September 2011

1. Open Government Plan
Cook County, Illinois
Cook County Board of Commissioners
Toni Preckwinkle, President
“The Internet is the public space of the modern
world, and through it governments now have the
opportunity to better understand the needs of
their citizens and citizens may participate more
fully in their government. Information becomes
more valuable as it is shared, less valuable as it
is hoarded. Open data promotes increased civil
discourse, improved public welfare, and a more
efficient use of public resources.”
- opengovdata.org

2. Cook County Open Government Plan
1. Government 2.0 and Open Cook County
2. Open Data Planning and Administration
a. Cook County Open Government Ordinance
b. Open Data Portal
c. Working Group
d. Governance
3. Open Government Policies and Principles
a. Open Data Defined
b. Open Government Plan
c. Public Domain
4. Cook County Open Data Catalog
a. Courts
b. Economic Development
c. Finance and Administration
d. Forest Preserves, Parks and Recreation
e. GIS/Map Data
f. Healthcare
g. Property and Taxation
h. Public Safety
i. Standard File Formats and API
j. Tutorials
5. Innovation, Challenges and Future Direction
6. Appendix: Cook County Open Government Ordinance
7. Appendix: Open Data Commons Public Domain License
8. Appendix: What is Open Data?
Cook
County
Open
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Plan
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3. 1. Government 2.0 and Open Cook County
“While open data may seem at first glance like something reserved for
technology geeks, the intention of the open data movement is the opposite of
exclusivity: it aims to foster an understanding of government information for the
average citizen. While not everyone will make use of the data, it’s important for
citizens to know that it’s accurate and available, and that accessible data is a
right, not a privilege. It is also an increasingly important skill for participation in
the information and knowledge economy.” (from Open Data, Open City,
University of Toronto: September, 2010)
Open government—sometimes referred to
as Government 2.0—is a relatively new
activity that is being launched by many What is government 2.0?
national, state-level and local governments
worldwide. While governments have for 0.5 is putting information online
some time made statistical datasets (for
1.0 is filling out forms electronically
example, aggregated Census information)
available publicly—originally in published 1.5 is providing citizens with ways
books and tables, then on diskette, and for to complain to government about
the past 10-15 years downloadable or an issue
viewable on public-facing websites—the
recent open government movement is 2.0 is creating platforms for citizens
to collaborate around information
unique in that it applies a standards-based
to improve outcomes
approach to the release of government
datasets to the public. Why should we open government?
Opening government increases public
Data made public under open government trust, makes government more
responsive, efficient, effective and
standards adheres to stricter, reviewable, fair, and breaks down silos within and
guidelines than datasets of the past. Data is across agencies.
provided at one “portal” address on the web
per government entity (in Cook County’s Source: Excerpted from “Citizensourcing
smarter government in New York City,” by
case, this is data.cookcountyil.gov), rather Alex Howard, accessed at
than spread over dozens or even hundreds http://radar.oreilly.com/2011/03/nyc-
of web pages per existing practice. smart-government.html, 4/1/11
“Metadata”—information about the
dataset—includes information about how
often the dataset will be updated or
refreshed, the source of the data, and who
published it. In addition, open government data is presented in a way that
makes it possible for developers of web-based or mobile applications to
“attach” to the dataset to feed current and even real-time data to the application
as it is used.
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4. Historically, there has been a lack of public understanding about what Cook
County government does, and how tax dollars are collected and spent. County
government has unfortunately often contributed to this lack of understanding by
making information difficult to find or obtain, and because many County
systems and processes are still paper-based, so data is not readily available in a
digital format.
As highlighted in the April, 2011, presentation “Open Cook County Plan”
(available at http://blog.cookcountygov.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Red-
Cook.ppt), a historical lack of transparency “means many local citizen activists
are disengaged and cynical. Lack of transparency breeds doubt, skepticism,
inefficiency and corruption.”
There have been several notable prior efforts by Cook County elected officials
and departments to improve transparency and accountability of County
government.
These include, but are not limited to, the County Clerk’s “Lobbyist Online”
website (http://www.cookcountyclerk.com/ethics/lobbyistonline), which allows
users to search lobbyist reporting by lobbyist, subject matter and County official
lobbied, and offers direct download of the database by reporting period. The
Clerk provides similar access to information from Statements of Economic
Interest filed by County employees.
The Cook County Clerk of the Circuit Court provides online lookup of mortgage
foreclosures and unclaimed child support payments, in addition to online case
filing, online traffic ticket payment, and other services.
