Guest post by: Brett Hoffstadt
This article originally appeared as an article on LinkedIn, and is reposted here with permission from the author.
When I attended a Code4Sacramento event this week, my eyes were opened to a massive opportunity for innovative improvements in the State of California.
Did you know that California has a massive open data policy and platform for its citizens, businesses, and stakeholders to access and use?
You might immediately think (and worry) about the privacy and cybersecurity risks with the release of all this data. I thought of that too. But from what I’ve seen, there has been a reliable effort to prevent and eliminate any type of PII data entering this system.
The data is about state-level operations, sensors, economic reports, health and safety data, traffic data, weather, air quality, water quality, and more.
APIs are included in this system. That’s fantastic! So you can be a front-end developer for a mobile app or website (or company database) who wants to use this data for any purpose, and you are off and running.
Taking this innovation capability to the next level is the California Water Data Challenge. Several agencies and organizations have partnered to create an open-source innovation competition or challenge to use any of this data to help people in California have better access to clean water.
Opening up innovation challenges to the entire community works.
“The most interesting problems are solved by the most interesting people.” — Anonymous
You never know where (or from who) the best ideas are going to come from. I learned this from launching and facilitating several innovation initiatives at Boeing. Quick example – an NDT (nondestructive testing) technician from our factory came up with an idea for quantum-based communication (instantaneous over a large distance) that now has a US patent! Wow. (Before that patent was issued I couldn’t share that story.)
Who would have guessed that a random factory worker would have a patentable idea on quantum physics?!? Not me. But that’s just one of many awesome examples that comes from opening up grand challenges to your community.
If you are looking for ways to learn or demonstrate skills with big data, analytics, coding, or civic technology innovation (aka civtech), please check out the CA Water Data Challenge.
This challenge is planned to end in October. That is very fitting, because it happens to coincide with Industrial Water Week. That initiative is the brainchild of James McDonald, PE, CWT. If you are a water professional who wants to promote your industry and positive impact in the community, I urge you to check out that program and find a way to create some local events in your region.
Many colleges and universities have senior projects for the engineering and technology students. Why not expose them to the California open data project and task them to develop some proposals and projects to utilize them? I’m thinking especially of the UC Davis Big Bang Competition and the Engineering Showcase. Liz Tang, I will drop you a note.
If you develop any ideas on how we can use this open data platform, especially for water quality issues, I’d love to hear about them. Some special innovators will pick themselves to make a difference in this water data challenge. I hope this article helps find them. If you have any data scientists, water specialists, or community health advocates in your LinkedIn network, please share this article. Open innovation challenges only work when many diverse people know about them.
Thanks for reading and sharing this article. Take care, and take charge.
