At 2013 BC Open Data Summit, apps and opportunities | The Vancouver Observer

"When Montreal-based non-profit group Équiterre needed funding for its environmental and social programs, it faced a herculean task. Money was available, but to find it would take months of trudging through mountains of government and private foundation websites and reports. That’s when it turned to Ajah, a software company that tracks sources of funding for non-profits in Canada. “Our web company helps non-profits research and connect with founders,” Ajah CEO Michael Lenczner said. 'We track all the money in the non-profit sector to see who funds who. We then try to make it really clear and easy for fundraisers and executive directors to manipulate, and to look through and explore that data.' Lenczner was one of the speakers at the 2013 BC Open Data Summit, held in Vancouver this week. His company is an example of new businesses evolving out of the trend of many governments to open data banks to the public. Open data is based on the idea that data should be made available freely to everyone, without restrictions on copyright or other controls. The idea is not new.  'Libraries are a good example,' said Herb Lainchbury, President of the Open Data BC Society. 'Likely, the first person who suggested making books available to a mostly illiterate population, lending them out, likely not getting them all back and costing money, was probably considered a crazy person.' The push for more open data is starting to gain steam, but Lainchbury said the movement will only make its greatest leap forward if the economic benefit of open data is realized. In England, an entrepreneur used government data to develop an app analyzing which doctors in what regions were prescribing certain drugs and found that in some regions, doctors were prescribing brand name drugs instead of generics.  The app saved the government £200 million ($310 million Cdn.) in the first year. 'It’s great to do things for altruism, but there are also great economic reasons for doing this,' Lainchbury said. 'We’re trying to make people see the opportunities. I think attitudes will change once they see the opportunities.' Lainchbury says a good example of where open data could benefit the economy is real estate, particularly in BC. He says there is far too much secrecy among realtors surrounding real estate data and information on houses being sold. Lindsay Brown, artist, community organizer and owner of Ouno Design, attended the summit on behalf of Commons BC, which brings together surveyors, economists and environmentalists to amass data on BC to help diversify the economy and better manage crown, or common land. One of their projects is to produce readable maps, but wading through complicated government data is a huge challenge. Finding people to do the job is another..."