[et_pb_section bb_built="1" admin_label="Section" fullwidth="on" specialty="off"][et_pb_fullwidth_image admin_label="Plan on Camping This Summer? Open Data will Help!" src="https://news.communitech.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Plan-on-Camping-This-Summer-Open-Data-will-Help.png" alt="Plan on Camping This Summer? Open Data will Help!" title_text="Plan on Camping This Summer? Open Data will Help!" show_in_lightbox="off" url_new_window="off" use_overlay="off" animation="left" use_border_color="off" border_color="#ffffff" border_style="solid" /][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built="1" admin_label="section"][et_pb_row admin_label="row"][et_pb_column type="4_4"][et_pb_text admin_label="Text" background_layout="light" text_orientation="left" use_border_color="off" border_color="#ffffff" border_style="solid"]
Summer 2017 is approaching fast, and with that comes spectacular weather, outdoor activities, and a Canadian favourite; camping. Sure, open data can be very technical, and yes, it usually makes sense to leave it to those data scientists who love skimming endlessly through spreadsheets -- but it doesn’t have to be painstakingly tedious.
Companies such as MyCampSiteReview.com and Camis consume large amounts of data and publish very camper-friendly websites; all of which, is based off of freely available, open data.
It wasn’t too long ago that the general public questioned the value of free information. The reasoning behind this was simple: if this information is given away for free, what value could it possibly have? That said, this type of reasoning isn’t that absurd - I can almost guarantee that the free campsites will have different amenities from the sites which have a price tag attached to them. Does this mean that they don’t offer any value? Of course not. While it's true that some campers want a vacation with full amenities and will pay top dollar for that, others are looking for a different experience where they can get a great adventure and create their own value from essentially nothing.
The difference between these two examples might not be immediately clear, however, with open data it's the information that lies within the spreadsheets that contains the value - but the value depends entirely on how you use the data. With this type of information, companies like MyCampSiteReview.com and Camis can pool data at the aggregate level and provide a product or service to consumers which wasn’t previously available.
Even though these companies are aggregating data to simplify your camping experience - don’t forget to plan ahead! You may want to use different websites such as AllTrails or The Great Trail to plan prior to your trip. By utilizing sites like the two mentioned, open data and APIs built with open data can open a window into a previously unexplored area. For a camper or adventurer traveling to a new location or region, checking out the area and what trails exist prior to arriving could save time and add minutes (or perhaps hours) to the time you’re able to spend outdoors!
Furthermore, open data can also tell you a lot of things about the upcoming camping season. For instance if you take a look at the CPI (Consumer Price Index) for multiple product groups related to camping in the 3 months leading up to the spring and summer camping season in 2016, and compare it to January through March of 2017 - instantly, predictions can be made.
Source: Consumer Price Index
First, you can see that there is a 20 point difference between gasoline in March of 2016 and March of 2017. Similarly, recreation, alcohol, and tobacco have all seen a universal increase as well.
Now, as you can see by the rest of the chart, CPI does vary throughout the year. Nevertheless, by using open data in this manner the everyday camper can gain insights into whether or not they should budget a little more this camping season. And as you can see from the chart above; this open data provides an excellent indication showing that, if you are in fact planning on camping within Canada and you have in the past, be prepared to spend a little more in 2017!
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built="1" admin_label="Section" fullwidth="off" specialty="off"][et_pb_row admin_label="Row"][et_pb_column type="4_4"][et_pb_divider admin_label="Divider" color="#9ea2a3" show_divider="on" height="3" divider_style="solid" divider_position="top" hide_on_mobile="on" /][et_pb_team_member admin_label="Person" name="John Chiappetta" position="Projects & Initiatives" image_url="https://news.communitech.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/John-2017-warm.jpg" animation="off" background_layout="light" twitter_url="https://twitter.com/Chiappetta__" linkedin_url="https://www.linkedin.com/in/john-chiappetta-1b80136a/" use_border_color="off" border_color="#ffffff" border_style="solid"]
@Chiappetta__
John Chiappetta leads Projects & Initiatives at Canada’s Open Data Exchange (ODX). He works with companies and municipalities of all sizes to enhance their use of data and innovation to improve services, inform local decision-making and drive engagement. John believes that the most critical business questions are not answered with what data you could or should access, but by first working out what your business is looking to achieve.
John holds a Masters degree in Political Science and has completed undergraduate work in Political Science and Business.
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