Mattress Tobogganing in Quebec

Mid-December the new bed was delivered, and the delivery guys were supposed to take away the old bed. But - as I live in the country and it was snowy - the delivery truck got stuck down the road from my place. While the delivery guys were waiting for the tow truck, they decided to carry up the mattress, box spring and bed frame. They also decided to carry down the old mattress and box spring (wrapped in the plastic that the new items had arrived in). Spontaneously they decided to use these as plastic-wrapped toboggans first to toboggan down my driveway and then carry their toboggans around the corner, to the hill on my street, down to their truck.



The mattress proved to be the better of the two, getting some pretty good speed down the road.




I almost regret not having kept the old mattress for tobogganing! :-)

eScience Librarians

The School of Information Studies (iSchool) at Syracuse University in Syracuse, N.Y., has introduced a new program (in collaboration with Cornell University Library) called "Building an eScience Librarianship Curriculum for an eResearch Future". It is focused on creating librarians with a better understanding of eScience and the research process, as well as the new types of digital resources - in particular research data and their long term preservation and use - and how to manage them.

Right now they have a call out for applications for scholarships that they have for this new program.

The lack of eScience and research data savvy librarians is one of the gaps identified by the Research Data Canada and is the focus of its capacity working group.

Government and Open Source Software

A colleague of mine is having some difficulties getting an Open Source solution to be made available within his government organization. In providing support to him, I've collected the below resources. Of particular interest is the 2007 Government Open Source Policies from the Center for Strategic and International Studies, listing the Open Source policies of hundreds of national, state/province/territory and local governments (including Canada's).

• 2009 The DoD and Open Source Software. Oracle White Paper
  
• 2009 Open source software could save millions (Scotland)
• 2009 Open Source Vendors welcome new UK Government policy, but want more action
  
• 2009 Liam Maxwell The High Cost of government IT
  
• 2009 Guide to Open Source Software for Australian Government Agencies
  
• 2009 D.Gatto & J.Herzfeld. Department of Defense Debunks Myths and Endorses Use of Open Source Software
  
• 2008. The acquisition of (open-source) software A guide for ICT buyers in the public and semi-public sectors (Dutch Government)
  
• 2008 How the DoD learned to stop worrying and love open source
  
• 2008 Government CIOs 'do not understand open source'
  
• 2008 DOD's open challenge
  
• 2007 Government Open Source Policies
  
• 2006 The South African Adoption of Open Source: A White Paper created by Vital Wave Consulting
  
• 2005 Richard Carbone, Robert Charpentier and David Demers. Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) Usage in Military Computing 10TH International Command and Control Research and Technology Symposium: The Future of C2 3-16 June 2005 MacLean, Virginia, USA
  
• 2005 Policies of United Nations System Organizations towards the use of Open Source Software (OSS) in the Secretariats
  
• 2005 Piergiorgio Di Giacomo. COTS and Open Source Software Components: Are They Really Different on the Battlefield? Proceedings of the 4th International Conference of COTS-Based Software Systems, ICCBSS 2005, Bilbao, Spain, February 7-11, 2005.
  
• 2005 Jesper Holck, Michael Holm Larsen, Mogens Kahn Pedersen. Managerial and Technical Barriers to the Adoption of Open Source Software. Proceedings of the 4th International Conference of COTS-Based Software Systems, ICCBSS 2005, Bilbao, Spain, February 7-11, 2005.
  
• 2004 Robert Charpentier, Richard Carbone. Free and Open Source Software: Overview and Preliminary Guidelines for the Government of Canada.
  
• 2004 Richard Fichera. Linux and Open Source For e-Government: The Business Case Research Fellow Forrester Research
  
• 2001 Carolyn A. Kenwood. A Business Case Study of Open Source Software. Mitre Report

Open Source and Data Sharing questions in UK Parliament (Nov 12 2009)

It was very interesting to recently discover this Hansard exchange from the UK parliament dated Nov 12 2009 involving Open Source and sharing data:

House of Commons Hansard Written Answers for 12 Nov 2009

Public Bodies: Databases

Mr. Maude: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps her Department is taking to facilitate data sharing among public sector bodies. [299480]

Angela E. Smith: The Ministry of Justice is the lead Department on data sharing. The Cabinet Office supports technical elements of secure data handling and ensures that considerations of Data Sharing informs our work to promote more joined up public services.

Sharing data securely is a requirement of the Data Handling Review, which all public bodies must adhere to.

Public Sector: ICT

Mr. Maude: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what assessment has been made of the levels of compliance with her Department's guidance on public sector open source software procurement; and what steps are being taken to ensure compliance. [299407]

Angela E. Smith: The Open Source, Open Standards and Re-use Action Plan was published in February 2009 and is Government policy.

