rufus pollock, the open knowledge foundation at the guardian activate summit: london 2012

Creating, Sharing and ApplyingOpen Knowledgein a Digital Age

@okfn[.org]Rufus Pollock @rufuspollock[.org]

We build technology and communities to develop, disseminate and useopen knowledge ─content and data that everyone can use, share and build on.

Where Does Our Money Go?

We might hope to see the finances of the Union as clear and intelligible as a merchant's books so that every member of congress and every man of any mind ... should be able to comprehend them, to investigate abuses, and consequently control them.

President Thomas Jefferson to Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin, 1802

Getting data is hard!Data not made available

Data not machine readableNo standard format for data

Poor of dubious qualityFinances are complex

A project of the Open Knowledge Foundation, the Budget Transparency Initiative and the World Bank Institute

Greeks protest austerity cuts http://www.flickr.com/photos/piazzadelpopolo/4580914101/

Sovereign Debt -

How Did We Get Here?

Country 2012 2017

Greece 153% 136%

Italy 123% 119%

UK 88% 86%

US 106% 113%

Japan 235% 256%

The present system is, to put it bluntly, fraudulent. There are no regularly published and accurate official balance sheets. Huge liabilities are simply hidden from view.Niall Ferguson, Reith Lectures, 2012

OpenSpendingA global community

Creating an open map of the moneyFrom streetlights to international aid

@okfn[.org]@openspending[.org]

WhereDoesMyMoneyGo.orgCKAN.org

DataHub.ioPublicDomainReview.org

@SchoolOfData[.org]~

Rufus Pollock @rufuspollock[.org]