S06011A, Research methods advanced seminar.

NIRSA Seminar Room Iontas BuildingMay 8, 2015

Tracey P. LauriaultProgrammable City ProjectTracey.Lauriault@NUIM.ie

@TraceyLauriault

Data: Activism, Access, Open

Introduction

The Programmable City

• A European Research Council (ERC) and Science Foundation of Ireland (SFI) funding• SH3: Environment and Society• Led by Dr Rob Kitchin, the Primary

Investigator• Based at the National Institute for Regional

and Spatial Analysis (NIRSA)• At the National University of Ireland

Maynooth (NUIM)

MIT Press 2011 Sage 2014

Aim of the ERC project is to build off and extend a decade of work

that culminated in Code/Space book (MIT Press) with a

set of detailed empirical studies

Aim

Objectives

How is the city translated into software and data? How do software and data reshape the city?

Translation:City into Code

Transduction:Code Reshapes

City

THE CITYSOFTWARE

Discourses, Practices, Knowledge, Models

Mediation, Augmentation, Facilitation, Regulation

Producing knowledge

Counting things makes them visible

2006

http://www.cso.ie/en/census/index.html

http://www.dublindashboard.ie/pages/DublinEnvironment

Quantifying things provides information

http://www.epa.ie/air/quality/#.VPX7KCxi_nM

http://euclid.psych.yorku.ca/SCS/Gallery/images/dan/

quetelet-binomial.jpghttps://archive.org/stream/lathoriedelhom00halbuoft#pa

ge/n5/mode/2up

Counting and quantifying reveals what is normal

http://www.calculator.net/bmi-calculator.html

Correlating things shows relationships

When things are known actions are taken

Homosexuals were deviants andgenetics demonstrated a biological

predisposition

Poor air quality is associated w/traffic congestion, transit and car pooling are

remedial planning actions

Obesity was considered a moral defect, biology and the political economy have been

shown as factors, it has become a social issue

http://www.oireachtas.ie/documents/bills28/bills/2015/515/b515d.pdf

Bureaucracy acts upon known things

http://www.refcom.ie/en/

http://www.rte.ie/archives/exhibitions/1980-smoking/

http://www.ices.on.ca/flip-

publication/neighbourhood-

environment-and-resources/index.html

Classification and counting is resisted

https://www.asthma.ie/news/were-calling-for-clean-air-for-all

http://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/being-plus-size-does-not-mean-you-re-unhealthy-

1.1834306

https://www.change.org/p/seventeen-magazine-correct-

their-bmi-calculator-s-definition-of-healthy-range?

utm_campaign=action_box&utm_medium=twitter&utm_source=

share_petition

Data Based Deliberations

Femicide

http://kareningalasmith.com/counting-dead-women/

Counting Dead Women

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/crime-stats/crime-statistics/focus-on-violent-crime-and-sexual-offences--2013-14/rpt-chapter-2.html

Official Statistics

• The Home Office now records and publishes data on homicide victims and the relationship of the victim to the principal suspect and sex the of the victim.

• But it does not have the sex of the killer or connect different forms of male violence against women.

http://www.womensaid.org.uk/page.asp?section=00010001001400130010&sectionTitle=Femicide+Census#

femcensus

Femicide Census

http://www.womensaid.org.uk/domestic-violence-events.asp?itemid=3351&itemTitle=Femicide+Census%3A+Profiles+of+Women+Killed+by+Men&section=000100010017&sectionTitle=Events+calendar

Why the Femicide Census?

