1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,160 Govdirectory is an effort to collect data about public organizations like government

2 00:00:07,160 --> 00:00:13,720 agencies, on all levels, from all the world, and their contact details and present them

3 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:15,680 in one place.

4 00:00:15,680 --> 00:00:22,600 The data is stored in Wikidata and is curated and fact-checked by a diverse and dedicated

5 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:23,600 community.

6 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:29,800 Trying to get in touch with an authority might be a daunting task on its own, and depending

7 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:35,400 on your reason to do so, you might prefer some communication channels over others.

8 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:39,760 Finding that specific channel is often not straightforward, but on Govdirectory they

9 00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:43,560 can easily be found.

10 00:00:43,560 --> 00:00:48,520 As Wikidata would like to have better data about public organizations of this kind, most

11 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:54,320 of them even already have Wikipedia articles, and so the Govdirectory project helps improve

12 00:00:54,320 --> 00:00:59,160 modeling and adding missing data.

13 00:00:59,160 --> 00:01:05,720 Thanks to the Wikidata query service, it's relatively simple to retrieve the data to

14 00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:09,280 display.

15 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:13,600 Without the community effort, it would be impossible to find and model all this data.

16 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:16,240 There are many challenges to overcome.

17 00:01:16,240 --> 00:01:19,800 The first one is, of course, the local context.

18 00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:25,240 Which sources for a context are authoritative, up-to-date, and usable, and how should specific

19 00:01:25,240 --> 00:01:28,240 cases be modeled?

20 00:01:28,240 --> 00:01:33,300 The world is also changing, so the data need to be updated to stay in sync with the reality.

21 00:01:33,300 --> 00:01:40,360 Not only are contact details changing, but organizations come and go.

22 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:45,640 New and existing data being incomplete can also make querying harder.

23 00:01:45,640 --> 00:01:50,120 This can be mitigated by different kinds of watchlists.

24 00:01:50,120 --> 00:01:56,000 It is work that requires a keen eye for detail.

25 00:01:56,000 --> 00:02:01,640 One way to navigate Govdirectory is by country.

26 00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:07,280 Let's look at Sweden.

27 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:12,040 You see some overview information and all the agencies.

28 00:02:12,040 --> 00:02:28,840 You can search, and you can also sort, and if you go to one organization, you again get

29 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:36,960 an overview with phone number, email, Wikipedia article, and as we see here, Stockholm also

30 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:40,600 has a process for citizen's initiatives.

31 00:02:40,600 --> 00:02:45,560 And below is the list of all social media Wikidata knows about.

32 00:02:45,560 --> 00:02:53,680 If you spot a problem, you can report it, or you can go directly to Wikidata.

33 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:55,240 We're not nearly done yet.

34 00:02:55,240 --> 00:03:12,040 I hope that you join us, improve, and complete the Govdirectory project.