Have you ever thought about hacking your neighborhood? This is the challenge proposed by the hackaBIP event in Lisbon. Getting to know the reality of the place where you live and your community with the help of technology is the proposal of the moment!
The aim of hackaBIP, which took place between July 1 and 4 this year, is to use digital tools to bring the tech community closer to territorial intervention – this means that local initiatives will be able to better exploit the digital space. The idea is also to promote “the use of open urban data platforms, reinforcing the appropriation of information as a common good and an indispensable resource for civic participation”. To this end, they have created projects on collaboration, deliberation, information and data sharing.
In Lisbon, there are a number of platforms that provide information about the city, and we’ll talk about some of them in a moment. But how does it work exactly? How do portals make this data openly available and what impact does this have on the development of cities and citizens’ relationship with them? To answer these questions, we first need to understand the concept of open data.
What is open data?
Open data is “data that can be freely used, reused and redistributed by anyone – subject, at most, to the requirement of source attribution and sharing by the same rules”. This is the definition given by Open Knowledge International.
Thus, the data must be available for access for free or at a reasonable price, its terms must allow its reuse and redistribution, without discrimination against areas of activity or against people or groups.
How important is it?
When information is made openly available to the public, people can find out what is going on around them. Regardless of the topic to which it refers, open data allows for the transparency of processes and the democratization of knowledge. The material is available to anyone who is interested in it, facilitating the dissemination of culture.
In the context of the citizen-city relationship, promoting open data about the local area brings the community closer to its municipality. It’s a way for citizens to exercise their citizenship and participate in the development of public policies aimed at improving the urban space.
A cycle of civic participation emerges: easier access to information encourages the search for more material and more knowledge. People feel truly part of their city, and end up having the means to understand it better, question its workings and policies, and actually want to get involved in municipal initiatives and projects. That’s where digital tools play such an important role in making this a reality!
And it is exactly with this idea in mind that hackaBIP lists as some of the expected impacts the contribution to the articulation of a collective vision of the territories, the strengthening of free culture and the hacker and maker communities in Lisbon and social innovation, with the development of community projects relevant to local development.
Platforms
Lisbon Participates
Lisboa Participa is the portal for participatory citizenship. It works as a platform with information on all the participation programs and initiatives at municipal level promoted by Lisbon City Council. It is possible to sign up for various projects related to the city, so that citizens can get involved in building the place where they live.
An example of a program in which you can participate is Lisboa em Debate: these are public and thematic consultations in which citizens can view information and express their opinions on projects and initiatives taking place in the city. Pretty interesting, right?
Open Lisbon
It’s Lisbon’s open data portal. The data is divided into categories – Public Administration and Justice, Environment and Culture and Heritage are some examples of what you’ll find. When you enter the platform, you can see all the options and search according to your interests.
The site provides data of many kinds. You have access to information about municipal services, as well as external entities which, although not public, have activities in Lisbon and are therefore of interest to anyone who wants to know more about the city.
Open Lisbon
It’s Lisbon’s open data portal. The data is divided into categories – Public Administration and Justice, Environment and Culture and Heritage are some examples of what you’ll find. When you enter the platform, you can see all the options and search according to your interests.
The site provides data of many kinds. You have access to information about municipal services, as well as external entities which, although not public, have activities in Lisbon and are therefore of interest to anyone who wants to know more about the city.
Smart Lisbon
Lisboa Inteligente aims to publicize the initiatives that are being developed in the city, initiatives that are aimed at citizens, so that they are aware of what is happening, get involved and participate. On this platform, you can also view by category: environment and energy, citizen, economy, governance, mobility and way of life.
For each initiative, there is a sheet that represents it, with information and details about it: a short description, the name of its promoter, the sources of funding, the costs involved, the partnerships that have been created to develop this initiative, contacts for more information, and an announcement by means of a video, photos or any multimedia file. You can also see the stage the project is at and the contracted entity.
Interactive Lisbon
Lisboa Interativa was created to view, consult and analyze georeferenced data. The platform provides tools for exploring geographic information and issuing plans, which can be used to inform processes. It allows the repository of open data, which means it is free to use – you don’t need to ask Lisbon City Council for permission.
On the map, you can search for specific data, with information about them; you can visualize them, interact with them, make analyses, visualize the data in tables and save the results. You can also draw on the map, measure areas and distances, load data into the map, among other features.
Geodata Lisbon
Geodados is also related to the city’s geographic data, which is also open and free to use. You can choose one of the categories or simply type what you want to find into the search field.
With the data, you can create a map! And you can also create stories and open them via the ArcQIS platform, view API resources and see the data source and all the metadata.
Lx Connect
LxConnect is a BIP/ZIP-funded application for cell phones and tablets. Its purpose is to connect institutions and citizens. The user has four options: if they click on the blue button, they will find out what they can give to the institutions, be it services, material goods or even their time; on the orange button, with the name “receive”, they see what the institutions have to offer, with the types of services they provide, as well as information about their missions and the projects they are involved in; on the green button, there are the associations that work in the neighborhood, that is, close to the user; finally, the pink color indicates the agenda, with the city’s events.
It is a tool that facilitates these interactions and also helps institutions operating in the area of residence to publicize their services.
BIP/ZIP program
The BIP/ZIP Program (Bairros e Zonas de Intervenção Prioritária de Lisboa) is turning 10 this year! In 2011, it was created by the Lisbon City Council with the aim of creating local interventions to improve and develop the collective space.
With the help of non-governmental organizations and local associations, and through annual editions, the program is designed for the population, but also by them, in a joining of forces to meet the needs of the community. The initiative’s work covers the areas of education and health, reaping results in increasing employability and training people.
To date, there are more than 1,300 entities throughout the city in the BIP/ZIP network, with 67 territories covered by the projects presented, and more than ⅕ of Lisbon’s population directly involved!
On the Energia BIP/ZIP Facebook page, they posted a live presentation of the open data platforms, so it’s worth checking it out! In it, representatives from different departments of Lisbon City Council explained how each platform works and its impact on the lives of the city’s residents.
Thinking about alternatives that encourage social participation is the way to build a community that is increasingly involved and interested in bringing about improvements. With the help of technology, the promotion of open data helps in this mission, and also contributes to bringing culture to people.
The impact that the digital world has on people’s lives is a fact! So it’s important to use the tools to our advantage. Debating, analyzing and studying how the tech community can participate are essential tasks for achieving social development, so we hope this article has piqued your interest in your city. If you’re from Lisbon, be sure to visit the platforms and find out more about them!
