The leader of the Energy, Citizens and Education elements of MK:Smart took part in a visit to Taiwan at the end of March to explore the use of Open Data.
Prof Gerd Kortuem met with key representatives from industry and research and to discuss the latest Open Data developments, covering policy, research and commercial applications. The expertise involved is central to the continued development of the MK Data Hub, which is designed to deal with open and private data sources.
Organised by the Open Data Institute (ODI) and the British Trade & Cultural Office (BTCO) in Taipei, the UK Open Data mission consists of start-up open data companies and researchers who present talks as part of the “Taiwan-UK Open Data Summit” at the GIS Taipei Tech Convention Centre in Taipei, organised in collaboration with Industrial Development Bureau of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Taipei Computer Association.
As well as visiting National Chiao Tung University, National Tsing Hua University, Academia Sinica National Science & Technology Centre and the National Taiwan University, Prof Kortuem gave presentations at the “Taiwan-UK Open Data Summit” entitled “Smart Cities as Entrepreneurial Opportunity” and “Unleashing Innovation by Mashing up Open Data and Proprietary Data”.
Other UK members of the mission were Tom Heath, Head of Research, Open Data Institute (ODI); Dr James Cheshire, University College London; Mr Ian Makgill, Founder and CEO of Spend Network; Mr Mark Harvey, Founder and CEO of ODI Startup Resurgence and Mr Rod Plummer, Shoothill.