Timo Cantell works as the director of the Urban Research and Statistics Unit of the City of Helsinki, a unit of 35 people within the city council charged with gathering data, and publishing it in ways that the citizens of Helsinki can use.

In this episode Timo Cantell talks with Owen Kelly about the ways in which the city approaches the collection, distribution and publication of public data. They discuss Kvartti, a printed and online publication produced each quarter. They talk about the approach Helsinki has adopted towards open data, and the ways in which the unit Timo leads can developed APIs so that people and organisations can analyse, combine and mix the city’s datastreams with other publicly available information.

Timo Cantell also deals with the approach of the city to the ethics of data collection, and the growing public resistance towards having personal data repurposed without explicit permission.