Open Government Podcast: Recent Episodes
Open Government Podcast
The Open Government Podcast features 10-12min interviews with voices from the Open Government, Open Data, and Civic Engagement communities. You will hear from public servants, technologists, and engaged citizens on how they are working towards creating a more accountable, transparent, and collaborative government.
About the Hosts
Richard Pietro considers himself as a Fanboy of Open Government & Open Data, is a founding member of www.citizenbridge.org and was the host for the Open Government Tour (#OGT14), a 20,000km Motorcycle Tour that introduced Open Government & Data to Canadians.
https://twitter.com/richardpietro
Sameer Vasta is a flâneur, storyteller, letter-writer, egg-whisperer, hugger extraordinaire. He’s interested in how the private sector and public sector can work together to make the world a better place for all of us.
https://twitter.com/vasta
Sameer Vasta and Richard Pietro are at the Canadian Open Data Summit and International Open Data Conference and sharing their perspectives on the speakers, sessions, and events.
Today, Tariq Khokhar, an Open Data Evangelist from the World Bank, provides us with an International perspective on this conference and movement.
Sameer Vasta and Richard Pietro are at the Canadian Open Data Summit and International Open Data Conference sharing their perspectives on the speakers, sessions, and events.
Sameer Vasta and Richard Pietro are at the Canadian Open Data Summit and International Open Data Conference sharing their perspectives on the speakers, sessions, and events.
Today, we present you Hanna Niemi-Huegaerts who is the Development Manager for the Forum Virium Helsinki
Sameer Vasta and Richard Pietro are at the Canadian Open Data Summit and sharing their perspectives on the speakers, sessions, and events.
They will also be doing interviews with a few guests!
Sameer Vasta and Richard Pietro are at the Canadian Open Data Summit and sharing their perspectives on the speakers, sessions, and events.
They will also be doing interviews with a few guests!
Sameer Vasta and Richard Pietro are at the Canadian Open Data Summit and International Open Data Conference sharing their perspectives on the speakers, sessions, and events.
Today, we present you Martin Szyszlican and how he is gamifying the legislative process in Argentina.
Sameer Vasta and Richard Pietro are at the Canadian Open Data Summit and sharing their perspectives on the speakers, sessions, and events.
They will also be doing interviews with a few guests!
We look back at Season 2 of the Open Government Podcast. Our expectations, favourite moments, and what to expect for Season 3 (which will be spectacular, I might add!). We also tried something new for this episode: We recorded live in front of an audience and had people come up to the mic and share their thoughts on the podcast.
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Blair Labelle, General Manager of Technology and Innovation at the City of Guelph, talks about the Open Data positive trends he’s seeing in Open Data.
Blair Labelle https://twitter.com/Blair_Labelle
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Chad Lubelsky, member of the Program Team at the McConnell Foundation, explains why it is important to integrate Open Data plays into post-secondary education.
Chad Lubelsky https://twitter.com/clubelly
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Dan Swislow, Senior Partnership Officer at the National Democratic Institute and Lead for the Open Government Partnership’s Legislative Openness Working Group, explains how Legislatures are often forgotten in the Open Government & Open Data conversation.
Dan Swislow https://twitter.com/DanSwislow
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Jennifer Hollett is a former journalist who holds a Master in Public Administration and developed the critically acclaimed Super PAC App at the MIT Media Lab. She is now running for office as a tech-savvy candidate and plans on using new tools to engage citizens in the political process.
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Jean-Francois Gauthier, Founder of the Institute on Digital Governance, talks about why governments at all level need a sound digital plan in order to better service their citizens.
Jean-Francois Gauthier https://twitter.com/ignumerique
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Ric Marrero, Director of Marketing, Communications, and Membership for the Association of Canadian Pension Management, tells us how individuals citizens have very little input in the creation of regulations.
Association of Canadian Pension Management http://www.acpm.com/
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Lori Stewart, Founder of Awesome Calgary and member of Mayor Nenshi’s 2010 campaign team, gets us to dream big and think about the potential of Open Data.
Lori Stewart https://twitter.com/lori19stewart
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Tim Bousquet, Investigative reporter, editor and publisher of the Halifax Examiner tells us why Open Data does not yet satisfy his needs to keep government accountable.
