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Linked Open Data

idea

What is the idea?

This data must be put up using the current open standards,
as Linked Open Data.

There is already a rapidly growing Linked Open Data cloud,
to which US recovery data will be a welcome addition.

The priority should be on the provision of, as we say, "Raw Data Now!".

Why is it important?

1. Linked Data allows different things in different datasets of all kinds to be connected.  When you put data on the web, the added value you get is from the way it can be queried in combination with other data you might not even be aware of.

People will be connecting this data with scientific data, community data, social web data, enterprise data, and government data from other agencies and organization,
and other countries, to ask all kinds of interesting questions not asked before.
This data must be put up with an awareness that it is one among many data sources with which it will later be linked together.

2. Linked data is decentralized.
Each agency can source its own data without a big cumbersome centralized system.
The data can be stitched together at the edges, more as one builds a quilt than the way one builds a nuclear power station.

This stitching can be done as and when it is valuable.
Some of it may be an activity volunteer communities can help with.

3. The Linked Open Data movement uses open royalty-free standards from W3C.
These do not bind the federal government to any specific supplier.

4. There are many organizations an companies who will be motivated
by the presence of the data
to provide all kinds of human access to this data, for specific communities,
to answer specific questions, often in connection with other data
from different sites.  They will in many ways provide more powerful tools
than the recovery web site itself can ever do using only its own data.

This is a very important initiative. To have federal data available
online in open standards will be very valuable to all kinds of
people in the US and in fact world wide.
The recovery data is a great opportunity to set an example for future government data.

A secondary priority for any agency, but also important,
is the human-readable presentation of the data to on the agency web site itself.
Note W3C has a wealth of guidelines in many aspects of reaching people through the Web, including accessibility, internationalization, and access from mobile devices.

W3C has an eGovenment activity, a gathering of people
who have been discussing these issues.

I would personally happy to help set this up on the right track.

Tim Berners-Lee

MIT
Director, W3C    w3.org

Personal opinion not necessarily endorsed by MIT or W3C member companies.

Submitted by timbl (Web Development) on Apr 30, 2009

This idea is now closed to further comments.

Current number of stars: 4
based on 62 votes
Tags:

42 Comments

Dialogue catalyst comment

Tim - thanks for your response.  This well-known concept is interesting.  What is the technical feasibility of it being implemented across a very complex nationwide system architecture within a relatively short timeline (before Sept 09)?

Comment from jwarren at Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board on Apr 30, 2009
Member comment

I absolutely second Tim's proposal and want to highlight three issues in particular:

  1. The linked data community has already broad experience with governmental data, esp. statistics such as US Census, etc. - tools, methods and experience exist that help bootstrapping and maintaining this effort [1].
  2. Especially regarding lightweight deployment and straight-forward integration we can offer assistance regarding the publishing of linked data in RDFa, see [2] as one example.
  3. We have sound experience regarding the development and usage of vocabularies that are needed for expressing the data items semantics (see for example SIOC [3], used to represent online discussions in all forms).

[1] http://linkeddata.org/

[2] http://rdfa.info/2009/04/24/more-rdfa-goodness-from-uk-government-web-sites/

[3] http://sioc-project.org/

Comment from mhausenblas at DERI, National University of Ireland, Galway on Apr 30, 2009
Member comment

James,

You ask about the technical feasibility of Linked Open Data being implemented across a very complex nationwide system architecture within a relatively short timeline.

I think the crucial thing is that technically it can be done bottom-up.  Ideally you have a nationwide decision to go for linked data, but then if different places want to approach it differently they can.   You may want to have some nationwide common terms, but don't hold anyone up for them.  By September you don't have time to get nationwide consensus over new vocabulary.  However, you may find that existing shared practices end up being leveraged.

To what extent is the recovery data going to be data which actually is already in existing systems, and to what extent is is data which really hasn't been in any system before at all?

Tim

 

Comment from timbl on Apr 30, 2009
Member comment

I also support Tim's idea and the supporting comments from Michael and Dan - the SIOC team at DERI, NUI Galway are available to help.

