Citizen Science and Environmental Data: Why Everybody beats Anybody

Sean Bonner In 2008 I spoke at re:publica about citizen journalism and specifically how blogs were filling gaps left by traditional media outlets that lacked in-depth coverage of some topics and markets because of their reactionary nature, and how journalism wasn't inherently better or worse because of a degree the author might have held. 10 years later I'll follow on from with a focus on Safecast and crowd sourcing environmental data and citizen sensing. Popular Mechanics recently said that "Safecast has revolutionized Citizen Science" - In this talk I'll discuss the how and why, as well as show again how the people can often do a better job than the professionals, and illustrate how without the trust of the community it doesn't matter how accurate published readings might be. How independent and trusted data can be used to verify official data and vice versa, and why it's important for communities to proactively measure things themselves rather than assuming governments or corporations are doing it for them, and everyone benefits from more open data.