruddock checked his voice mail, there was a message from a contact at a large firm requesting a meeting.

Ruddock met with the contact, presented his idea but stated that he’d need $1 million to get it going. The contact agreed and arranged for the initial payment.

“48 hours from despair to a million dollars,” said Ruddock.

The former CEO of Viigo (acquired by Research in Motion) and INEA (acquired by Cartesis Group) outlined for the audience what it takes to build a successful start-up.

“You need to take an idea that is not yet grounded in reality, convince someone to fund it, then convince the best and brightest to follow along,” he said.

Which moves to the point about the team: “Always surround yourself with a great team,” said Ruddock. “Never be the smartest person in the room.”

Ruddock also advises start-up founders to keep focus.

“Listen to the customers and data,” he said. “Make clear decisions about where you want to go.”

And while Ruddock said it’s important to be passionate about one’s product, it’s especially important to pay attention to those customers.

“They will guide you with product insight.”

If the end-game of the start is an exit, remember that you’re building something that needs to be irresistible to someone else.

“You need to be strategically important enough for someone to buy you.”

Venture capital can certainly be important in growing a start-up, Ruddock said that choosing VC’s is also important. Select partners for value, but don’t give up too much leverage, since you’ll want to have your own hand in negotiations in a possible exit.

“Get it, grow it, keep it,” said Ruddock.

GTEC 2010: Social media inside and outside the organization

Colin McKay used to spend time exchanging ideas on email discussion lists.

But after a while, he decided he should reach out to a broader community and started a blog: Canuckflack.

Since then, he’s brought the use of blogging and other social media with him to the Privacy Commissioner’s office.

Speaking at a GTEC panel on social media, McKay described the ability to have conversations on Twitter with academics about policy, but the public nature of the site allows even more people to join in the conversation.

“We had the opportunity to build connections with stakeholder communities that were online,” he said, referring to groups like online privacy advocates.

“It’s about building those networks, maintaining them and paying attention to what they think we’re doing.”

Meanwhile, Jennifer Hollington writes a blog at Natural Resources Canada, aimed at her co-workers.

While it is written like a personal blog, it provides useful information to co-workers, as well as interviews with superiors who don’t have time to write a blog post.

Another upshot to Hollington’s internal blog is that it provides younger public servants who might be so quick to speak up at meetings a chance to engage through the comments.

These are just a few of the ways social media has been used beneficially within organizations that have historically been slow to change.

“A lot of people think there’s a risk to their career if they speak publicly about what they do,” said McKay.

In McKay’s case, he got around standard fears of using new technology by blogging away on his personal site and explaining what he was doing to his superiors in a way that sounded acceptable.

Clearly it was acceptable, McKay also blogs for the official Privacy Commissioner Blog.