Although the world has virtually all of the data it needs to manage energy and climate transformation, this information is not easily accessible to those who need it most, including policymakers, investors, and project developers. Government data on energy consumption and production, as well as supporting data such as traffic, population and infrastructure, is already in the public domain. Making it all available for public re-use is a first step that can unleash whole new waves of development. In parallel, using consistent terminology to classify online resources, whether public or private, will improve collaboration, grow knowledge, and foster innovation. The Solutions Center in partnership with the Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP) and OpenEnergyInfo (OpenEI) offered this training webinar on how opening up and linking data (Open Data), and categorizing the data automatically through use of consistent terms can help dissolve barriers to gaining access to information.

Panelists

Florian Bauer, Operations and IT Director, Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Partnership (REEEP)

Florian is REEEP’s Operations and IT Director and oversees its day-to-day operations as well as the clean energy information portal www.reegle.info, which has emerged as a key access point for high quality energy information and data sets. Prior to joining REEEP, Florian worked as a project manager and consultant for Siemens Austria where he managed intercultural projects. He also founded a web design firm in 2003. Florian holds a Master's Degree in IT Management and a Bachelor's Degree in Software Engineering from the Vienna University of Technology and is co-author of the book "Linked Open Data – The Essentials".

Jon Weers, Senior Web Applications Engineer, U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

Jon is a Senior Web Applications Engineer at NREL and is one of the lead developers on OpenEI.org. He works daily on a variety of internet projects where he applies experience gained from a diverse history in engineering creative solutions to unique and technical problems using linked open data. Jon has more than 16 years of experience in web applications design. Prior to working for NREL, he worked for the Library Corp where he was the principal architect of the web-based intranet powering the Chicago Public Library system.