We Dun Lrnd: W+K NY Goes Back To School

Each summer, ITP houses a month long Summer Camp, inviting non-student, working professionals  to it’s “un-university” and “un-conferences” to talk, share, and make. Well, we like to talk, and thought it would be a great opportunity to share some of the things we’ve been making.The Interactive Telecommunications Graduate Program at New York University has been producing some bad ass shit for the past 30 years. Though, most recently you might remember it from the press surrounding BurritoB0t, a 3D printer that makes burritos. Yes, that’s right: Tex-Mex 3D printing. Actually printing burritos. Internet, yo.

So we called up our friends over at the City of New York’s Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (infamously acronym’d, DoITT) and Wieden + Kennedy Tomorrow to put together an hour long presentation about the future of Open Data in the public and private sector, dubbed “Data: Art, Product or Tool“.

Marc Maleh, Director of Interactive Production W+K NY, kicked things off by asking the question: What is Data? Hint: it’s lots and lots and lots of things. Lots of infinite, really.

Husani Oakley, Technology Director W+K NY, then told us seductive tales of the history of private sector data, leading up to where we are today. Hint: Moore’s law is still with us, and it’s still bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S.

Bob Richardson, Director, Office of Strategic Development at the NYC DoITT, then gave us all a proper civics lesson by discussing the history of government data collection and the challenges bureaucratic municipalities face as they struggle to keep up with the speed of changing technology (can you imagine he was the only one in the room wearing a tie?) Specifically, he pointed to how the passing of Local Law 11 of 2012, requiring that all city agencies and departments make their data publicly available online using open standards, has forced the swift adoption of new open data systems and subsequent partnership with the private sector to help expedite innovation. Hint: shit is unbelievably fascinating and latest pilot programs are already unbelievably effective.

Things then kicked over to Nick Barham, Global Director of Wieden + Kennedy Tomorrow, who discussed Nike’s latest innovation: the Materials Sustainability Index (MSI). The good folks at Nike have been working with our counterparts at Wieden+Kennedy Portland to identify a new way of thinking when designing products, putting together the call-to-arms video, The Making of Making. By opening up their own private datasets to the public, Nike is creating a sustainability ecosystem whereby any designer in the world will be able to make better decisions for better tomorrows. Hint: data for good has come full-circle, through the public sector, back into the private.

Then Daniel Shaw, Executive Interactive Producer W+K NY finished things off by presenting what the future could hold. As the web further democratizes the toolsets needed for data manipulation (http://ifttt.com), and those data sets become more and more globally available (http://www.google.com/publicdata/directory), the ability for end-users to benefit from say, a federated search, increases exponentially. So the next time you’re trying to figure out how to avoid traffic to the Upper West Side, your search will not only show which roads are closed for July 4th, but also cross-reference how many parking spots are being sold on mobile devices in real-time to identify real-time congestion. Hint: don’t even think about driving into Manhattan on July 4th.

It was a great day had by all. And apparently it was the highest attended ITP Summer Camp session of the entire season. We were honored to be a part of it and look forward to continue to help efforts towards Open Data exploration. Future ahoy.

Follow @WKNYC on Twitter to find out where we’ll pop up next.