Weeknotes #2 - a return to health

Right. I don't have long for this weeknote, but I'm determined to get them out on a regular for at least a month. This one will be short. So what are the key things I've been up to?

Making decent progress on the green data project

So, I'm one week into the environmental open data project, and so far, it seems to be ticking along quite nicely. I was expecting it to take about a month for the code running the platform to be in shape for us to be able to open source, but we've got the API, and browser extensions and some documentation for how it all works online now.

We still have the final project to get ready, which people who run infrastructure use to update the info about which parts of the web are green or not. This information is what we present to end users, but getting that online is something that feels deliverable within the month, and I'll be meeting all the people on the project in person for the first time this week in the Netherlands, which will also help.

So, it looks like we're on track to get the first of three milestones nailed in the first month. Happy days.

Reading up on open as a strategy

One part of the work I'm doing is finding a way to have reach beyond the meagre resources, we have at hand, and this is one of the reasons we're aiming to open up as much code and data as possible. Of course, there's a continual tension with opening stuff up. If you give too much away, there's a risk of someone else capturing all the value, with you left unable to continue operating. At the same time, if you're too proprietary, well… the bigger threat is likely to be obscurity than a huge player swooping in using all the stuff you shared without credit, or compensation. As such, I've written a bit here, which is adapted for an internal document for the green data gig.

Getting a bit more clarity on travel, post brexit

One part of my job in the coming weeks will be speaking to other groups, and communities, and making it easier for them to think about the environmental side of tech. And following on from this, I'd been accepted to do a couple of related workshops after Brexit, but I wasn't sure where I stood for this.

After more digging than I expected, I now feel confident about my rights to travel, to confirm speaking at at least one conference outside Germany, post-Brexit.

This really useful, as I'm expecting this to be one of the ways to find collaborators, people to consume the data we'll be publishing, or people to use the APIs we develop.

The first post-Brexit conf I'll be speaking at, and running workshops at is DjangoCon Europe 2019, in Copenhagen in mid April - woot!

Finally getting better

And at last, I think I'm over this cold that's been plaguing me for most of March so far, and a significant chunk of Feb.

Okay, that's it for now.