my notes (1) Public 2.0 Culture, Creativity and Audience in an Era of Information Openness

This one-day conference at University of Westminster last Thursday was well worthwhile. On the Wednesday afternoon I visited the Saatchi Gallery. On the way there on the King's Road I could not walk past the Peter Jones store. I have not added a link: competition! ;-)

At Public 2.0 there was just over 50 people from a mix of backgrounds.

To begin there were introductions by Tom Corby (conference convener, artist, academic and writer working at the University of Westminster), David Gauntlett (writes and teaches on how digital media gives people new opportunities to create and connect) and Ian Forrester (Senior Producer at BBC R&D and emergent technology expert). In my notes I have scribbled mutualization in mainstream media, datasets and the consumption of the same which I believe David raised.

Ian shared some personal experiences of his engagement with health services that prompted his reflections on the volume of data that hospitals must process. He made the key point that data drives informatics. At the end of the day it is about data not informatics and moving from data to paths and trends.

Ian's presentation made me feel instantly part of the mix. He raised the ongoing conundrum for would-be e-health services of public vs. private data and how some things are kept private.

Picking up on his health emphasis at questions I asked for his thoughts on the demise of Google Health. His response noted how Google seeks to 'disrupt' market sectors to initiate change. Obviously health is something that really is very personal. (Health is clearly complex and cussed even for global enterprises too.)

Ian spoke of how public data has strange effects - with over-sharing:

http://pleaserobme.com/

Another question had Ian identify the need for a personalised engagement tool. Something that is labelled "my data" and facilitates data portability. The personalised aspect to this once again shows the health links. This issue recognised generally is also about empowerment, data ownership and the ability to disengage should people so choose.

I've missed a trick just learning of Quantified Self (busy trying to quantify other people - qualify too). Must look into this.

Ian also pointed us to a forthcoming BarCamp in Manchester hosted by the BBC.