Long Island Metadata Project: Part One

"The simplest definition of metadata is that it is data about data."

Another useful tool in helping Long Island to "get organized" would be for some of our great colleges and universities in cooperation with state and local government and community organizations, to implement a Long Island Metadata Project (LIMDP). My apologies if someone is already doing this. I haven't come across it yet apart from some science related information. (Refer to Oyster Bay 2000 chart "Central Data Access/ Multi Platform" )

The LIMDP could established in conjunction with the SUNY Portal project (presuming it will be constructed to an "open architecture" platform) or as a different project based exclusively on Long Island with links to other projects. Perhaps the new LIFT Innovation Centers Project and other New York State NextGen Projects (both good variants of the Business Accelerator Model in The Port of Technology) could work cooperatively to create the correct environment of better communication. It seems Long Island and New York State have a lot of the correct elements in place and many very intelligent people from all walks of life ready to help our economy and our standard of living. We just need a little help organizing and working cooperatively to a achieve our goals (reference Oyster Bay 2000 "Community Congress" ).

Again the key is establishing a set of "open" standards and API that all such projects will adhere to. This still allow for creativity, competition and innovation while setting the framework for cooperation and information sharing and reasoned analysis. We still may not all agree on the results or how to proceed (human nature) but we are closer to having a unified approach to problem solving. When standards change in the future as inevitably they must, we then have a way to move together in unison rather than having to start from scratch.

Combined with XML, data mining and other relevant technologies, the LIDMP could be a simple and productive first step to having Long Islanders speak a common language and begin to chart a more productive course for our communities.