Tim Bousquet https://twitter.com/Tim_Bousquet
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Howard Tam, Principal and Founder of the ThinkFresh Group, takes part in a roundtable discussion about the City of Toronto’s Web Revitalization consultation session that took place on January 29, 2015
Howard Tam https://twitter.com/htamTO
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Howard Tam, Principal and Founder of the ThinkFresh Group, takes part in a roundtable discussion about the City of Toronto’s Web Revitalization consultation session that took place on January 29, 2015
Howard Tam https://twitter.com/htamTO
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Jonathan Reichental (Part 2), CIO for the City of Palo Alto, tells us how his work as a public servant and in Open Government & Open Data has been a labour of love.
Jonathan Reichental https://twitter.com/Reichental
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Jonathan Reichental (Part 1), CIO for the City of Palo Alto, tells us how an evolving culture of government innovation and “lean” methods helped them launch an Open Data Portal in only six weeks.
Jonathan Reichental https://twitter.com/Reichental
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Peggy Taillon, President and CEO of the Canadian Council on Social Development and Founder of the Hera Mission, talks about obstacles to civic engagement at home and abroad.
Peggy Taillon https://twitter.com/HeraMission
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Steve Scheepmaker, Information Technology Manager for the Township of Langley, talks about how their Open Data Portal has helped make their city more efficient.
Steve Scheepmaker https://twitter.com/stevescheepmakr
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Gillian Vrooman, Director with the Open Data BC society, explains the reasons why Open Government & Open Data is spreading outside of the British Columbia urban bases.
Gillian Vrooman https://twitter.com/gndv
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Mary Agnes Welch, Journalist with the Winnipeg Free Press, talks about how the Access to Information Act is failing Canadians.
Mary Agnes Welch https://twitter.com/mawwelch
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Dawn Arnold, Councillor for the City of Moncton, explains how we need can help redevelop the broken relationship between citizens and their elected representatives.
Dawn Arnold https://twitter.com/Dawn_Moncton
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Ali Al-Munayer, Founder of 3lywa Solutions, explains how he balances life as a Federal public servant who also creates Open Data applications.
Ali Al-Munayer https://twitter.com/3lywa
3lywa Solutions http://www.3lywa.com/
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Bryan Smith, CEO of ThinkData Works, tells us about how their new creation - Namara.io - is able to bring Open Data sets from various government websites all into one place.
Bryan Smith https://twitter.com/Bryan_ThinkData
ThinkData Works http://thinkdataworks.com/
Namara.io http://namara.io/#/
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Andrew Fogg is the CDO of Import.io and he tells us how his tool helps people create their own Open Data Sets without having to write a single line of code.
Andrew Fogg https://twitter.com/andrewfogg
Import.io https://import.io/
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Luca Pisterzi, the Information and Analytics Program Lead for the Ontario Brain Institute, talks about Brain-CODE. A brain research data repository that shares Open Data and Privacy by Design principles.
Luca Pisterzi https://www.privacybydesign.ca/index.php/ambassador/luca-pisterzi-ph-d/
Ontario Brain Institute: Brain-CODE http://www.braininstitute.ca/brain-code
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Michael Lenczner is the CEO of Ajah, a software company that uses open and public data to help funders and non-profits better understand the patterns, and specifically the risks and opportunities in their funding environment.
Michael Lenczner www.twitter.com/mlenc
Ajah www.ajah.ca
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Maryantonett Flumian is the President of the Institute on Governance and a former Deputy Minister with the Canadian government. Today, she tells us about the bureaucratic forces that tend to drive the public service to a stand-still.
Maryantonnett Flumian http://iog.ca/profiles/maryantonett-flumian/
Institute on Governance https://twitter.com/IOGca
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Dennis Lewycky is Executive Director of the Social Planning Council of Winnipeg and he explains how information plays a role for civic leaders.
Dennis Lewycky https://www.linkedin.com/pub/dennis-lewycky/53/739/405
Social Planning Council of Winnipeg http://www.spcw.mb.ca/
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Co-hosts, Sameer and Richard, look back at Season 1 of the Open Government Podcast...our expectations, favourite moments, and what to expect for Season 2!
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Adam Hayter tells us how he was able to create a national conversation about a red swing.
Adam Hayter https://twitter.com/AdamHayter
Red Swing Project http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/redswinghfx-campaign-reaches-new-heights-on-twitter-1.2682957
Fusion Halifax http://www.fusionhalifax.ca/en/home/default.aspx
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
David Rauch from the City of Edmonton talks about the advantages of having public servants working with civic groups
David Rauch https://twitter.com/davidwrauch
Open Edmonton https://twitter.com/OpenEdmonton
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Rob Giggey with the City of Ottawa explains how something as simple as a random blog can lead to monumental change.
