What if I told you something that could empower our third sector and activists to enhance their capacity? From gathering evidence for funding tenders to campaigning for crucial social issues and much more? It's called open data, yet many in social action remain unaware of it. Primarily shaped by corporate entities, open data seems tailored only for technologists, alienating the third sector. But in reality, it's a powerful tool for social change, bolstering civil society, and creating resilient communities. This book argues a simple point: if open data and the digital aspects that support it aren't accessible to all, then what is the point of it? In an age where technology should be seen as a fundamental human right, it's time to rethink outreach. Deeply rooted in grassroots social activism, this book explores a journey that led to collaborations with governments globally, based on real hands-on work, aiming to democratize open data. Through narrative storytelling, we share insights, best practices, procedures, and community-driven approaches. Regardless of your skill set or organization size, from grassroots workers to third-sector professionals and government officers, join us to reshape the perception of open data, fostering change in neighborhoods. Open Data for Everybody: Using Open Data for Social Good is a love letter to open data's transformative power. To create solutions, understanding the problem is crucial. This book seeks to return control to the real experts—those living and working within our communities.

Do you know what happens to your personal data when you are browsing, buying, or using apps? Discover how your data is harvested and exploited, and what you can do to access, delete, and monetize it. Data for All empowers everyone—from tech experts to the general public—to control how third parties use personal data. Read this eye-opening book to learn: The types of data you generate with every action, every day Where your data is stored, who controls it, and how much money they make from it How you can manage access and monetization of your own data Restricting data access to only companies and organizations you want to support The history of how we think about data, and why that is changing The new data ecosystem being built right now for your benefit The data you generate every day is the lifeblood of many large companies—and they make billions of dollars using it. In Data for All, bestselling author John K. Thompson outlines how this one-sided data economy is about to undergo a dramatic change. Thompson pulls back the curtain to reveal the true nature of data ownership, and how you can turn your data from a revenue stream for companies into a financial asset for your benefit. Foreword by Thomas H. Davenport. About the Technology Do you know what happens to your personal data when you’re browsing and buying? New global laws are turning the tide on companies who make billions from your clicks, searches, and likes. This eye-opening book provides an inspiring vision of how you can take back control of the data you generate every day. About the Book Data for All gives you a step-by-step plan to transform your relationship with data and start earning a “data dividend”—hundreds or thousands of dollars paid out simply for your online activities. You’ll learn how to oversee who accesses your data, how much different types of data are worth, and how to keep private details private. What’s Inside The types of data you generate with every action, every day How you can manage access and monetization of your own data The history of how we think about data, and why that is changing The new data ecosystem being built right now for your benefit About the Reader For anyone who is curious or concerned about how their data is used. No technical knowledge required. About the Author John K. Thompson is an international technology executive with over 37 years of experience in the fields of data, advanced analytics, and artificial intelligence. Table of Contents 1 A history of data 2 How data works today 3 You and your data 4 Trust 5 Privacy 6 Moving from Open Data to Our Data 7 Derived data, synthetic data, and analytics 8 Looking forward: What’s next for our data?

This book will teach you how to take advantage of the JavaScript language to process data provided on the Internet. Much attention is given to the main JavaScript backbone: prototype based objects, and functional capabilities, while common features (loops, etc.) are summarized in a few cheat-sheets. Only operational features are detailed through the coding of several applications -the second and largest part of the book-, on free-access datasets (e.g. World Bank). It includes: cartography (SVG or API's based), data-sheets access (via Ajax or Jsonp), video data and post-synchronization, and animation examples.

The main objectives of this book are to expose key aspects that have a relevance when dealing with open data viewed from different perspectives and to provide appealing examples of how open data is implemented worldwide. The concept of open data as we know it today is the result of many different initiatives, both of a legislative and non-legislative nature, and promoted by a wide range of actors. Numerous regulatory antecedents to foster the concept of open data and embed it in national and international policy agendas have been undertaken on both sides of the Atlantic, as well as at a supranational level. The book highlights a number of the efforts made to promote open data in Europe, Asia and the United States. In addition to new insights, practical guidance and multiple disciplinary perspectives on open data, the book also addresses the transformation of current developments towards open data, which may be referred to as the democratisation of data. This book will support open data practitioners as well as open data scholars in their endeavours to promote open data implementation and research. Bastiaan van Loenen is associate professor and director of the Knowledge Centre Open Data at the Faculty of Architecture and The Built Environment of Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, as is Glenn Vancauwenberghe, who is a post-doctoral researcher, and Joep Crompvoets is a professor at the Public Governance Institute of the KU Leuven in Belgium.