The Cook County Sheriff’s Office recently began providing online search for
criminal warrants and child support warrants, as well as an online inmate search
function.
In addition, property-related offices such as the Cook County Recorder of
Deeds, Assessor and Treasurer have for some time provided the ability to
search online for data regarding individual parcels, including sales, assessment,
exemptions, taxes and refund information. Typically the function is set up so
the user can search for information about a single parcel. These offices will
provide access to their complete property datasets for a fee, normally for
commercial purposes. The Treasurer also provides search functions for estates
of heirs and uncashed checks.
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5. The Cook County Department of Public Health, part of the Health and Hospitals
System, offers a number of downloadable pdfs with health information and
statistics at http://www.cookcountypublichealth.org/data-reports.
While these efforts should be recognized,
open government advocates would have a
Open Data is the publishing of once-
number of issues with Cook County’s hidden government data to a free
currently available datasets: public data website, or catalog.
Open Data:
• Datasets are scattered over hundreds
of Cook County government 1) allows the public to look at data
webpages that is collected and created on their
• There is no consistency to the format behalf;
of datasets
2) gives the public a tool to help
• Most data is not machine-readable,
measure government effectiveness
so it can’t be downloaded into a and efficiency;
spreadsheet or program; the search
function is convenient but allows 3) provides an opportunity for civic-
access to only one record at a time minded technology entrepreneurs to
use government data free of charge in
• Some datasets are months or years
order to build free and paid
old applications that add value to the
lives of citizens. They can leverage
With this background in mind, in April, 2011, this data to start technology
businesses, as well as grow jobs in
President Preckwinkle and Commissioner existing ones.
Fritchey introduced a “Cook County Open
Government Ordinance” designed to Source: “Open Cook County Plan,” April,
2011. Accessed at
“increase transparency, accountability, and http://blog.cookcountygov.com/wp-
informed public participation, and to create content/uploads/2011/04/Red-Cook.ppt
economic development opportunities” in
Cook County. The ordinance, which was
co-sponsored by seven other
Commissioners and passed by the full
County Board in May, 2011, requires Cook County agencies and elected
officials to comply with a number of open government directives going forward
(the complete ordinance text is in the Appendix to this document).
The ordinance mandates a single website (www.openCC.info, which now
redirects to http://data.cookcountyil.gov) be established to host all of the open
data datasets to be published under the new law.
The ordinance requires agencies to prepare open government plans (initially this
document), to develop data catalogs, and to post at least three “high value”
Cook
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6. datasets each to the County’s open data site within 120 days of its effective
date.
The result, “data.cookcountyil.gov, the Open Data Portal for Cook County
Government” (http://data.cookcountyil.gov), includes datasets in the following
areas: Courts; Economic Development; Finance and Administration; Forest
Preserve, Parks and Recreation; Geography/Maps; Healthcare; Property and
Taxation; and Public Safety. These categories conform to the major activities of
county-level government, with the addition of Geography/Maps for geographic-
based data such as location of County facilities.
Some of the most requested data can be found in the Finance and
Administration category. This category will include:
• Performance management data from the President’s quarterly
performance management reports
• Salary information for County employees
• Payments to companies and individuals doing business with Cook
County
• Information on County contracts
• Information on Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests
In December 2010, President Preckwinkle’s transition report laid out the
President’s goals for transparency and accountability—key goals of the new
administration—as follows:
“Transparency and Accountability: A government that is transparent and accountable to
its residents is a more effective government. Improve transparency and accountability of
County government, in particular by improving public information about hiring,
purchasing and the overall use of taxpayer dollars. This would strengthen public trust in
County government and bolster morale of its employees.” (Cook County Transition
Report, accessed at
http://www.cookcountygov.com/taxonomy2/Office%20of%20the%20President/Downlo
ads/CookCountyTransitionReport_2010.pdf)
Cook County’s open government site is one in a series of transparency
initiatives undertaken by the Preckwinkle administration. In addition, the
following initiatives have been launched—many in cooperation with other
elected officials and the Board of Commissioners—in the first ten months of the
administration:
• President’s Public Calendar
• Implemented “S.T.A.R.”, a performance management tool used to help
county agencies set goals for efficiency and achieve them.
