Link Digital Chairman Steven De Costa will be keynote speaker at a forum this evening in Toronto, Canada, co-hosted alongside the Canadian Open Data Society. The event, which will take place in the evening of Tuesday, September 12 (Toronto time), will focus on open data as an ecosystem and as a force for good in both countries.

Link Digital is a co-steward of the Comprehensive Knowledge Archive Network (CKAN) Project, a widely used open source software for open data portals, and it has very deep experience with open government and open data sharing and policies at the federal and state level levels in Australia.

Steven and Link Digital CEO Marc Evans are in Canada this week to celebrate the company’s expansion into that market. As part of the expansion decision Link Digital has studied the approaches of the Canadian and Australian governments in the areas of digital government and data sharing, to help us understand how to use our local experience to add the best value in the Canadian context. 

The Canadian Open Data Society event will provide a chance for participants from government, the business community and not for profits to learn what governments in Australia and Canada are doing in open data and data sharing, what the benefits have been and how quality open data can be used to build public trust. Link Digital looks forward to the discussion and hopes the forum is the start of a broader dialogue on the issues involved.

Steven will be joined by two speakers. 

Cara Scarfone of Treasury Board Canada, who will discuss speaking on Canada’s open data commitments in the 2022-24 National Action Plan on Open Government and what’s new in federal open data in Canada.

Paul Connor, Executive Director of the  Canadian Open Data Society,  a membership-based non-profit that hosts the annual Canadian Open Data Summit (which will take in Victoria, British Columbia, on November 23rd and 24th  this year). Paul will discuss the Society’s current project of mapping open data ecosystems across national, provincial, territorial and municipal governments in Canada, as well as in civil society and the private sector.