• Provide a clearer picture of domestic homicides in the UK by age/ethnic origin/ relationship/ profession/region/outcome;

• Provide a clearer picture of men’s fatal violence against women that is not committed by a partner or ex-partner;

• Information to create advocacy tools to provide concrete data on domestic violence homicides;

• Provide data when NGOs working to end domestic violence against women is providing expert evidence on domestic homicides in civil cases or before the Coroners court; 

• Provide comparisons and parallels between cases to identify where there is the potential for a systemic argument against the State for failing to protect the Right to Life; and

• Provide a resource for academics researching femicides

Data Based Actions

Charities

http://openknowledge.ie/about/#whoweare

http://openknowledge.ie/first-irish-charity-data-hackday/

Charity Hack Day

http://tcubedublin.com/

https://ti.to/

http://www.slideshare.net/AdrianOFlynn/solving-irish-charities-transparency-problem

http://www.focusireland.ie/reports/2012/annual-report/accounts.html

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0BwvqlbZTmJr6TFQyYVVVYXB0eWc/edit

http://dochas.ie/publications/accounting-and-reporting-charities-statement-recommended-practice-charity-commissionhttps://www.cafonline.org/publications/2014-publications/world-giving-index-2014.aspx

EvidenceInformedActions

Homelessness

http://www.homelessdublin.ie/pass

http://www.dublincity.ie/official-street-count-figures-rough-sleeping-winter-

2014-across-dublin-region

http://www.cso.ie/en/census/census2011reports/

homelesspersonsinirelandaspecialcensus2011report/

Homelessness Data collection

http://www.environ.ie/en/DevelopmentHousing/Housing/SpecialNeeds/HomelessPeople/

http://www.environ.ie/en/DevelopmentHousing/Housing/SpecialNeeds/HomelessPeople/

Homelessness Data Dissemination

• Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE) - Research and Data Advisory Committee (RDAC)• Housing Agency• DRHE• Public Health• Focus Ireland• School of Social work and

Social Policy TCD• Programmable City, NUIM• School of Business, TCD• HSE

Network of Decision makers• Homelessness Oversight

Committee• National Homeless Consultative

Committee• Dublin Joint Homelessness

Consultative Forum• 2016 Census Advisory Committee• Department of the Environment,

Community and Local Government

• Local Authorities/HSE • Charitable organizations• Housing and service providers...more

Homelessness Data Actors

“https://gcrc.carleton.ca/confluence/display/GCRCWEB/Pilot+Atlas+of+the+Risk+of+Homelessness

Atlas of the Risk of Homelessness

Aging Social Housing Stock in Toronto

Data Based Actions

Transit

Transit & Demographic Data

Eoin O’Mahony, Assistant Lecturer SPD/DCU & Omar Sarhan, GIS and data enthusiasthttps://irelandafternama.wordpress.com/2015/02/05/privatizing-public-transport-from-the-periphery-to-the-centre/

Public Transit Conversation

Privatizing public transport from the periphery to the centre?

• Data Sources• Dublin Bus routes considered for privatisation - 23 Dublin Bus & 5 Bus Éireann routes• CSO/AIRO maps at small area & electoral division to examine what public is served

by public transport• Data Sets:

• Population by social class – professional workers, skilled manual labour• Private Car Ownership• Deprivation Index

• Analysis• Core – periphery analysis of bus route privatization• Examine demographics of ‘orbital’ areas served by proposed privatised bus routes• Effects of frequency of service delivery to different populations

• Limitations• Absence of route-specific passenger load data

Eoin O’Mahony, Assistant Lecturer SPD/DCU & Omar Sarhan, GIS and data enthusiasthttps://irelandafternama.wordpress.com/2015/02/05/privatizing-public-transport-from-the-periphery-to-the-centre/

DataBasedCampaigns

http://www.npr.org/2015/02/10/384129985/advocates-join-

fight-to-eliminate-detroit-s-rape-kit-backlog

http://www.endthebacklog.org/about-us/about-endthebacklog

Rape Kits Campaigns

http://www.joyfulheartfoundation.org/

http://ajah.ca

http://poweredbydata.org

Charitable Sector Data

Municipal Data Collection Tool

DataBasedDeliberations

Save the Census Campaign

http://datalibre.ca/census-watch/

488 Against

EvidenceInformedActivism

Evidence for Democracy

https://evidencefordemocracy.ca

ScholarActivistResearch

Co-Production of knowledge with and/or for community based groups, charitable

organizations & issue driven activists

1. Scholar activists commit to channel their resources and the privileges afforded to academics

2. Resource in the form of research design3. Research that explores the barriers to

sustained and active participation in activism

Scholar-Activist Research

Kate Driscoll Dericksona & Paul Routledgeb (2014) Resourcing Scholar-Activism: Collaboration, Transformation, and the Production

of Knowledge. The Professional Geographer 67(1), DOI: 10.1080/00330124.2014.883958

What is open?

