Some of Saskatchewan's greatest computer hackers got together in Regina Saturday afternoon for an all-day "Hack-A-Thon." But these cyber-wizards use their powers for good instead of evil.
Andrew Dyck is the founder of Open Data Saskatchewan. "The word 'hacker' oftentimes has a negative connotation. The way that we use it generally is a hack: a unique solution to a problem with a set of constraints."
The day-long event drew coders, software designers, and students to the University of Regina for a day of accessing open data on the internet.
However, Saskatchewan residents have no reason to fear: the hackers aren't looking for your personal information, a common misconception.
Grant Bastedo is the president of Takt Communications. "It's not about opening up personal health records, or your personal income tax. It's about opening up mapping applications that the government holds, or the buses all have GPS in them and making that available."
Access to open data has spurred the creation of impressive technology, some of it found it our own homes.
"The geo-location on your cell phones where you can tell where you are, right? That wouldn't have been possible without open data. Things like the weather data, used to be closed data, and now available to everyone for free," says Bastedo.
Increasing the amount of open data available would help launch Saskatchewan into the technological future.
"The future's wide open for open data in the province and there's a huge amount of potential. It's going to be a huge year for open data in the province and I'm looking forward to it," says Dyck.
Several of the websites and applications created today will be featured on the City of Regina website. It's just a small example of the potential of open data in Saskatchewan.
