Actually, we talked directly at a meeting in London just a few months ago, and we talked on the phone maybe two months ago.
One of the purposes of the Open Data Institute is to create this network where everyone can learn from each other. I don't know a heck of a lot about Canada, but I know more than I did before. They are just getting started. Also, at an Open Data Institute event about a year ago, there was a representative from the government whom I talked with for quite a while. I don't remember his name now, but he was in charge of thinking about open data policy. We had conversations there.
In terms of advice for ODI Canada, it has taken a long time in Chicago and in the U.S. to really get the open data movement going. It has been driven by enlightened government leaders, but also by activists, designers, developers, and political transparency people. It's a multipronged process that takes quite a while. I'm glad you're having these hearings, because these hearings.... It's very hard to have an open data movement without any open data, so you have to get some open data from states, cities, and the federal government, and then it has to be non-trivial. It has to be stuff that you can really work with.
Up there, let's say in Toronto, I'm guessing there's probably transportation data available, whereby people can create bus trackers and train trackers and that type of thing, to try to better schedule their commute to and from work. If there isn't, then.... You have to figure out what is the low-hanging fruit, what you start with, and how you work with government and private developers and designers to get things together and get things going. You need a moderately sized town to really have enough data, enough political support, and enough developers and designers to work on it.
You have to work slowly and target your efforts. Canada is a big place with a relatively small number of people. My mother was actually born in Canada and I've spent a fair amount of time there. Now you have a better-off middle class than we do, so maybe you'll have a lot of demand for the benefits that open data can bring.