Open Policy

Open Licences

Open Source/Formats/Specs

Open Infrastructure

Openness

Open Data Definitions (sample)

• 1959 Antarctic Treaty• 1992 - UNCED – Agenda 21 Chapter 40,

Information for Decision Making • 1996 Global Map• 2002 – UNCED – Ageday 21 + 10 Down To

Earth • 2005 - Open Knowledge Foundation

(OKNF) - 11 Principles (Licence specific) • 2007 GEOSS - Data Sharing Principles for

the Global Earth Observing System of Systems

• 2007 - US Open Government Working Group - 8 principles of Open Government Data

• 2007 Science Commons Protocol for Implementing Open Access Data

• 2007 Sunlight Foundation - 10 Principles for Opening Up Government Informatio

• 2007 OECD, Principles and Guidelines for Access to Research Data from Public Funding

• 2008 OECD, Recommendations on Public Sector Information

• 2009 W3C - Publishing Open Government Data

• 2010 Tim Berners-Lee 5 Star of Open Data

• 2010 Panton Principles for Open Data in Science

• 2010 Ontario Information Privacy Commissioner - 7 Principles

• 2013 Open Economics Principles• US Association of Computing

Machinery (USACM) – Recommendations on Open Government

• American Library Association (ALA) – Access to Government Information Principles

Data Sharing

ARTICLE III

1. In order to promote international cooperation in scientific investigation in Antarctica, as provided for in Article II of the present Treaty, the Contracting Parties agree that, to the greatest extent feasible and practicable:

(a) information regarding plans for scientific programs in Antarctica shall be exchanged to permit maximum economy and efficiency of operations;

(b) scientific personnel shall be exchanged in Antarctica between expeditions and stations;

(c) scientific observations and results from Antarctica shall be exchanged and made freely available

Earth Summit 1992, 2002

Agenda 21 – Chapter 40INFORMATION FOR DECISION-MAKING40.1. In sustainable development, everyone is a

user and provider of information considered in the broad sense. That includes data, information, appropriately packaged experience and knowledge. The need for information arises at all levels, from that of senior decision makers at the national and international levels to the grass-roots and individual levels. The following two programme areas need to be implemented to ensure that decisions are based increasingly on sound information:a. Bridging the data gap;b. Improving information availability. http://www.nap.edu/catalog/10455/down-

to-earth-geographical-information-for-sustainable-development-in-africa

http://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/content/documents/Agenda21.pdf

GEOSS

https://www.earthobservations.org/geoss_dsp.shtml

Most Popular Open Data Defs.

1. Access2. Redistribution3. Reuse4. Absence of Technological

Restriction5. Attribution6. Integrity7. No Discrimination Against Persons

or Groups8. No Discrimination Against Fields of

Endeavor9. Distribution of License10. License Must Not Be Specific to a

Package11. License Must Not Restrict the

Distribution of Other Works

★ make your stuff available on the Web (whatever format) under an open license

★★ make it available as structured data (e.g., Excel instead of image scan of a table)

★★★ use non-proprietary formats (e.g., CSV instead of Excel)

★★★★ use URIs to denote things, so that people can point at your stuff

★★★★★ link your data to other data to provide contextTim Berners-Lee, 5 star deployment

scheme for Open Data

Interoperability

Georeference

AggregationData

QualityArchiving

Open Data Census

G8 Open Data Charter

Companies Company/business register

Crime and Justice Crime statistics, safety

Earth observation Meteorological/weather, agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting

Education List of schools; performance of schools, digital skills

Energy and Environment

Pollution levels, energy consumption

Finance and contracts

Transaction spend, contracts let, call for tender, future tenders, local budget, national budget (planned and spent)

