Camp brings together those with a passion for development and sharing data

by Elizabeth Corley

It was great to meet so many people working on issues of data and collaboration at the open development camp today. The event showed how much people care about international development and their passion for sharing data. Owen Barder kicked off the event by giving context to the challenge at hand and emphasizing the value of open data and open standards.

The suggestions for topics at the camp ranged from technical issues like maping and crowdsourcing to broader questions on communication and collaboration. You can see here what the grid looked like for session one. Over the course of the day we had sixteen sessions. Notes on each session will be posted on opendev.ning.com.

When asked for his impression of the camp, Matt Gyory, our communications intern, zeroed in on what is next. “Really the core of this day was not so much what was discussed, but the next steps that should be taken. Those that discussed data standards should try to get together to map out what they would like to see in particular and run with their ideas from there. Those that discussed the importance of measuring aid effectiveness should attempt to adopt the strategies offered. Those that discussed open data and development should attempt to add the collection of data and distribution of that data in their projects so it becomes a habit rather than an expensive addition.”

The event was co-sponsored byAidInfo, ForumOne, Global Development Commons, and the World Bank. Special thanks goes to Sameer Vasta, the bank’s social media strategist, who not only secured ample room for breakout sessions, but also delivered on the refreshments.