News

BCS announces new Linked Data geospatial group to further DNF principles

BCS has announced the formation of a new Linked Data geospatial group to take forward the work of the DNF Expert Group. It has been formed as a sub-group of what was known as the Geospatial Specialist Group, which is now to be known as the Location Information Specialist Group (LISG).  Dan Rickman remains the chair of the LISG but has now been joined by Mike Sanderson, of 1Spatial, as the chair of the newly formed sub-group.  The charter of the sub-group will be to take forward the work of the DNF Expert Group while extending the work to embrace Linked Data and its growing community. 

This will enable the principles of DNF to be aligned with the use of Linked Data and to use the reach of the BCS and its membership to expand and widen the community of interest for Linked Data.  In having Mike Sanderson chair the new group, we ensure continuity of the work given Mike's close association with the DNF Expert Group and his current role on the DNF Management Team, as the representative of the System Suppliers community. 

The release on the BCS LISG site can be found here. 

The new sub-group will continue the outreach work of the DNF Expert Group, especially with respect to Linked Data awareness building, which it will do in conjunction with the UK Location Programme's Linked Data working group.  Much like the workings of the DNF Expert Group, the Linked Data sub-group will also hold its own meetings to which all interested parties are welcome.  Membership of the BCS is not a pre-requisite for participation in the sub-group. 

Details of the first meeting of the Linked Data sub-group will be announced shortly.  There will be no further meetings of the DNF Expert Group. Further information on this development will continue to be made available via the DNF website although you are also encouraged to visit the dedicated site for the BCS's LISG at http://www.bcs.org/content/ConWebDoc/4043    

- Thursday 13 October 2011

BCS Geospatial Specialist Group event - registration open

Open Data and the Public Data Company: Whose data is it anyway and who pays for it?

News of an interesting and relevant event being run by the BCS Geospatial Specialist Group.  Jonathan Raper and Steven Feldman will discuss the issues around Open Data and the Public Data Company (PDC). It is intended that the event will be a debate and discussion of the issues for and against, so attend and get your chance to contribute to the process and the BCS response to the Cabinet Office consultation. 

Make a note in your diary and register now to join the debate.


When: Tue Sep 6 18:00 - 21:00
 BCS London

Register NOW at: http://geospatial.bcs.org/web/?q=node/83

- Tuesday 23 August 2011

DNF Expert Group Meeting #23 - Dudley

DNF Expert Group Meeting #23 - Dudley

Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council was the host of the recent DNF Expert Group meeting. The meeting kicked off with Brian Higgs, Corporate GIS Unit Manager for the Council, giving a talk on the ways in which location underpins the majority of their services. Their Intranet GIS tool, GIS-MO, is now the 2nd most used desktop application internally after e-mail. Uses of location information were diverse and plentiful ranging from GIS in schools to H1N1 flu pandemic planning.
 
Keith Murray, Chair, then provided the group with an update on the UK Location Programme (as Technical Director of the UKLP). 
 
The thrust of the day was taken up with the 2011 plan for how DNF, and the work of the Expert Group, would be structured in line with the recent announcement “DNF to embrace Linked Data”. In addition to maintaining a series of workshops, the next being on March 10th (see upcoming events for more details and to register).
 
One of the key deliverables will be guidance on how the existing DNF technical work can be “translated” to better apply to Linked Data usage.   The DNF principles remain – indeed it was aptly summed up at the meeting by the way that DNF already enables linkable data; Linked Data just provides an effective means to achieve this.
 
This meeting (#23 of a series dating back to 2004) was also Keith’s last as Chair as he prepares for retirement prior to the next Expert Group meeting. We all thank Keith for his commitment to DNF over the years. his leadership as Chair and wish him well for the future.  
 
Sadly, Keith informed the group that Dave Simmons, well known within the GI industry, and one of the early members of the Expert Group had recently passed away after a long period of illness. Our condolences to Dave’s family and particularly to his son Jonathan, who we all knew well, having followed in his father’s footsteps into the location field working at Ordnance Survey. Jonathan also had a strong personal tie to the Expert Group being our webmaster for several years.     

