Open Source Stories: Starting Small: Open Data in Chile

Making data accessible is fairly simple. Making it actionable is much harder. In Chile, scholars, makers, artisans, and public servants are using open data to create environmental change.

From the film

Javiera de la Fuente

Founder, Al Sur del Sur Foundation

With Elun, a smartphone app she’s developing, Javiera is enlisting tourists in preserving a Chilean national park. Users snap photos of plant and animal life in Torres del Paine, and the app shares metadata showing the time and location of the photos. That data gives insight into how habitats within the park are changing.

See how the app works

Kiumarz Goharriz

Chief of Information and Statistics, National Energy Commission, Government of Chile

In early 2019, the Chilean government launched Energia Abierta, an effort to make data about the energy industry more accessible (and useful) to citizens. Goharriz is one of the leaders in developing the open energy data portal, which features data from 300+ sources, as well as applications and visualizations that citizens can use.

Explore Energia Abierta

Camilo Rodríguez-Beltrán

Director of Innovation and Development, Universidad del Desarrollo

Camilo’s research aims to democratize science. He works with rural communities to find practical engineering solutions to their local problems. Before developing the Chancho sensor in Pomaire, Camilo did similar work in West Africa and Southeast Asia.

See Camilo’s TEDx talk

Torres del Paine

National Park

This 700-square-mile national park in Chilean Patagonia is home to mountains and glaciers, as well as 25 mammal species, 274 plant species, and 25 different types of birds. More than a quarter-million tourists visit the park every year.

Explore Torres del Paine

Orlando Malhue

Clay artisan and community leader

In Pomaire, wood-fired pottery is a way of life. And Orlando, a potter for 50 years, is a master practitioner of the craft. His workshop is where the story of the Chancho sensor begins: Camilo brought a class to see a traditional Chilean village, and their visit started the project that’s improving air quality for Pomaire’s 8,000 residents.

Explore Pomaire