Rob Giggey https://twitter.com/rob_giggey
Ottawa Open Data Portal http://ottawa.ca/en/mobile-apps-and-open-data/open-data-ottawa
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Tracey Lauriault is one of the most respected voices in the Open Government & Data community and in this episode she shares the stories of Canada's early days in Data Management.
Tracey Lauriault https://twitter.com/TraceyLauriault
CivicAccess Listserv http://civicaccess.ca/
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Jean-Noé Landry explains the roots of Open North and how they've been able to become one of the World's most respected Open Data/Government Organization.
Open North https://twitter.com/opennorth
CitizenBudget http://www.citizenbudget.com/
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Anne Marie Aikins shares the approach on how Metrolinx has chosen to communicate with the public about "The Big Move" ...and it goes well beyond just a handful of tweets!
Anne Marie Aikins https://twitter.com/femwriter
Metrolinx https://twitter.com/Metrolinx
The Big Move http://www.metrolinx.com/en/regionalplanning/bigmove/big_move.aspx
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
David Wrate from British Columbia's Open Data team shares his secrets on creating a leading Open Data portal, and how it goes beyond just the Data.
David Wrate https://twitter.com/David_R8
Data B.C. https://twitter.com/Data_BC
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Geoff Zakaib tells us about the semantic coding known as XBRL, which is an extension of XML. This is an Open Data Standard that has many implications, for example the SEC in the U.S. has mandated that companies submit their financial reports in XBRL format.
Geoff Zakaib https://twitter.com/DataForGoodYYC
XBRL https://twitter.com/xbrlint
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Veronique Dryden works with the Region of Peel Open Data Portal team, and that comes with it a very unique perspective on Open Government & Open Data.
Veronique Dryden https://www.linkedin.com/pub/veronique-dryden/3/899/536
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Mark Diner is Alberta's Chief Advisor for Open Government and explains how overcoming public servant's fears is the answer to a more collaborative government.
Mark Diner https://twitter.com/govkid
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Dan Scott, Laurentian University Systems Librarian, explains how we can provide context to data.
Dan Scott https://twitter.com/denials
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Moncton City Councillor, Daniel Bourgeois, tells us the difference between municipal and professional politics, and how that dynamic affects Open Government.
Daniel Bourgeois http://www.moncton.ca/Government/City_Council/Councillor_Daniel_Bourgeois.htm
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Mark Gayler of Microsoft Canada explains the opportunities for value-added services to raw data and how large corporations can fit into the social perspective of Open Government & Open Data.
Mark Gayler https://twitter.com/magayler
Microsoft Openness Team http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/openness/default.aspx
Make Web Not War http://www.webnotwar.ca/
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Keith McDonald is Toronto's Open Data lead and explains how government can become an enabler of communities.
Keith McDonald https://twitter.com/keithmcdonald
Open Toronto https://twitter.com/Open_TO
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
This is special dispatch of the OGTpod where we are interviewing the Sherpa of the Community Knowledge Exchange Summit. How did the summit come about and what should participants should expect? Plus, Lee shares with us a few surprises he has in mind of the Summit!
Lee Rose https://twitter.com/thisLeeRose
CKX Summit http://live.ckx.org/
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Josh McDougall tells us how Bitcoin is an example of how sensitive private information can be protected the principles of "privacy by design."
Josh McDougall https://twitter.com/Abstr_ct
History of Bitcoin http://historyofbitcoin.org/
Schemaverse https://schemaverse.com/
Privacy by Design http://www.privacybydesign.ca/index.php/about-pbd/7-foundational-principles/
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Manjit Basi tells us that it that people don’t care or apathetic, it is that they want to create change but feel disconnected from those they feel have the power to make change. Her work with Ottawa’s Citizen Academy is all about creating that connection.
Manjit Basi https://twitter.com/manjitbasi
Citizens Academy https://twitter.com/CA_Ottawa
GottaGo Campaign http://ottawapublictoilets.ca/author/gottagocampaign/
Sameer Vasta www.twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro www.twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush www.sherylscrush.com/
Jacques Mailloux is CIO for Elections Canada and he shares his perspective on the importance on creating a more open and collaborative bureaucratic culture that works with the community and connects dots.
Jacques Mailloux https://twitter.com/6t6qt
GTEC Open Data Speed Dating http://bit.ly/110Wh9H
Sameer Vasta twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush sherylscrush.com/
Bruce Chau of Make Web Not War, an Open Source project of Microsoft, tells us how important it is to bring about better marketing to Open Government and Open Data.
