Geothink Research Gives Inside Look at how Toronto’s Makerspaces are Governed

By Drew Bush Google “Makerspaces” and you might not understand the definition you’re reading. First popular in China and other Asian countries, these do-it-yourself (DIY) spaces where people can gather to create, invent, and learn have also spread to the United States and, most recently, Canada. Many are located at libraries where they include tools such as 3D printers, software, … Read More

The Perils, Pitfalls, and Promise of Open Government – a Geothink Interview with Daniel Paré

By Drew Bush Earlier this month, Public Sector Digest’s first Open Cities Index ranked Canada’s municipalities according to their openness in supplying municipal data online. The index examined the number of data sets available in three areas of accountability (e.g. elections or budget data), innovation (e.g. traffic volume or service requests), and social policy (e.g. crime rates or health performance) … Read More

Geothoughts 6: Who Stands to Gain in Canada's Sharing Economy?

By Naomi Bloch The rise of the web-enabled sharing economy is leading to much hope about potentially new sources of income and new ways for communities to connect and share resources. In the process, however, more consumers appear to be turning to global tech companies to acquire convenient, local services. This July, Alberta residents were warned that drivers who use … Read More

Laying Out the Challenge – Geothink Summer Institute Day 1

By Drew Bush The day began with a warm welcome from Geothink Head Renee Sieber, associate professor in McGill University’s Department of Geography and School of Environment. By afternoon, the City of Ottawa had presented the 29 students attending Geothink’s Summer Institute at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada with the challenge of engaging its citizens with city natural … Read More

Canada Action Plan on Open Government 2.0: Much Still To Do?

By Drew Bush Introduction For the savvy traveller headed over Canada’s border this holiday season, Canada’s Action Plan on Open Government 2.0 holds promise. A visit to the site in December 2014 yielded a multi-media list of steps to follow when travelling abroad and even an iOS “Travel Smart” application. Drafted after a June 2013 G8 Summit, Canada’s plan results … Read More

Canada’s Open Government Licence V2.0 Is Released

    Written by Teresa Scassa Read more posts by Teresa @ http://www.teresascassa.ca/ With little fanfare, the Canadian government has released its much awaited, newly revised Open GovernmentLicence. The previous version that had been available on its Open Data site was a beta version on which public comments were invited. The government has also published its Open Government Licence Consultation Report, … Read More