Open Data Hong Kong

Open Data Hong Kong

Open Data Hong Kong is an open, participative, volunteer-run group of Hong Kong citizens who support Open Data

Location

Staff Size

1-4

Founded In

2013

Causes

Community, Diversity & Inclusion , Education, Elderly, Environment, Gender Equality, Health & Wellbeing, LGBTQI, Poverty Alleviation, Public Interest Law, Social Equality

Problem

If you are creating a new product or service, innovating to create positive social or environmental change, or working between government departments to adjust policy - access to the right data is essential. Data helps anyone to better understand the world and around them, make better decisions, and can benefit individuals, communities, and societies.

In Hong Kong, there are no requirements for government departments to hold onto data. Many Hong Kongers both inside and outside of government are not sure how to make Freedom of Information Requests to access public data that could make their lives easier and ensure they do not duplicate work by collecting information that is already publicly been collated by the government.

There is not a lot of expertise or resources around to help people access public data and make sense of the information they receive. This is where Open Data Hong Kong comes in.

Our Mission

Open Data Hong Kong exists to
1) raise understanding and engagement about Open Data in Hong Kong and elsewhere
2) Advocate and push for access, availability and quality of Open Data.

If we are successful in our activities:
1) data will become findable, relevant, structured, complete, up-to-date, safe and secure, and
2) Open Data enthusiasts will be engaged to improve and share uses of the data for discourse and analysis.

Our journey so far

We are a volunteer run organisation who believes that data can enable all to innovate, create more efficient and effective services and products, and fuel economic growth and productivity.

Our member ship is pretty diverse and includes engineers, scientists, data analysts, public servants and data enthusiasts. We love engaging with members of the public who have ideas on how data could help them to get stuff done.

Right now we have deregistered as an organisation and are applying to reregister as a new company with s88 status. Shortly we are going to join with AccessInfo, who has a similar vision to us, to create a new organisation that will not only help the Hong Kongers access public data, but make sense of the information they receive.

Our biggest achievement

We are so excited to have built such a robust community that believes in sharing data to nurture innovation and improve our lives.

We have hosted over 40 events and 4 conferences.

Our outreach has engaged 1000+ data professionals and members of the public to get them excited about the power of data.

We are also linked with the international Open Data networks we are also an affiliate member of the Open Knowledge Foundation.

Why you should donate your skills to us

There are so many reasons, that we would really appreciate the contribution of your skills.

But... if we had to pick only 3:

1) We are really passionate about making data useful. So we are all about helping Hong Kongers get practical results and we are not about talking shop. Your contributions to our organisation, will help build our capacity to make the lives of others in Hong Kong easier.

2) We celebrate and respect diversity. We are multidisciplinary team who have backgrounds in law, science, health and public policy. We are really curious about different perspectives and really enjoy coming together to utilise different skills on our data projects. Respect and collaboration underpin all our volunteering experiences.

3) Not sold yet? Well, we are sure that every organisation would describe themselves this way - but we (think!) we are fun. Although we are provide high quality services we don't take ourselves too seriously. We have a lot of fun as we find practical applications for data.

Our Recent Projects

Communications professional to create a launch plan for Open Data Hong Kong/AccessInfo’s new organisation

Open Data Hong Kong and AccessInfo are combining forces to form a new organisation. For years we have been helping...

Time

30 hours

Start Date

23 May 2020

Completed

Graphic Designer to create logo for new organisation

AccessInfo and Open Data Hong Kong are 2 organisations that have been dedicated to helping to facilitate members of...

Time

45 hours

Start Date

25 May 2020

Completed