Bruce Chau https://twitter.com/WebNotWar
Make Web Not War http://www.webnotwar.ca/
Sameer Vasta https://twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro https://twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush http://sherylscrush.com/
Louisa Taylor, journalist & communications consultants, tells us about the collaborative power of hackathons and how Open Data can help drive a story, solve challenges, and bring the unusual suspects to the table.
Louisa Taylor https://twitter.com/louisaINK
Sameer Vasta https://twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro https://twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush http://sherylscrush.com/
Harvey Low from the City of Toronto’s Social Research & Information Management Unit talks about balancing the spirit of “Open by Default” while still protecting citizen's privacy.
Toronto Social Policy Analysis & Research http://www1.toronto.ca/wps/portal/contentonly?vgnextoid=baab186e20ee0410VgnVCM10000071d60f89RCRD
Sameer Vasta https://twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro https://twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush http://sherylscrush.com/
Paul Fairie, Founder of CityBlocs.ca and Political Science instructor at the University of Calgary tells us how people care about what's in Data, but don't necessarily look at the Data itself. He suggests that visualization can be an answer to that problem.
Paul Fairie https://twitter.com/paulisci
CityBlocs.ca http://cityblocs.ca/
Sameer Vasta https://twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro https://twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush http://sherylscrush.com/
Bianca Wylie from the Canadian Open Data Institute explains one of the fundamental problems with Open Data: It is intimidating. Bianca tells us how we can make it less intimidating by making Open Data relevant in terms that just about anyone can understand.
Bianca Wylie https://twitter.com/biancawylie
Canadian Open Data Institute http://opendatainstitute.ca/
Bike Share Toronto Hackathon summary http://blog.abhinav.ca/blog/2014/08/19/hackathon-bike-share-toronto/
Sameer Vasta https://twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro https://twitter.com/richardpietro
Music: Sheryl's Crush http://sherylscrush.com/
Sameer Vasta is a former public servant with the Ontario Cabinet office and employee with the World Bank. Now, he’s a communications & policy manager with the MaRS Data Catalyst and in today’s episode, Sameer describes how Open Government & Open Data can create new economies and foster social entrepreneurship.
Sameer Vasta https://twitter.com/vasta
Richard Pietro https://twitter.com/richardpietro
MaRS Data Catalyst http://www.marsdd.com/systems-change/data-catalyst/
Green Button http://greenbuttondata.ca/
Music: Sheryl's Crush http://sherylscrush.com/
"The implications of transparency"
Josh McDougall - Crypto Currency Certification Consortium Director Veronique Dryden - Region of Peel Open Data Portal Harvey Low - City of Toronto Social Research & Analysis Unit
For a complete listing of interviews for Season One, please check out: myeinsteinjob.blogspot.ca/2014/10/ogt-…de-list.html
Music: Sheryl's Crush sherylscrush.com/
This is our inaugural episode!
We plan on posting many podcasts, so think of this as our "Simpsons Season One"...there will be a few kinks here and there but the show will grow and improve as we move forward :-)
Today's episode will see Richard Pietro, co-host for the OGTpod and self-proclaimed fanboy of Open Gov & Data, be interviewed by Sameer Vasta...the other co-host of the OGTpod!
We will explain what the Open Government Tour was all about and the reasoning for the creation of the Open Government Podcast.
Richard Pietro https://twitter.com/richardpietro
Sameer Vasta https://twitter.com/vasta
Open Government Tour www.opengovtour.org
Open Government is the Daft Punk of Government https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9DtEUJwevo
We Are Open People https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny8uUVBVzFo
Music: Sheryl's Crush http://sherylscrush.com/
"The value of other people"
Bianca Wylie - Canadian Open Data Institute Paul Fairie - Cityblocs.ca and Political Science Instructor at the University of Calgary Keith McDonald - City of Toronto Open Data Lead
For a complete listing of interviews for Season One, please check out: myeinsteinjob.blogspot.ca/2014/10/ogt-…de-list.html
Music: Sheryl's Crush sherylscrush.com/
"How and Why should we collaborate?"
Louisa Taylor - Journalist & Communications Consultant Jacques Mailloux - CIO for Elections Canada Manjit Basi - Citizens Academy Cofounder & Lead Strategist
For a complete listing of interviews for Season One, please check out: http://myeinsteinjob.blogspot.ca/2014/10/ogt-podcast-season-1-episode-list.html
Music: Sheryl's Crush http://sherylscrush.com/