5 ms·

Does your government have much of an open source culture? I think these arguments were already had (and won) in the UK, for instance. https://github.com/alphag

by rozab 6y ago

Does your government have much of an open source culture? I think these arguments were already had (and won) in the UK, for instance. https://github.com/alphagov https://github.com/alphagov https://github.com/hmrc https://github.com/hmrc https://github.com/UKHomeOffice https://github.com/UKHomeOffice

gspr 6y ago
> Does your government have much of an open source culture? I'd say no, but it's a bit surprising, because it does have a pretty decent open data culture. The weather [1] and mapping [2] data services are world-class, for example. [1] https://hjelp.yr.no/hc/en-us/articles/360009342833-XML-weather-forecasts https://hjelp.yr.no/hc/en-us/articles/360009342833-XML-weath... [2] https://kartverket.no/en/data/Open-and-Free-geospatial-data-from-Norway/ https://kartverket.no/en/data/Open-and-Free-geospatial-data-...
- birktj 6y ago
  Even though it is getting better, I would argue Norway still has a pretty bad open data culture. As far as I know Kartverket has only released the N50 with the more detailed N5 data still not being available to the public. The biggest pain points for me is the fact that marine depth data of a certain resolution is classified information [1] and they still wont release nautical maps for free. I am hoping the open trend will continue because the Norwegian government sits on some really high quality data that could see a lot of interesting uses. [1] https://www.kartverket.no/en/data/bathymetric-data-and-DTM-of-the-Seabed/ https://www.kartverket.no/en/data/bathymetric-data-and-DTM-o...
marvin 6y ago
Norway botched the contact tracing app completely, certainly politically and maybe technically. Centralized storage of GPS & bluetooth data and refusal to open-source (which is a tacit acknowledgement of insufficient confidence in security -- of the personal movements of the whole population, no less). Statements from researchers involved in the technical development that citizens have a responsibility to give up their personal information. Poor debate and communication regarding the choice of centralized tracing. Then followed up with painfully weak statements from politicians and researchers that this is a truly exceptional one-time-only transgression of privacy, which will be rolled back permanently on a specified date and never be construed as precedence for similar actions in the future. FHI, responsible for the app deployment (the Norwegian version of the CDC), has previously betrayed the trust of the public by refusing to destroy DNA samples of exonerated suspects and witnesses. Skepticism towards their ethics and degree of principled data management is highly justified. Digital contract tracing seems dubious anyway, but thankfully we're in a position at the moment where it is definitely unnecessary. Might be relavant in a few months though.
bjarneh 6y ago
> Does your government have much of an open source culture? I would say no. Some years ago (2012) I was somewhat hopeful. I attended a conference hosted by "Friprog senteret" (Free software center) called GoOpen. "Fripro senteret" was a small but very effective organization that got great publicity (the crown prince held a speech together with the Wikipedia founder etc.), and in general open source and open standards seemed to something people cared about, at least when informed about problems of lock-in etc. A few years later (2014) Friprog-senteret was de-funded, and it just seems like the whole society drifted towards convenience over privacy/ethics etc.

by rozab 6y ago

gspr 6y ago

> Does your government have much of an open source culture? I'd say no, but it's a bit surprising, because it does have a pretty decent open data culture. The weather [1] and mapping [2] data services are world-class, for example. [1] https://hjelp.yr.no/hc/en-us/articles/360009342833-XML-weather-forecasts https://hjelp.yr.no/hc/en-us/articles/360009342833-XML-weath... [2] https://kartverket.no/en/data/Open-and-Free-geospatial-data-from-Norway/ https://kartverket.no/en/data/Open-and-Free-geospatial-data-...

birktj 6y ago
Even though it is getting better, I would argue Norway still has a pretty bad open data culture. As far as I know Kartverket has only released the N50 with the more detailed N5 data still not being available to the public. The biggest pain points for me is the fact that marine depth data of a certain resolution is classified information [1] and they still wont release nautical maps for free. I am hoping the open trend will continue because the Norwegian government sits on some really high quality data that could see a lot of interesting uses. [1] https://www.kartverket.no/en/data/bathymetric-data-and-DTM-of-the-Seabed/ https://www.kartverket.no/en/data/bathymetric-data-and-DTM-o...

marvin 6y ago

Norway botched the contact tracing app completely, certainly politically and maybe technically. Centralized storage of GPS & bluetooth data and refusal to open-source (which is a tacit acknowledgement of insufficient confidence in security -- of the personal movements of the whole population, no less). Statements from researchers involved in the technical development that citizens have a responsibility to give up their personal information. Poor debate and communication regarding the choice of centralized tracing. Then followed up with painfully weak statements from politicians and researchers that this is a truly exceptional one-time-only transgression of privacy, which will be rolled back permanently on a specified date and never be construed as precedence for similar actions in the future. FHI, responsible for the app deployment (the Norwegian version of the CDC), has previously betrayed the trust of the public by refusing to destroy DNA samples of exonerated suspects and witnesses. Skepticism towards their ethics and degree of principled data management is highly justified. Digital contract tracing seems dubious anyway, but thankfully we're in a position at the moment where it is definitely unnecessary. Might be relavant in a few months though.

bjarneh 6y ago

> Does your government have much of an open source culture? I would say no. Some years ago (2012) I was somewhat hopeful. I attended a conference hosted by "Friprog senteret" (Free software center) called GoOpen. "Fripro senteret" was a small but very effective organization that got great publicity (the crown prince held a speech together with the Wikipedia founder etc.), and in general open source and open standards seemed to something people cared about, at least when informed about problems of lock-in etc. A few years later (2014) Friprog-senteret was de-funded, and it just seems like the whole society drifted towards convenience over privacy/ethics etc.