A T3 webinar on the topic “Learn from the Experts: Open Data Policy Guidelines for Transit – Maximizing Real Time and Schedule Data-Legalities, Evolutions, Customer Perspectives, Challenges, and Economic Opportunities – Part II” will be hosted by the Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) Professional Capacity Building Program of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (U. S. DOT) ITS Joint Program Office (JPO).
As transit agencies continue to address increasing service demands and decreasing budgets, maximizing technology and data investments through open data policies is necessary to retain and attract customers. Webinar participants will be introduced to the opportunities that open data provide and the challenges to overcoming technology and implementation strategies. This session will also focus on the legalities of open data in transit, including copyright laws, licensing, political and legal barriers, customer perceptions, confidentiality, governance, and economic development .
Date: Thursday, August 7, 2014
Time: 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM ET
Cost: All T3 webinars are free of charge
Presenters:
Mr. Martin Catala, Manager, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Informatics Group, Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR), University of South Florida, will give a brief overview of the project underway with the Federal Transit Administration on “Open Data Policy Guidelines for Transit.” The webinar will focus on transit data relating to legal frameworks, 3rd party developers, schedules and situational status, such as passenger load, predictive arrival time, and vehicle location. The findings from this webinar will be incorporated into a guide for transit agencies interested in successfully implementing and sharing open data within the transit industry.
Dr. Larry W. Thomas, J.D., Ph.D, founder of The Thomas Law Firm in Washington, D.C., will discuss whether and to what extent there is legal protection for an agency’s real-time or other data. Dr. Thomas will discuss whether data may be protected under the copyright laws and whether there are alternative means that agencies may use to protect their proprietary rights in data.
Mr. Lou Milrad, B.A., LL.B, founder of MilradLaw in Toronto, Canada, will relay an overview of the legal framework and economic development opportunities for open data. This will include open data opportunities for collaboration; differentiating open data terms’ uses from commercial licensing, addressing privacy and confidentiality concerns, and economic development and community engagement.
Dr. Kari Edison Watkins, PE, PhD, Assistant Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, will share her experiences working as the interface between developers and transit agencies both locally in Atlanta and nationally. She will discuss the evolution of the presentation of transit data, how data standards enable better communication to riders, and case study findings from discussions with transit agencies about open data.
Mr. Dan Overgaard, Supervisor, Systems Development and Operations, King County Metro Transit, Seattle, WA, will address King County Metro’s evolution in providing real-time information, managing customer expectations, and the data management and organizational challenges involved in improving the quality of real time information.
For registration and more Information please click here.