- Monday 28 February 2011

DNF to embrace Linked Data

The Digital National Framework (DNF) Expert Group is to align its core strategy with the ongoing development of the emerging universal web standard for connecting all kinds of data.
The group, an independent forum of data providers, software vendors, implementers and users, sees Linked Data as the best way to integrate different kinds of information, geospatial included, through web applications crossing organisational boundaries and taking data directly from source publishers.
 
Following an initial technical workshop in 2010, the group has approved a fundamental change in its operating plan for 2011 to embrace what Linked Data, and the community that helps drive and support it, has to offer.  The Expert Group is ideally positioned to act as a focal point for the usage of Linked Data within the geospatial community. 
 
The changes, which will be reflected in the plan for 2011, will see a much closer collaboration between geospatial and Linked Data communities both on the technical and communications sides. The detail behind this will be agreed at a meeting of the DNF Expert Group, hosted by Dudley Metropolitan Borough Council, on 17 February 2011.  
 
Priority areas will include a greater focus on building up knowledge levels, explaining how to translate and migrate data sources, and securing the business benefits of Linked Data.
 
 
More detail will be published after the Expert Group on 17 February 2011.

- Thursday 17 February 2011

“Why, Where and How?” of Linked Data workshop

Due to the overwhelming interest in the February event which was oversubscribed, we have scheduled an additional workshop to run on 10 March which will again be run in conjunction with UK Location and the Chartered Institute of IT. 

The event is free of charge and is the follow on event to the original workshop back in September 2010.

 

The Workshop will offer answers to questions such as:

  • What is Linked Data?
  • What are the first steps I should be taking to start using Linked Data?
  • What can I learn from those already working with Linked Data?
  • What does my manager (and above!) need to know about Linked Data to help support me?
  • How does this fit with Phase 2 of INSPIRE?
  • How does this fit with the future direction of DNF?

When: 10 March 2011, 10:00-16:00

Where: BCS London Office, 5 Southampton Street, WC2E 7HA

Cost: Free of charge

The agenda will be based on that of the original workshop.  Some minor changes may be made based on feedback from the attendees.  That agenda can be found here 

Registration is now open through this site at www.dnf.org/events/register and places will be assigned on a first come, first served basis.

- Friday 11 February 2011

“Why, Where and How?” of Linked Data workshop

Due to the high level of interest we have had to close registration for the "Why, Where and How?" of Linked Data workshop being run in conjunction with UK Location and the Chartered Institute of IT. Those who have already registered will be contacted with further information about the workshop early next week.

- Friday 28 January 2011

Agenda published and registration open for “Why, Where and How?” of Linked Data workshop

The DNF Expert Group is pleased to announce the publication of the agenda for the "Why, Where and How?" of Linked Data workshop being run in conjunction with UK Location and the Chartered Institute of IT. 

Registration is now open through this site at www.dnf.org/events/register

The agenda can be found at http://location.defra.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/10-February-Linked-Data-Workshop-Agenda.pdf

The event is taking place in London and is free of charge and is the follow on event to the original workshop back in September 2010.

As the venue imposes some strict limits on us as to audience size, places will be allocated on a strictly first come, first served basis. 

So don't risk losing out on a place - register today. 

Note: We have noticed some problems with the automated event registration system with some PCs running IE8.  If you have problems registering then do try with a different browser if that is an option open to you or, worse case, simply send an e-mail expressing your desire to attend to contact@dnf.org

- Wednesday 19 January 2011

Next Linked Data Workshop announced

Following the successful “Getting Started” with Linked Data workshop in September last year, the UK Location Programme in conjunction with the DNF Expert Group, is planning to offer a workshop focusing on the “Why, Where and How” of Linked Data. 

We will be publishing an agenda shortly with details of the speakers and topics plus how to register but for now we just want you to mark the date in your calendar knowing that you will be getting busy after the Christmas break!

The event will offer answer questions such as

  • What is Linked Data?
  • What are the first steps I should be taking to start using Linked Data?
  • What can I learn from those already working with Linked Data?
  • What does my manager (and above!) need to know about Linked Data to help support me?
  • How does this fit with Phase 2 of INSPIRE?
  • How does this fit with the future direction of DNF?

When: 10 February 2011, 10:00-16:00

Where: BCS London Office, 5 Southampton Street, WC2E 7HA

Cost: Free of charge

More information will appear here soon – so please look out for further details.

