Wichita, Kan., was recently named a What Works City. See how the "Air Capital of the World" values collaboration and conversation with its citizens through technology.
Continue readingVictorville’s new open data policy brings transparency to the California desert
Earlier this month, the city of Victorville, Calif., became the latest What Works City to pass an open data policy.
Continue readingDetroit embraces transparency with new open data portal
Detroit’s new open data policy and portal show that things are definitely looking up for the Motor City: The government now promises to help its communities through providing open and accessible city data.
Continue readingWhat DC should have done differently with its new open data policy
Here's how DC missed an opportunity for improvement on its open data policy and what it can do next.
Continue readingWhat’s missing from NYC’s updated Open Data Plan?
The 2014 updated plan, with removed datasets, mysterious additions, and zero explanation for overdue datasets has left us with updated questions.
Continue readingOpenGov Voices: Philadelphia’s open data program
Governments that make an investment in releasing data that allows outsiders to ask tough questions are sending a clear signal to prospective data users that they are serious, that the foundations of data sharing are solid.
Continue readingPolicy Deep Dive: Local open data policy in Canada
Even though Canada has taken the most positive steps among the G7, there is still room for improvement for their municipal policies regarding what data should be public, how to make data public and how to implement policy.
Continue readingBoston: the tale of two open data policies
Let’s dig into Mayor Walsh's open data executive order, Councilor Wu's proposed open data legislation, and consider what is possible for the future of open data (and open data policy) in Boston.
Continue readingWhich of Your Local Candidates Support Transparency?
In anticipation of this year’s local elections, many open government advocacy groups have surveyed local candidates on open data issues and shared the results in hopes of informing and mobilizing citizens to vote for candidates that are committed to transparency. We’ve seen open data questionnaires conducted around North America this fall for a variety of motivating factors, including: To Fight Past Corruption, To Foster New Open Data Initiatives—or simply—To Maintain Current Open Data Momentum. This trend of open data surveys is indicative of a widespread interest in transparency issues this election season, and with a growing number local governments adopting administratively-sensitive open data laws, a trend we likely see more of in the future.
Below we have rounded up a mini-landscape of open data candidate questionnaires distributed this election season.
Continue readingOpen Data Executive Order Deliverables Delayed
If the government shutdown had not occurred, today, November 1, would have been an important deadline for federal agency transparency. The first major deliverables to come out of President Obama’s May 2013 Executive Order “Making Open and Machine Readable the new Default for Government Information,” and its accompanying Office of Management and Budget memorandum on “managing information as an asset,” were originally scheduled for November 1, but that deadline has officially been pushed back to November 30.
The executive order and accompanying OMB memo demand progress from agencies on four key areas: instituting enterprise data inventories, releasing public data listings, creating mechanisms for public comment, and documenting if data cannot be released to the public. Over the coming week’s we’ll dig a little deeper into these areas, discussing what we hope to see come November 30.
President Obama’s Executive Order is the latest in a series of executive actions that have cleared the path towards open and useable Federal government data. This most recent step is the surest yet and, coupled with detailed guidance released by OMB and the Office of Science and Technology Policy, should allow agencies to confidently move towards open and machine readable data as their default.
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