It’s been ten years since open data first broke onto the global stage. Over the past decade, thousands of programmes and projects around the world have worked to open data and use it to address a myriad of social and economic challenges. Meanwhile, issues related to data rights and privacy have moved to the centre of public and political discourse. As the open data movement enters a new phase in its evolution, shifting to target real-world problems and embed open data thinking into other existing or emerging communities of practice, big questions still remain. How will open data initiatives respond to new concerns about privacy, inclusion, and artificial intelligence? And what can we learn from the last decade in order to deliver impact where it is most needed? The State of Open Data brings together over 60 authors from around the world to address these questions and to take stock of the real progress made to date across sectors and around the world, uncovering the issues that will shape the future of open data in the years to come.

Are you curious about smart cities? You should be! By mid-century, two-thirds of us will live in cities. The world of tomorrow will be a world of cities. But will they be smart cities? Smart cities are complex blends of technologies, systems and services designed and orchestrated to help people lead productive, fulfilling, safe and happy lives. This remarkable book is a window into our shared future. In crisp language and sharp detail, Mike Barlow and Cornelia Lévy-Bencheton explain how smart cities are powerful forces for positive change. With keen eyes and warm hearts, they invite readers to imagine the world of tomorrow, a fascinating world of connected cities and communities. They capture and convey the depth and richness of the worldwide smart city movement. Smart Cities, Smart Future describes the impact of smart city projects on people in towns, cities and nations around the world. The book includes descriptions of ongoing smart city projects in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Looking Ahead to an Urban World No two smart cities are alike. No one can say with certainty or precision what the term “smart city” means. There is no standard definition or common template. Today, smart cities are works in progress. They emerge from our hopes and our dreams. This book provides you with the knowledge and insight you need to participate in the smart city movement. It explains how smart cities are “systems of systems” and introduces key concepts such as interoperability, open standards, resiliency, agility, adaptability and continuous improvement. Includes Detailed Glossary of Terms and Essential Vocabulary The book includes a detailed comprehensive glossary of essential smart city terms. The glossary will become your indispensable resource as you engage more deeply with the smart city movement and become more involved in planning our common future in an urban world. Carefully Researched and Crisply Written Smart Cities, Smart Future is carefully researched and fully documented. It includes interviews with leaders and experts in multiple disciplines essential to the development of smart cities, towns, regions, states and nations. Written in the clean style of modern journalism, the book offers a strong and compelling narrative of a changing world. It reminds us that we are responsible for choosing our destiny and determining the shape of things to come. The smart city movement is gaining speed and momentum. Read this book, and enjoy the ride!

The world has become digital and technological advances have multiplied circuits with access to data, their processing and their diffusion. New technologies have now reached a certain maturity. Data are available to everyone, anywhere on the planet. The number of Internet users in 2014 was 2.9 billion or 41% of the world population. The need for knowledge is becoming apparent in order to understand this multitude of data. We must educate, inform and train the masses. The development of related technologies, such as the advent of the Internet, social networks, "cloud-computing" (digital factories), has increased the available volumes of data. Currently, each individual creates, consumes, uses digital information: more than 3.4 million e-mails are sent worldwide every second, or 107,000 billion annually with 14,600 e-mails per year per person, but more than 70% are spam. Billions of pieces of content are shared on social networks such as Facebook, more than 2.46 million every minute. We spend more than 4.8 hours a day on the Internet using a computer, and 2.1 hours using a mobile. Data, this new ethereal manna from heaven, is produced in real time. It comes in a continuous stream from a multitude of sources which are generally heterogeneous. This accumulation of data of all types (audio, video, files, photos, etc.) generates new activities, the aim of which is to analyze this enormous mass of information. It is then necessary to adapt and try new approaches, new methods, new knowledge and new ways of working, resulting in new properties and new challenges since SEO logic must be created and implemented. At company level, this mass of data is difficult to manage. Its interpretation is primarily a challenge. This impacts those who are there to "manipulate" the mass and requires a specific infrastructure for creation, storage, processing, analysis and recovery. The biggest challenge lies in "the valuing of data" available in quantity, diversity and access speed.

This book aims to strengthen the skills of professionals who use, manage data for the benefit of farmers and farmers organizations by exposing them to the topics of importance of data in the agriculture value chain and how new and existing technologies, products and services can leverage farm level and global data to improve yield, reduce loss, add value and increase profitability and resilience.

Creating transparency between government and citizens through outreach and engagement initiatives is critical to promoting community development and is also an essential part of a democratic society. This can be achieved through a number of methods including public policy, urban development, artistic endeavors, and digital platforms. Civic Engagement and Politics: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications is a vital reference source that examines civic engagement practices in social, political, and non-political contexts. As the world is now undergoing a transformation, interdisciplinary collaboration, participation, community-based participatory research, partnerships, and co-creation have become more common than focused domains. Highlighting a range of topics such as social media and politics, civic activism, and public administration, this multi-volume book is geared toward government officials, leaders, practitioners, policymakers, academicians, and researchers interested in active citizen participation and politics.