- Monday 10 January 2011

Linked Data “Getting Started” Workshop Summary

The purpose of the workshop was not only to educate and inform but to arrive at some conclusions as to next steps to embrace and encourage the use of Linked Data.   

The full report is available here

In summary, generally most people could see the potential of Linked Data, the opportunities it could open up and how it could offer a step change in data sharing across boundaries. Linked Data was seen as the leading vehicle to underpin the "publish once – reuse many times" principle.   Linked Data also offers a universal approach to integrating all kinds of data (location and otherwise) and across organisations using a common approach. 
 
But, contrary to popular opinion, it was seen that mandating a specific approach does not make it happen – business benefits (cost savings) and advantage over legacy approaches (capability to do new things/better service) are still the most powerful drivers.
 
This report is also being published through the UK Location website. 

- Friday 22 October 2010

Linked Data “Getting Started” Workshop - a summary of the day

Linked Data & Location
Getting Started Workshop Southampton 15 September 2010

Presentations released: http://www.dnf.org/guides/documents/C9/

Over 60 people attended the workshop hosted by Ordnance Survey on behalf of the UK Location Programme Interoperability Board and the Digital National Framework Expert Group. This included an interesting mix of Linked Data experts and many people new to the topic. Individuals came from a variety of backgrounds in the public and private sectors including good representation from systems suppliers and academia.

The speakers outlined the current status of development around Linked Data, data.gov.uk and examples involving location data. Adoption of the INSPIRE Directive by data providers from 2011 onwards will provide an excellent platform for Linked Data adoption since INSPIRE requires each spatial object to be traceable and recommends the use of a URI to support this objective.

The workshop witnessed several practical examples including a bathing water pilot from the Environment Agency: water samples (data recorded on a weekly basis in the summer season) are linked to the location sampled (collection point for a given beach). The two data objects are published as URI’s and simply connected as linked data. As well as an internal need, putting the raw data up as a URI also offers third parties the ability to build their own applications.

A more in-depth “under the hood” session over a working lunch was followed by breakout sessions discussing how Linked Data might be used and recommendations made for future priorities, A final presentation by the BBC demonstrated just what could be done with limited resources, a little expertise and common standards. A “can do” approach was a common theme in all the presentations.

A short summary is being prepared based on the day's presentations, the breakout sessions as well as the feedback received since the event. The target is to publish the summary by 15 October 2010

- Friday 01 October 2010

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All Items

  • BCS announces new Linked Data geospatial group to further DNF principles - 13/10/2011 - read more
  • BCS Geospatial Specialist Group event - registration open - 23/08/2011 - read more
  • DNF Expert Group Meeting #23 - Dudley - 28/02/2011 - read more
  • DNF to embrace Linked Data - 17/02/2011 - read more
  • “Why, Where and How?” of Linked Data workshop - 11/02/2011 - read more
  • “Why, Where and How?” of Linked Data workshop - 28/01/2011 - read more
  • Agenda published and registration open for “Why, Where and How?” of Linked Data workshop - 19/01/2011 - read more
  • Next Linked Data Workshop announced - 10/01/2011 - read more
  • Linked Data “Getting Started” Workshop Summary - 22/10/2010 - read more
  • Linked Data “Getting Started” Workshop - a summary of the day - 1/10/2010 - read more
  • Reminder – registration closes soon for Linked Data workshop - 8/09/2010 - read more
  • Linked Data Workshop - Agenda available - Registration open - 9/08/2010 - read more
  • Coming up this week - DNF Expert Group Meeting - 28/06/2010 - read more
  • BCS reports on recent geospatial event - 15/03/2010 - read more
  • Forthcoming BCS Geospatial event, March 4th - 25/02/2010 - read more
  • DNF to participate in Terra future ™ 2010 event - 26/01/2010 - read more
  • Ordnance Survey announces Terra future™ 2010 event - 26/01/2010 - read more
  • Next Expert Group Meeting Open for Registration - 26/01/2010 - read more
  • Latest DNF Expert Group Meeting - 16/01/2010 - read more
  • DNF passes 10 year anniversary - 16/01/2010 - read more
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