Comment from jbreslin at NUI Galway on Apr 30, 2009
Member comment

I am wondering how useful Linked Open Data will be in this domian if the sites exposing the data as SPARQL endpoints. We really need a way to analyze the data not simply retreive it.

Comment from mlang on Apr 30, 2009
Member comment

James,

 

Exposing public data in Linked Data form via the Web, is the most effective way of achieving the following:
 
1. Increased Transparency -  by democratizing public data access by combining data structure granularity with the ubiquity of the Web and Internet
 
2. Discourse discovery and participation for effective and modern interaction between the Govt. and it the Citizens it represents
 
3. Using open data access to re-galvanize the economy (remember what the Web of Linked Documents achieved within a short time span, Linked Data is much more powerful).
 
Bearing in mind time constraints and implementation complexity across departments? I would suggest the following approach:
 
1. Ensure all data is published in a some form of structured format in descending order of preference)
  - fully structured data (any format will do, since the structural granularity is what matters;
  - semi-structured data (valid XML documents);
  - semi-structured data (well formed XML documents);
 
2. Determine how much of the above exists today, if any;
 
3. Publish what you have from 1-3 on the Web.
 
Based on the steps above, Linked Govt. Data can materialize on the Web along the following lines:
 
1. Communities interested in specific data will convert the data into RDF based Linked Data
 
2. You could actively seek and engage individuals and enterprises that work with you to produce RDF Linked Data from source (be it from your internal RDBMS systems and/or distributed collaborative applications)
 
3. A bit of 1&2.
 
The most important thing is that you must do your utmost to get the "raw data" in out in some structured or semi-structured form :-)
 
Related Links:
 
Blog Posts about Linked Data:
 
1. http://bit.ly/SwvLS -- Simple Explanation of RDF and Linked Data Dynamics
2. http://bit.ly/5ygje -- What the Linked Data meme is about
3. http://bit.ly/5ygje - Linked Data & Identity . 
 
Other comments around the same theme from within this discussion space:
 
 
 
 
Kingsley Idehen,
Founder & CEO,
OpenLink Software
http://www.openlinksw.com/blog/~kidehen
http://twitter.com/kidehen
 

Comment from kidehen at OpenLink Software on Apr 30, 2009
Member comment

Linked data and in a more specialized sense semantic web technologies are a core component for building E-Government with open access, open data in open online repositories.

According to both the IFOSSF (http://www.ifossf.org/) and the Open Access Initiative of the World Resources Institute (http://www.wri.org/project/access-initiative), open access to online repositories of public data is of vital importance to ensuring good governance and implementing sustainable development at national and global levels.

 

Comment from ModularFarming at Rainbow Warriors Core Foundation on Apr 30, 2009
Member comment

"Linked Open Data (LOD)" as a concept is very important and useful, but since some of the comments jumped to the conclusion that this necessarily means Semantic Web technologies, we want to point out that there are more lightweight and better accessible solutions to implementing LOD. specifically, XML and REST provide linked open data in a way that is supported in many more programming environments and technologies as the more advanced RDF/PWL technologies. Our Proposed Guideline Clarifications for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 proposed and implemented linked open data based on Plain Web technologies (specifically, HTML, Atom feeds, and XML), which we believe would greatly improve the usability and accessibility of data made available by recovery.gov.

Comment from dret at UC Berkeley on Apr 30, 2009
Member comment

I am very supportive of "Linked Open Data", but want to second Dret's comments.

Linked Open Data is much more open if delivered in open formats and standards that see WIDE implmentation and use. If Linked Open Data required conceptually difficult or esoteric styles of implementation (as is sometimes the case with RDF/OWL), it would be much less open than if it saw implementation with more widely used approaches.  The same is true for the style of web-services deployed to implement this vision. If they deviate from REST-styles, then you have much higher barriers to participation and use even if the technology is "open". 

Open and simple go hand-in-hand!

Comment from ekansa at UC Berkeley, School of Information, ISD Program on Apr 30, 2009
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