It’s not Open Data Unless it’s Usable Data

Its Not Open Data Unless its Usable Data

In many industries, we are observing the fundamental nature of businesses becoming increasingly technology-centric and mobility-focused. In this groundbreaking transformation, APIs provide building blocks for a global platform that connects data and functionality across organizational and geographic boundaries.

With Open Data and Open Government initiatives garnering unprecedentedly strong support, public sector is, in many cases, leading the charge for the API revolution. But what constitutes ‘open data?’

Drawing from Claude Shannon, Donald Norman, and others, this talk explores the notions of data, information, and usability in a new context — that of how we create usable data by appling information theory and semantics to content.

An internationally known author and lecturer, Mike Amundsen travels throughout the world consulting and speaking on a wide range of topics including distributed network architecture, Web application development, and other subjects.

In his role of Director of Architecture for the API Academy, Amundsen heads up the API Architecture and Design Practice in North America. He is responsible for working with companies to provide insight on how best to capitalize on the myriad opportunities APIs present to both consumers and the enterprise.

Amundsen has authored numerous books and papers on programming over the last 15 years. His last book was a collaboration with Leonard Richardson titled "RESTful Web APIs" published in 2013. His 2011 book, “Building Hypermedia APIs with HTML5 and Node”, is an oft-cited reference on building adaptable Web applications.