| “Five Minutes On” http://www.gov1.com/interview/lessons-from-palo-altos-open-data-initiative/Listen as Palo Alto City Manager James Keene provides Gov1 readers with exclusive and valuable information on getting started, costs, vendors, and more. So What? The Open Data trend is one that has accelerated quickly, as cities look to both increase transparency and offload development of interactive tools to citizens. The trend has been viewed favorably by residents as an attempt at increasing engagement, and has resulted in the creation of interesting and valuable tools; typically, entrepreneurs—whether through “hackathons” or challenges—find innovative ways to leverage the city’s data through mobile apps or digital offerings that that cities have neither the expertise or capital to build on their own. The Details The city of Palo Alto created an Open Data Web site that makes available a number of datasets that the community can access and build upon. Among the datasets are: - Census Data, including education, poverty, ethnicity, and housing statistics.
- Geographic Data, including park locations, zoning data, paths and trails, and—amazingly—city tree locations (more on this below, under “The Results”).
- Community Service Data, primarily event schedules and calendars for kids and adults.
- Environmental Data, which at this point is only creek level data, with historical information too.
- Utility Data, including gas, electric, and water-service rates; wastewater collection and disposal data is also available.
Amazingly, the city of Palo Alto executed on its Open Data strategy in just a few short months; earlier this year it announced the goal of providing data in 2012, and its Open Data site above went live July 31. How They Did It The Open Data initiative was led by the city’s Chief Information Officer Jonathan Reichental, but he had help. A vendor and Open Data specialist called Junar played a critical role, according to a joint press release. Though some cities are pursuing Open Data with internal resources only, others like Palo Alto are partnering with firms like Junar, which can help governments publish and “socialize” data. Another company, Socrata, is utilized by cities such as San Francisco and Seattle (see below). Other Initiatives In addition to Palo Alto, literally hundreds of governments and cities are pursuing Open Data strategies. Here are a few innovative approaches, some of which have been featured in EfficientGov: - Federal Data: The U.S. government has actually been at the forefront of the Open Data movement, as charged by the White House’s Open Government Initiative. In 2009, it launched Data.gov, which includes literally thousands of data sets from nearly every agency in Washington, D.C., from Agriculture and Defense, to Treasury and Labor.
- Vancouver: This city in British Columbia, Canada, has created a very detailed data catalog that is alphabetized by topic, so users can quickly find the proper data feed they want. The list is impressive, including everything from graffiti locations to road closures. The city adds datasets regularly.
- Chicago: The third most-populous city in the country has also done a great job of “liberating” data, providing financial, crime, health, and other datasets.
- Baltimore: Still officially in “beta” testing mode, OpenBaltimore has dozens of datasets including interesting mapping data on vacant buildings and lots, and closed-circuit camera and fixed speed camera locations.
- San Francisco: Long considered a leader in the Open Data movement, San Francisco’s initiative also includes “external” datasets, including the Health Department’s “restaurant scores” data, which tracks health inspector ratings.
- Boston: The city of Boston created a department called New Urban Mechanics, which is located right in the mayor’s office. The group has not only helped “liberate” data and launch mobile apps, but works with citizens to execute on their ideas.
- Seattle: Also an Open Data early adopter, Seattle makes available more than 700 datasets, from 911 call data to public toilet locations.
The Results? Cool, Useful Apps These Open Data initiatives have led to a flood of community-developed “apps” that residents and businesses can use on demand. Here are a few interesting examples: - Crime in Chicago: An interactive, searchable timeline of statistics going back to 2002. Users can even type in a street address to see activity for that area; breakdown by days of the week is also available (Hint: Avoid Ward 2 on Wednesdays and Thursdays in the summer).
- Parking Spaces in San Francisco: The city’s transportation agency launched SFpark as a “congestion management” tool; by providing real-time meter-availability information via mobile devices, drivers could spend less time circling the city. The city has its own app, and makes its data available to developers as well.
- Where’s My Bus?: Several developers have utilized New York’s real-time bus location data to develop apps that show current bus position and estimated time of arrival.
- Boston T Locations: Similarly, developers in Boston have created apps that show the location of the city’s “T” or subway cars. Some of these apps also enable commuters to report problems or criminal activity.
- Go Metro: Transit apps are clearly popular with entrepreneurs, but—instead of relying on third-party developers—the L.A. Department of Transportation created its own app, which features arrival information, maps, road closure alerts, and more.
- Diner Inspect: Using local restaurant inspection data made available by the city of Ottawa, Canada, a developer created a map-based app that shows where violations have been reported within the last year.
- Crime Reports: This innovative Web site and mobile app displays crime data from several cities on an interactive map. The data are sortable by date range and “type” of incident, such a robbery, car theft, sexual offense, assault, property crime, etc.
- Tree Finder: Using San Francisco’s tree mapping data (similar to Palo Alto’s, mentioned above), a developer created a GPS-based mobile app that enables users to identify any tree in the city. The app knows where you are, displays nearby trees, and provides extensive data on their type (Platanus acerifolia, anyone? Anyone?).
- Philly Art Mapper: Originally launched and supported by the mayor’s office, Philadelphia’s “MuralMapper” app used Open Data from the city to help citizens find and learn about the city’s murals. The app, now called “ArtMapper,” has expanded in content, and enables citizens to tweet and tag photos of public and street art.
- Data Masher: Perhaps the most interesting application of Open Data was created by Web development firm in Virginia that enables users to “mash up” any data set they want. Largely utilizing federal data from Data.gov, the site provides a unique opportunity to identify trends among disparate data points from different federal agencies.
How to Get Started There is not a “right” or “wrong” way to pursue the liberation of your municipal data assets. Talk to your IT director or Chief Information Officer to develop a long-term Open Data strategy, and to understand what datasets are currently available. Engage stakeholders to understand what types of datasets might be interesting or useful for them. Most of all, rely on third-parties who can help you, including other municipalities who have gone through the process. Groups like WeLoveOpenData provide ideas for getting started, and vendors like Junar and Socrata could prove invaluable in kickstarting the process; Socrata even has nice introductory YouTube video on how cities can liberate data using their platform. In addition, two New York University professors created a nice 13-page guide to “Getting Started with Open Data”; though the document is aimed at municipal transportation agencies, some of the information in generic or can be extrapolated to other datasets. More Reading (and Listening) Gov1 recently conducted a “Five Minutes On” interview with Palo Alto City Manager James Keene, who provided valuable information on getting started, costs, vendors, and more. The Transparency Policy Project at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government delivered an excellent audio presentation that was recorded at SWSX on “Communities of Transparency.” The audio clip largely explores what types of Open Data are more successful than others, and why. The Open Cities initiative also has some great public documents on innovation, planning, trends and more. Funded in part by the European Union and its Competitiveness and Innovation Framework program, Open Cities creates competitions or “challenges” around the world, which encourage developers to create useful apps utilizing Open Data. Similar local initiatives exist as well, including challenges in Ottawa, Portland, New York, and elsewhere. |
