What we mean by open data when we’re talking about listings

Open data

Open data is data that anyone can access, use or share. When we say data we mean the same thing as information or content.

Open data is not a particular type of data. It could be big or small. It could be numbers, images, audio or words.

Open data is about the restrictions you place on your data, whatever it is. Or rather about the restrictions you take off.

Our good friends at the Open Data Institute have a nice way of explaining this.

The data spectrum

Open data

Open data is data that anyone can access, use or share. When we say data we mean the same thing as information or content.

Open data is not a particular type of data. It could be big or small. It could be numbers, images, audio or words.

Open data is about the restrictions you place on your data, whatever it is. Or rather about the restrictions you take off.

Our good friends at the Open Data Institute have a nice way of explaining this.

The data spectrum

Ultimately we hope to help the cultural sector design a way to get listings information out in a way that developers and journalists understand and can make use of and that will ultimately benefit audiences.

But we are conscious that we have an imperfect understanding of the issue.

Discovery is the part of a design process where we seek to get a much fuller understanding of the problem. We really need to understand what the world looks like to all of the different people and organisations involved in the work of putting on events, listing them, promoting them and getting people to come and participate in or watch them.

Discovery is about widening our understanding so that, if (and hopefully when) we start to propose ideas around open data: they will be based in a real understanding of the needs of the sector.

Ben Proctor, The Satori Lab