I was recently asked to make some maps with data from the Government of Alberta's new Open Data Portal. Here is a video clip that made the local CTV News. A blog post that addresses my experience making the maps and my concerns regarding the portal can be found here. During an open data discussion with various stakeholders and Minister Clement, I said that an effective open data portal is one which causes discomfort for the government hosting it. I don't feel that this GOA data portal is at all challenging as there are no difficult datasets to be found. For instance, there was a recent slurry pond leak from a coal mine near Obed AB that leaked 'toxins' into the Athabasca River. The data associated with that release, which clearly makes the Government of Alberta uncomfortable judging by their media, should be on their open data portal. Sadly, the video has not sound. Working to fix this.

ctv_interview from Matthew Dance on Vimeo.