Project Descriptions 2013-2014

Purpose

To give NZOSS members an opportunity to contribute and to solicit feedback from the NZOSS community on what it should be focusing on over the next several months.

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Local Government IT procurement

A study of council IT procurement, development & deployment practices.

Desired Outputs

  • policies identified
  • comparison report written
  • a written schematic of a FOSS gov't IT deployment

Geographic Scope

Local (intially)

National (potentially)

Ways to Help

  • assemble and re-evaluate Public Sector Remix documents - see also the impending orphaning of Win XP...
  • scour websites, looking for policies
  • writing brief summaries
  • comparing each approach
  • identify how policies are created (e.g. finding the metapolicy)

Councillor To Talk To

Dave Lane

 

 

Auckland Public transport

A look into ticketing, payments, real-time timetables and apps for Auckland.

Desired Outputs

  • tbd

Geographic Scope

Local

Ways to Help

  • write docs for NZTA and Auckland Transport feeds
  • host a hackfest to build something with the data
  • write letters to NZTA/AT with suggestions on how to make things better

Councillor To Talk To

Dave Lane

 

 

Smarter smart metering

How hackable are smart meters? Can the data be accessed by individual home owners to improve their own household. What APIs exist? Are the formats open? What are the rules/regulations surrounding their use

Desired Outputs

  • tbd

Geographic Scope

International

Ways to Help

  • identify brands of smart meters used in NZ
  • take a look for ISO/etc standards
  • contact electricity distributors; seek access to data

Councillor To Talk To

Dave Lane

 

Open Source Outreach

How can NZOSS increase the diversity and depth of its base? Let's find ways for NZOSS to engage with a range of communities, particularly makers, university students, women and minorities.

Desired Outputs

  • tbd

Geographic Scope

National

Ways to Help

  • email in your thoughts
  • host an event discussing open culture
  • let us know if we use language that might be inadvertently causing offence

Councillor To Talk To

Dave Lane

 

Supporting NZGOAL

Does New Zealand have the infrastructure, environment, assets, etc to meet NZGOAL? Can NZOSS provide support for this? Many other countries have strong civil society organisations. 

Desired Outputs

  • tbd

Geographic Scope

National

International (potentially, if NZ can show leadership)

Ways to Help

  •  

Councillor To Talk To

Dave Lane

 

 

International Magnetism

What can we do to bring international thinkers and speakers to NZ? Could NZ become a hub of open source thinking?

Desired Outputs

  • 1-3 influential people to speak here

Geographic Scope

National

Ways to Help

  • list events that are happening in 2014
  • generate a list of candidates

Councillor To Talk To

Tim McNamara

 

Hardware workshop

Let's bring people together to work on connecting gadgets in the field. Wifi, kiosks, microcontrollers, sensors, etc.

Desired Outputs

  • decent facilitators/instructors
  • nice venue
  • enough cash
  • sweet event

Geographic Scope

Local

Ways to Help

  • reach out to hardware folk you know to participate
  • list potential funding organisations

Councillor To Talk To

Dave Lane

 

Effective digital democracy

Consultation and democracy should be enabled through the use of online tools. The free and open source communities have a lot to contribute here. They are very good at creating community, facilitating distributed decision making as well as being able to build some great technical tools.

Desired Outputs

  • tbd

Geographic Scope

Local

Ways to Help

  • ...

Councillor To Talk To

Dave Lane

 

Seeding the mesh

Community mesh networks have the potential to decentralise the provision of Internet services, increase disaster resilience and enable freedom of information. New Zealand is close to the action when it comes to a disconnected Internet, with members of the Serval Project working closely with the New Zealand Red Cross.

Desired Outputs

  • tbd

Geographic Scope

Local

Ways to Help

  • ...

Councillor To Talk To

Dave Lane