• 2011 Forest Preserve budget request posted online
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7. • 2011 Cook County budget posted online
• “Make Cook County More Efficient” public survey
• New County blog site (http://blog.cookcountygov.com/)
• Posted an improved County check register online
• Posted a 100-day report and follow-up online
• Required county employees to log political contacts
• Sought out ideas from employees on how to make Cook County more
efficient, put the best ideas up for public vote, and awarded “Frontline
Award” to the winner
• Published information on boards and committees; now taking applications
online
• Live audio broadcast of Cook County Board of Commissioners meetings
• Posted video of Cook County Board meetings, viewable by agenda item
• Added BrowseAloud software to help the visually impaired use the county
website
• Launched a new interactive budget website where the public can learn more
about how government finances work and interact
• Held a live townhall webcast and real-time public blog for the 2012 Budget
• Worked with the Assessor’s office and Board of Review to launch online
filing of assessment appeals
(See http://blog.cookcountygov.com/transparency/ for an updated list of transparency
initiatives.)
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8. 2. Open Data Planning and Administration
a. Cook County Open Government Ordinance
On May 4, 2011, the Cook County Board of Commissioners unanimously
approved the Cook County Open Government Plan ordinance, sponsored by
President Preckwinkle and Commissioner Fritchey and co-sponsored by
Commissioners Gainer, Gorman, Goslin, Schneider, Silvestri, Suffredin and
Tobolski.
The stated purpose of the ordinance is as follows: “In order to increase
transparency, accountability, and informed public participation, and to create
economic development opportunities, Cook County ("County") departments and
agencies, including the offices of the separately elected County officials
("County Officials" or "County Agency") shall expand access to information, by
making certain information available online in a machine-readable, open format,
that can be retrieved, downloaded, indexed, sorted, searched, and reused by
commonly used Web search applications and commonly used open format
software that facilitate access to, and the reuse of, such information.” (All
citations in this section refer to Ordinance No. 11-O-54, 5-4-2011, of the Code
of Ordinances of Cook County, Illinois.)
The ordinance mandates a number of activities and tasks within Cook County
government that are described in greater detail in this section. The ordinance
does not provide any additional resources for these activities and tasks beyond
the existing staff and financial resources of County government.
The complete text of the ordinance is available in the Appendix to this
document.
b. Open Data Portal
The ordinance requires that Cook County establish a single open data portal,
www.openCC.info, a “common website that shall serve as the source for
countywide and departmental activities” pursuant to the ordinance. Because
the County has been working closely with the City of Chicago and the State of
Illinois on a regional, federated open data model (see Section 5 below), it was
decided after the ordinance was passed to use a more standard naming
convention for the County’s open data website address. The new url for the
County’s open data website is data.cookcountyil.gov.
Cook County entered into a subscription agreement with Socrata
(www.socrata.com) in August, 2011, to host the County’s open data portal. This
was the result of a series of discussions with and presentations to the County
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9. working group (see below). In these meetings, the working group discussed
whether to use a website host that could provide commercial off-the-shelf
(COTS) functionality for open data, or to build an open data portal based on
open government standards using CKAN open source data portal software.
The decision to use Socrata as an open data platform was based on the
following: (1) the County’s lack of staff resources familiar with CKAN; (2) the fact
that the City of Chicago and State of Illinois had already contracted with Socrata
and were partners with the County on open data and on the Apps for
Metropolitan Chicago competition (see section 5 below); and (3) the relatively
lower cost of using the hosted solution.
The Socrata platform has a number of prebuilt tools that provide much of the
functionality required by open data standards and principles and, by extension,
the Cook County Open Government ordinance. For example, the platform
provides an opportunity for users to publicly comment on individual datasets
using the “Discuss” feature. It allows users to contact the dataset owner with
questions or comments, or to suggest new dataset ideas. Social media
(Facebook, Twitter) and email can be used to share a dataset or particular view
with others. And the site provides a ranking feature, so that datasets can be
ranked by popularity (most viewed).
Another advantage of a hosted site is that the public data is kept physically and
virtually separate from the County systems that generated it, which avoids any
potential issues for the County in terms of systems architecture when systems
include a public-facing web component.
The Open Government ordinance requires County officials to use their best
efforts to publish information to the website, including, but not limited to
“revenue, spending and procurement information; crime and health statistics;
contracts with private firms; policies or procedures; and other data or
information commonly requested pursuant to FOIA”. It is important to note that
the ordinance does not affect any provisions of FOIA, which is a state law; if
government data is subject to release under FOIA, it is able to be published on
the County’s open data site, and if the release of data is exempt from FOIA, it is
not required to be published on the County’s open data site.
