[Data.gov data catalog]

An extremely compelling call for proposals was recently posted for the Visualizar'09 workshop that will take place at Medialab-Prado in Madrid this fall. Organizer José Luis de Vicente has really outdone himself and positioned the project incubator to capitalize on the intersection of the open data movement and information visualization. Project tutors Ben Cerveny (of Stamen) and Aaron Koblin are already onboard, as are Bestiario - with a final tutor to be confirmed. The call describes the roots of the public data movement as follows:

In 2004, the Ministers of Science from all the OECD nations signed a declaration whereby they agreed that all data financed by public monies should be made available to all citizens. Since then, the Open Data movement, similar to the free software and culture movement, has been growing and acquiring increasingly significant support, overcoming difficulties and obstacles. The arguments in favour of opening large databases run from the need to prevent the privatization of data that by definition have no owner, such as gene sequences and basic environmental data, to the more general view that facts are not intellectual property. Facilitating the use of data from research financed with public monies, or being able to use and reshape fundamental data resources such as cartographic data are some of the aims of pro Open Data initiatives.

The Visualizar team goes on to outline how public data might enrich varied realms that include science, governance and "public conversation". The key question here is how "visualized" data might "foster citizen innovation, public decision making and the process of governance?" I think the timing of this workshop is perfect. While key practitioners like Eric Rodenbeck have outlined how "information visualization is a medium", there is a multitude of pointless, over-aestheticized and badly researched work being done in this field—in many data visualization projects there is simply nothing at stake. So coders, activists, researchers and policy nerds take note as this is a killer opportunity to kick start a project and set an example of how public data can be put to good use.

Based off my experience last year I can say that Visualizar runs like a well-oiled machine, and, that if you assemble a team of multidisciplinary thinkers around a project for a few weeks great work emerges at breakneck speed. While the main thrust of Visualizar is to nurture creative visualization projects, there is also a symposium that kicks the event off (that is how I ended up there last fall) - so you can submit research papers to present as well. Regardless of your angle, if data and/or the public realm figure into your creative practice I highly recommend putting together a proposal.

See the entire announcement for more information and many examples of the type of projects the Visualizar team are looking to reference and build upon. Proposals are due by October 5th, so get to work!