Geospatial Topography, postcodes, national maps, local maps

Global Development Aid, food security, extractives, land

Government Accountability and

Democracy

Government contact points, election results, legislation and statutes, salaries (pay scales), hospitality/gifts

Health Prescription data, performance data

Science and Research

Genome data, research and educational activity, experiment results

Statistics National Statistics, Census, infrastructure, wealth, skills

Social mobility and welfare

Housing, health insurance and unemployment benefits

Transport and Infrastructure

Public transport timetables, access points broadband penetration

Open Data / Gov Ireland

Epistemic groups

Research Data

GovData

GeoDataPhysical Sciences

AdminData

Public Sector Data

Access to Data Open Data

Social Sciences

2005

VGICrowdsource

Citizen Science

Scientists, Cultural Institutions E-Government, CTOs

Within institutions

Outcomes

•Economic•Environmental

•SocietalDecision Making

Analyzed/visualizeIntegrate

dDiscovered/

Accessed

Government Data

Government Institutions

1.Agriculture, Food and the Marine2.Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht3.Children and Youth Affairs4.Communications, Energy and

Natural Resources 5.Defence6.Education and Skills7.Environment, Community and

Local Government8.Finance9.Foreign Affairs and Trade10.Health11.Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation12.Justice and Equality13.Public Expenditure and Reform14.Social Protection15.Taoiseach16. Transport, Tourism and Sport

• 130 Non Commercial State Sponsored Bodies (EPA, Marine Institute, SFI, RIA, Rail, OSI, Universities, Roads, etc.)

• 100+ State-sponsored bodies (Utilities, Irish Rail, IDA, Petroleum Corporation)

• 31 local authorities (3 are Dublin, 2 are City and Council)

• CSO, Archives, etc.• Data Protection

Commissioner, Ombunds person, Information Commissioner,

Data Collection

• Meet constitutional commitments & ensure adherence to regulation, treaties, directives• Administer government institutions

(budgets, performance indicators, audits, taxes, procurement)• Output of program & service delivery

(licences, PPS, registration, fees, )• Census, maps, surveys, inventories, • Investigation, research, development

Socio-Technological Systems

Pu

neet

Kis

hor,

htt

p:/

/pu

nkis

h.o

rg/T

axo

nom

y-of-

Sen

sors

Data Assemblage

Kitchin’s Data Assemblage

Attributes

Elements

Systems of thought

Modes of thinking, philosophies, theories, models, ideologies,

rationalities, etc.

Forms of knowledge

Research texts, manuals, magazines, websites, experience, word of mouth,

chat forums, etc.

FinanceBusiness models, investment, venture capital, grants, philanthropy, profit,

etc.Political economy

Policy, tax regimes, public and political opinion, ethical considerations, etc.

Govern-mentalities /

Legalities

Data standards, file formats, system requirements, protocols, regulations, laws, licensing, intellectual property

regimes, etc.Materialities

& infrastructur

es

Paper/pens, computers, digital devices, sensors, scanners, databases,

networks, servers, etc.

PracticesTechniques, ways of doing, learned

behaviours, scientific conventions, etc.

Organisations &

institutions

Archives, corporations, consultants, manufacturers, retailers, government agencies, universities, conferences, clubs and societies, committees and boards, communities of practice, etc.

Subjectivities &

communities

Of data producers, curators, managers, analysts, scientists, politicians, users, citizens, etc.

PlacesLabs, offices, field sites, data centres, server farms, business parks, etc, and

their agglomerations

MarketplaceFor data, its derivatives (e.g., text,

tables, graphs, maps), analysts, analytic software, interpretations, etc.

S

yste

ms o

f th

ou

gh

t

Forms of kn

owled

ge

Gov

ernm

enta

litie

s-le

gal

itie

s

Politi

cal economy

Finance

Mate

rialitie

s-infra

structu

res

Practices

O

rganis

ati

ons-i

nsti

tuti

ons

Subject

iviti

es-c

omm

unities

The marketplace

Places

Q & A

Tracey P. LauriaultProgrammable City Project

http://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/progcity/Tracey.Lauriault@NUIM.ie

@TraceyLauriault