MapStory.org, a Sunlight Foundation OpenGov grantee, has successfully collected, processed and mapped nearly every municipal annexation to occur in the state of New York since 1625 and made the data available on StoryLayers in their site.
Continue readingEmergency room reports reveal racial disparity in injuries caused by police
Hospital emergency department records collected by the CDC reveal not only a racial disparity in the number of nonfatal injuries caused by law enforcement but also an upward trend in their frequency over the last decade.
Continue readingFreedom of information tools, it’s time for an open data inspired upgrade
Not only can open data and FOI disclosure efforts work symbiotically, they can also learn from each others’ shortcomings, and in many instances meet each other in the middle to create more robust disclosure.
Continue readingDeath by Law Enforcement: What the data tells us – and what it doesn’t
In Missouri, black people are killed by law enforcement twice as frequently as white people. Nationwide, the rate at which black people are killed by law enforcement is 3 times higher than that of white people, according to the CDC.
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 readingSharing the knowledge: taking notes on open data from records managers and archivists
Here's why records managers, archivists and open data advocates should all be working together: we are all part of the new life-cycle of records.
Continue readingOpenGov Voices: How open is your city’s crime data?
SpotCrime ranks US cities on a scale of 0 to 2 on how open and transparent their police agencies are with crime data. A 2 ranking means the city is open with its data, a 0 means it’s not.
Continue readingOpportunities for strengthening open meetings with open data
There are an increasing number of tools governments can use to help bolster open meetings with open data.
Continue readingOpenGov Voices: How Datasembly plans to make open data more discoverable and usable
The increase of the availability of open data should make it easier for analysts to solve problems and have better insight into the actions of the government. Datasembly is helping by making open data more discoverable and usable.
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.
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