The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) is currently developing guidance for the procurement of open source, working with departments and local authorities that have successfully implemented open source applications, to share best practice and effective methods for procurement. The basis of the guidance has been prepared and material based on practical experience is now being sought from industry and government bodies to enhance the content.

The Cabinet Office does not gather centralised data regarding software procurement.

I'm glad someone's parliament is at least talking about these issues.

Opening government funded research to improve research, teaching and learning in higher education

The report Harnessing Openness to Improve Research, Teaching and Learning in Higher Education (A Report by the Digital Connections Council of the Committee for Economic Development Committee, 2009 ISBN #0-87186-184-7) has some very relevant sections dealing with Open Access and Open Data in the context of higher education and the research process:

• Chapter 5. Openness in Higher Education: Changes in Research
  
  • a. Resistance to Greater Openness
    
  • b. Openness and Open-Access Journals
    
  • c. Digital Repositories
    
  • d. Educating Faculty Members on Their Intellectual Property Rights
    
  • e. Openness and Commercial Support of Research
    
  • f. Access to Government-Funded Research Results
    
  • g. Openness and University Libraries
    
  • h. Openness and Academic Presses
    
  • i. Openness and Technology Transfer
    

Of particular interest to those who - perhaps at a more general level - are working on getting better access to government funded research, are the following recommendations on this particular issue:

• f. Access to Government-Funded Research Results
  Recommendations
  Governments should:
  
  • Retain the existing requirements of the NIH public-access policy regarding the results of NIH-funded research (public availability within 12 months of publication).
    
  • Stimulate research and increase the pace of innovation
    by extending the NIH public-access policy to cover all non-classified research funded by the 11 federal agencies providing over $100 million each in research support.
    
  • Extend the NIH public-access policy, under appropriate conditions, to primary data resulting from federally funded research and data gathered in support of government regulatory activities.
    
  • Extend the NIH public-access policy to publicly funded research at institutions of higher education at the state, and local levels.
    
  • Adopt policies that promote the accessibility and utilization of all non-classified government procedures and processes, data and information products (e.g. databases, publications, audio and video products etc.) as well as materials held in government-funded museums and collections. Lower, to the extent practicable, barriers to access and use, including permission and attribution requirements and technological barriers. Consider the utilization of standardized formats and metadata to facilitate searching and use. (Policies should neither favor one commercial entity over another nor commercial entities over noncommercial entities.)
    
  • Develop long-term plans and policies for ongoing permanent public access to government information in whatever form, taking into account the fragility of digital media and the format migration that has impeded access.
    

Thanks to Bill St. Arnaud for this info.

Symposium on the Data Sharing Plans and on the Scientific Benefits of Data Sharing in GEOSS

Today in Washington. D.C, the CODATA organized Symposium on the Data Sharing Plans and on the Scientific Benefits of Data Sharing in GEOSS was held. Among other things, it looked at the draft GEOSS data sharing plan:

The Plan, now endorsed by 80 government Members and 56 Participating Organizations, highlights the following GEOSS Data Sharing Principles:

1. There will be full and open exchange of data, metadata, and products shared within GEOSS, recognizing relevant international instruments and national policies and legislation.
2. All shared data, metadata, and products will be made available with minimum time delay and at minimum cost.
3. All shared data, metadata, and products being free of charge or no more than cost of reproduction will be encouraged for research and education.
   

Programme:

• Part One: Implementing the GEOSS Data Sharing Principles
  
  • How We Got There and Where We're Going. Beth Greenaway. UK Environmental Observation Network
    
  • An Overview of the Key Substantive Provisions of the Implementation Guidelines. Robert Chen, of the Implementation Guidelines CODATA and Columbia University
  • Panel Discussion with the Symposium Participants Moderated by Roberta Balstad
    
• Part Two: The Scientific Benefits of Data Sharing
  
  • Data Sharing and Innovation. Christopher Tucker, Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) Board
    
  • Understanding Ecosystems and Their Services. Anthony Janetos, Director, Joint Global Change Research Inst., PNL/University of Maryland
    
  • Earthquakes, Tsunamis and Nuclear Explosion: Open Data Exchange for Research and Monitoring. David Simpson, President, IRIS in Seismology
    

Disclaimer: I am a member of the Canadian National Committee (CNC) for CODATA

frAgile programming...

Ravi Mohan has posted to his blog, Pin Dancing, a provocative (and likely correct) evaluation of the Agile/xtreme/lean programming wave we have seen over the last couple of years ("Let the Agile Fad Flow By" - Sept 26 2009). Enjoy.