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DavePress podcast 2 – Andrew Beeken

In the second DavePress podcast I chat to Andrew Beeken of the City of Lincoln Council about the new open data site he has just launched, data.lincoln.gov.uk.

[audio:http://media.libsyn.com/media/davepress/DavePressEp2.mp3]

If you can’t, or don’t want to, use the flash player, you can download the .mp3 instead or subscribe with iTunes.

If you have any feedback – or volunteer to be a participant in a podcast, please do so in the comments below, or emailpodcast@davepress.net.

For those that want to know, here’s how the podcast is produced.

Mobile opportunities

GeeknRollaI had an enjoyable day yesterday at TechCrunch Europe‘s GeeknRolla event – a conference for techy startups. There was lots of discussion about what the next big thing might be (no-one really knows) and how to get funding from venture capitalists (it’s really hard).

One of the most interesting and useful sessions from my perspective was the one on mobile platforms, by Ewan McLeod of Mobile Industry Review.

Ewan really put into perspective the mobile landscape in terms of who is using what – with an emphasis on the fact that the iPhone isn’t the only platform developers should be concentrating on. Nokia, and their Symbian operating system, dominates. The problem is that it’s harder and more expensive to develop for, and doesn’t offer the great user experience that the iPhone offers.

For public services, where accessing as many people as possible is the major issue, platforms other than the fashionable ones need to be seriously considered when developing native mobile applications.

I took some rough notes during the talk, which I have reproduced below with some minor edits for spelling and tidiness. A much better written summary of the session is on TechCrunch itself, and I have embedded the slides too, which are full of goodness.

My notes

  • 4.6 billion mobile subscribers on earth (1.6 billion tvs for instance)
  • Nokia 36%, Samsung 19% of total sales
  • Smartphone OSs: Symbian 47%, RIM 20%, iPhone 14%, Windows 9%, Android 4% (last year)
  • UK – 19 million handsets sold last year
  • Only iphone and android seems to have most developer interest. Symbian etc less elegant but popular with consumers!
  • Is developing on iphone the new “buying IBM”?
  • Do a deal with a handset manufacturer – great way to get succeed. Alternatively the mobile operators.
  • Get a trad. media conglomerate onboard
  • Build on an existing brand – whatever it is, as long as it appeals to consumers
  • Advertise on admob and getjar – v popular tho there are others
  • A mention in the Times is good for 10k downloads or more
  • QT new nokia development platform
  • iPhone devleopment is easier than android.
  • Clients only ask for iphone and brands want consumers to have a great experience
  • Other platforms are more difficult and possibly expensive to develop for. User experience can be mixed. But the numbers! The numbers!

DavePress podcast 1 – Anthony Zacharzewski

Spurred on by Robert Brook, I’ve decided to give podcasting a try. My podcasts are going to be short – around 10 minutes – chats with interesting people about technology, government, democracy and public services.

Anthony Zacharzewski

Here’s the first one, where I talk to the lovely Anthony Zacharzewski of the Democratic Society about his stuff, including the new TalkIssues site.

[audio:http://media.libsyn.com/media/davepress/DavePressEp1.mp3]

If you can’t, or don’t want to, use the flash player, you can download the .mp3 instead or subscribe with iTunes.

If you have any feedback – or volunteer to be a participant in a podcast, please do so in the comments below, or email podcast@davepress.net.

For those that want to know, here’s how the podcast is produced.

Using the places database

I was asked recently by a colleague for some information about the names and locations of local authorities in this country. I was able to respond quickly and usefully thanks to the places database, which sits on the website of the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Here’s what I did, as a simple example of what you can do with this resource. We’re just going to produce a spreadsheet containing the names and contact information for local councils in England. I’m no expert on this stuff, but hopefully this demonstrates some of what is possible, and encourages folk to have a play.

First, go to http://www.places.communities.gov.uk/ in your web browser.

Scroll down and choose ‘download data by theme’:

Download data

On the next screen, we need to tell the system what information we want to extract through a number of steps. Here’s what steps 1-3 should look like for our example (click for a bigger version):

Steps 1 to 3

For step 1 select Current, step 2 select Key Facts, step 3 select Local Authority.

Two more questions to answer:

Steps 4-5

Step 4 choose Place Details, Step 5 leave start and end dates both as current.

Finally, there is a bit of a warning message – which I just ignore – and then the option to download the data as either an Excel spreadsheet or in CSV format:

Steps 6-7

Then just hit download, and your data will be saved to your computer. Dead easy.

Thanks to Martin Stone who first pointed this out to me.

I’d be interested to find out what uses other people have been putting this tool to.

Podcasting

I had the pleasure of being asked to be a part of Gov 2.0 radio, a live phone-in podcast about government and the web based in the States. Due to timezone stuff it meant I had to stay up til 2am to take part, but it was well worth it.

Adriel Hampton wrote it up like this:

Collaboration, Innovation and Social Media in Government: Join a great discussion of the Open Government Directive and Twitter, collaboration and ideation in government, with guests Jenn Gustetic from Phase One Consulting Group, Dave Briggs of Learning Pool, and Swimfish CIO John F. Moore and hosts Adriel Hampton, Steve Lunceford and Steve Ressler. More background here.

You can listen to the recording below – I won’t tell you when I’m on because that would spoil the surprise. Besides, I wasn’t particularly coherent, so you’ll no doubt enjoy the other participant’s contributions much more.

[audio:http://davepress.net/wp-content/2010/02/gov2radio.mp3]

I really enjoyed doing this, and I think there is something really valuable in audio work. As Roo Reynold’s excellent post proves, it doesn’t need to be hard to produce a decent podcast. I’m tempted to start doing some planning around something similar to Gov 2.0 radio for the UK – if you’d like to be involved, let me know.

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