Linked Data Cookbook for Government Agencies

A Linked Data Cookbook
for Government Agencies
Semantic Technology Conference, Washington DC
01-Dec-2011 8:30AM

Bernadette Hyland
CEO, 3 Round Stones &
co-chair W3C Government Linked Data Working Group
bhyland@3roundstones.com
Twitter @BernHyland

Monday, November 28, 11

• Linked Data is about
publishing and
consuming data using
international data
standards
• Based on 20 year old
idea
• Goal is to solve
organizational issues
related to data silos,
requirements for faster
data integration and an
environment of reduced
IT budgets


Linking Government Data
• 42 contributors
• ...from 8 countries
• 10 chapters
• Publication date:
November 2011

3


Agenda
• Why publishing Linked Open Data matters

• What governments are doing today

• How government use of Open Standards &
Open Source Software saves lives and money

• Social contract as a government publisher

• Next steps


Two sides of the
Open Government Coin
Short and long term public interests

Increasing transparency

Helping with informed civic engagement

#2 Data sharing for informed research, policy &
regulation

My talk today focuses on #2


Why should we Care?
• Reducing data silos has long been discussed ...

• Linked Data, based on international data exchange
standards avoids vendor lock in

• Reduces the need to create & maintain data silos

• Encourages private and public partnerships

• Sows the seeds for economic growth from the top down
and bottom up


ACCEPTABLE ROI FOR IT

4% 17%
13%

16%

6 months
49% 12 months
18 months
24 months
More than 24 months


Governments
Goals: Governmental transparency and/or improved
internal efﬁciencies (data warehouses)


Publishers
Goals: Improve internal manuscript pipelines, expose
additional ways of ﬁnding and using content


Countries with Open
Government Sites


Open Government Data Camp 2011


Open Government Data in 2011


Government LOD on CKAN


Largest Publisher of Government LOD


Where is Open Source deployed?
International Standards and Open Source are the reason

• The Web has become the most extensible, robust
information network ever created

• US Dept of Defense is big customer of commercially
support Open Source software

• US Army cites Open Source is saving lives and hundreds of
millions of dollars.

• 100k instances deployed in missile defense systems &
armored personnel carriers


In 3 brief years ...
• Starting in 2008, a few heads of state directed open
government data to be published on the Web ...

• Three months ago (September 2011), Presidents
Obama (USA) and Rousseff (Brazil) endorsed the
Open Government Partnership, along with
7 other nations

• Each launched their government’s National Plans
during the meeting of the UN General Assembly


World changing phenomenon
• Using Linked Data approach, we can begin to
address data silos and interoperability using
data exchange standards
• We can combine information sources
• The W3C has deﬁned standards that enable
interoperability and allow us to freely move
data


What is next?
• We’re already seeing signs of things to
come.

• Structured data on the Web is becoming
mainstream.


Government Linked
Data Working Group
• Started June 2011; runs to May 2013
• Chartered to provide standards & develop standards
track documents to help all governments share
their data as high quality (“5 star”) Linked
Data
• 39 participants from 25 organizations
• 50% in non-US locations


http://www.w3.org/2011/gld/charter

Deliverables
Community Directory

Best Practices for Publishing Linked Data

• Procurement, vocabulary selection, URI construction,
versioning, stability, legacy data issues

• Cookbook for Linked Open Data
Standard Vocabularies

• Metadata, Statistical “Cube” Data, People,
Organizational structures


Beta: http://dir.w3.org
email support@3roundstones.com for login to
add your organization’s details

A pragmatic
approach to
publishing & consuming
Linked Data

There is a Process

Identify Model Name Describe Convert Publish

Maintain


Preparation
1. Leverage what exists
• Request a copy of the logical and physical model of the
database(s)
• Obtain data extracts (i.e., databases and/or spreadsheets)
or create data in a way that can be replicated.


Model the data
2. Model data without context to allow for
reuse and easier merging of data sets

• Traditional DBAs organize data for speciﬁed
Web services or applications.

• With LD, application logic does not drive the
data schema, concepts, etc.


Model the data
3.Look for real world objects of interest (e.g.,
people, places, things, locations, etc.) and
model them.
• Investigate how others are already modeling
similar or related data.
• Look for duplication and normalize the data
• Use common sense to decide whether or
not to make link


Model the data ...
4. Connect data from different sources and
authoritative vocabularies (see list of popular
vocabularies below).
•Use URIs as names for your
objects


Model the data ...

•Put aside immediate needs of any
application
•Don’t think about how an application will
use your data
•Do think about time and how the data will
change over time.


Convert, Publish & Maintain
5.Write a script or process to convert the
data set repeatedly
6.Publish to the Web and announce it! (more
details shortly)
7.Maintenance strategy (more details in the
social contract at the end)


Take the plunge ... Be forgiving

• Simplistic data models can still be useful
• Better to make progress with something
rather than do nothing because we cannot
be comprehensive and complete


Take an iterative approach
1. Review of modeling decisions

2. Review vocabularies chosen and developed

3. Modify/update data conversion scripts

4. Do a maintenance walk-through with real use cases

5. Show how to explore data with SPARQL and
visualizations

6. Discuss a persistent identiﬁer strategy (think PURLs)


Content Management Systems


Linked Data Management System
Callimachus (kəlĭm'əkəs) is a framework for data-driven
applications based on Linked Data principles.

Callimachus allows Web authors to quickly and easily create
semantically-enabled Web applications.


Web 2.0 developers can create data driven application
with templates in hours
Triples up & down (no mySQL under the covers)
Wiki editing of content
Access control
Collaboration via Web
Change tracking (history)
Page/form Templates


Join the Community
Callimachus has beneﬁted from 2+ years of corporate support

We’re using it for real world Web applications in environmental
protection, ﬁnance and publishing

Open Source project

Visit callimachusproject.org


What we covered today
• Why government authorities are publishing information as
Linked Open Data

• The process for converting data into RDF

• Using Open Standards and Open Source to publish
Open Data

• Note: Commercial support & products are
critical for government publishing & consumption of Open
Data

• Announcing agency Open Data & your social contract


Further Reading

http://linkeddatabook.com/editions/1.0/

http://3roundstones.com/linking-enterprise-data/
http://3roundstones.com/linking-government-data/

http://www.linkeddatadeveloper.com/


Recommended talk
Thursday, 1-Dec 2011 @ 9:30
by Michael Pendleton &
David G. Smith, US EPA

LINKED GOVERNMENT
DATA:
ENVIRONMENTAL
PROTECTION PERSPECTIVES


This talk http://slideshare.net/3roundstones
@BernHyland
bhyland@3roundstones.com

This work is Copyright © 2011 3 Round Stones Inc.
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Linked Data Cookbook for Government Agencies

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