Trainshare: from drama to lesson

Over the weekend, a good deal of movement and quite a few emotions entered the debate on open data in Swiss public transport: the SonntagsZeitung took up the situation of the developers of the social travel app Trainshare, whose idea has meanwhile also turned up in an announced app by SBB; an outcry went through the Twitter and blogger community, with suspicions and accusations everywhere. A wild back and forth, from “that’s what you get for tapping other people’s data!” to “lazy monopolist steals ideas!” – the rainy Sunday probably helped.

The SonntagsZeitung article itself sheds little light on what exactly happened; the chronology by app developer Philipp Küng, on the other hand, does not skimp on details. His commitment shows clearly: there are no “data pirates” or troublemakers at work here, nor coldly calculating competitors – but, in the end, fans, people with a passion for our fascinating transport system. A conflict is quite simply unnecessary.

Even if the events can hardly be reconstructed in full any more, misunderstandings, expectations and conceptual barriers can be identified that need to be tackled consciously in future innovation projects. What is certain:

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Innovation very often arises on a small scale, in niches – the Twitter community’s gut feeling is certainly right here. But no matter who took over what from whom, and whether anyone did at all: innovation never happens in a vacuum, every idea builds on countless others. That must always be borne in mind. And welcomed.
In return, it also becomes clear how great the significance of open data in transport really is, and of initiatives such as make.opendata.ch or transport.opendata.ch: they unlock a potential for innovation and productive discourse that it would surely be negligent not to use. Public transport belongs to all of us, at heart as on paper. And it is not only a challenge to be solved with more steel and concrete, but also one of clever connections, of innovative information technology.
For such potential to be used, a change of thinking is needed, of the kind that is already further advanced in other countries. Ground-breaking apps like Embark do not emerge in Switzerland – but not because clever minds are lacking here. Rather, not least because of organisational and political barriers that turn “open innovation”, “best practice” elsewhere, into a sweet utopia here.
Opening up is therefore the magic word: opening up the data infrastructure and opening up the channels of dialogue. A clear open data strategy, at the level of the transport association or even just locally. A clear “code of conduct” that sets out what can be expected of one another. A willingness to engage in dialogue on all sides, with clear points of contact. A political will and an entrepreneurial will. And the realisation that Switzerland, with its glorious engineering tradition in transport, has fascinating potential – all of this must be built up from here on, nurtured and cared for, with determination as well as sensitivity.

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In this sense, the incident above all offers one thing: not a drama, but a lesson. It shows everyone involved, and the wider environment too, what dynamics lie in the open data question, and how clearly it is about the foundations of innovation.

It is not a big play, but a very lively one so far; there are few heroes, and in the end everyone is in the same boat. In the next act there will be talks: @trainshare and @SBBConnect are meeting, the board of Opendata.ch is meeting, and SBB’s management will now also know that a play with great dynamics is being staged here. A play in which roles are still to be cast. Where lessons are to be learned. And a play, hopefully, with a happy ending.

We will keep at it.

Disclosure: the SonntagsZeitung article was written by Barnaby Skinner, board member of Opendata.ch. Oleg Lavrovsky, designated board member, works at the app development company commissioned by SBB. The author of this post is also a board member of Opendata.ch and was involved in transport.opendata.ch and the well-known Gottago app. There was no coordination between the newspaper article, the Twitter uproar, business activities and this blog post.