Moreover, while the ordinance requires each agency to publish three datasets to
the website within 120 days of passage, and then on an ongoing basis
thereafter, it is up to the agency to determine which datasets to publish. But
“the presumption shall be in favor of openness (emphasis added), to the extent
permitted by law and subject to valid privacy, confidentiality, security, or other
restrictions and exemptions afforded under FOIA or other applicable federal,
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10. state or local laws.” Ultimately, all County data not exempt from FOIA nor
subject to other privacy or security limitations is expected to be published on
the website or made available through other means.
The ordinance also requires that the County develop schedules for making data
available, and indicate when information is updated. This is addressed by
including “metadata” with each dataset indicating its date of posting to the
website and the frequency with which it is planned to be updated.
An important set of requirements in the ordinance concern the creation of “data
catalogs” by County agencies. The data catalog includes a listing of the public
information that is available online by agency; whether the information is publicly
accessible; if so, the date it was made public; the date it was last updated; if the
data is from a primary source or is derived or modified from a primary source;
and whether there are any license or privacy restrictions on the data.
These requirements will be handled within the metadata section for each
dataset, which includes relevant information regarding the date the dataset is
posted, the frequency of update, the source of the dataset, and whether there
are any restrictions on its use. The data catalog is the primary view when
entering the County’s open data website, and it may be sorted by most popular,
date added, or alphabetically by agency; or may be browsed by subject matter.
On the launch date of the site, agencies were expected to have at least three
“high-value” datasets “or other types of previously non-publicly accessible
information” posted to the open data site per the ordinance.
At this point, agencies submit appropriately formatted datasets to the Cook
County Bureau of Technology for uploading onto the open data website. Once
the site is operational for 60 days it may be possible with appropriate
procedures in place to give agencies access to post updates and new datasets
directly to the website.
Each agency will be expected to publish all FOIA requests, as well as the status
of each request, in an open format on the website (“unless a request is subject
to valid privacy, security, or privilege limitations”).
The ordinance provides that, where appropriate, the County may establish
licenses or restrictions on data published on the website. Unless otherwise
stated, the County will apply the Open Data Commons Public Domain license
(see section 3 below and Appendix) to govern the use of its public data.
c. Working Group
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11. The ordinance requires that the President establish a working group to focus on
“transparency, accountability, public participation and collaboration within
County government”. The working group, consisting of representatives from the
Office of the President, the Bureau of Technology, and elected officials, as well
as staff resources contributed pro bono from the Civic Consulting Alliance, met
over the course of three months from May to August, 2011, to develop the open
government plan, with particular emphasis on these elements.
Members of the working group presented the open government plan and open
data requirements at meetings of the County’s Information Technology
Collaborative Board. The IT Collaborative Board is the joint IT planning board
for the County, with representation from the Bureau of Technology, other Offices
under the President, all elected officials, and the Cook County Health and
Hospitals System.
The working group has also engaged not-for-profit organizations and
foundations on the subject of open government as part of the County’s overall
foundation collaborative. The purpose of this effort is to:
• Engage the public, foundations, universities, researchers, students,
developers, NGOs and government agencies around the idea of open
government.
• Generate and evaluate ideas about what kinds of data Cook County
government should gather and make public.
• Support the County’s efforts to publish open datasets.
The working group will reach out to the foundation collaborative to help
establish an Open Government Advisory Board, consisting of researchers,
developers, and government and non-profit leaders with knowledge and
background in the areas of public data transparency, participation,
collaboration, analytics and applications. The County will seek the assistance of
Advisory Board members in the following activities:
Transparency Forum. “The working group shall provide a forum to share best
practices on innovative ideas to promote transparency. This shall include
system and process solutions for information collection, aggregation, validation
and dissemination.”
Participation and Collaboration Forum. “The working group shall provide a
forum to share best practices on innovative ideas to promote participation and
collaboration, including how to experiment with new technologies, take
advantage of the expertise and insight of people both inside and outside of
County government, and form high-impact collaborations with researchers, the
private sector, and the public.”
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12. Public Input Forum. Cook County’s open data portal provides direct
opportunities for public input in the form of rankings of datasets and public
comments. In addition, the working group has solicited ideas from the public
via online polls, and will work with the Advisory Board to plan additional
opportunities for public input.
d. Governance
The Open Government website is managed by the Cook County Bureau of
Technology, but the responsibility and accountability for the data published on
the site is with the individual agencies, departments and elected officials of
Cook County. The Bureau of Technology will serve as a facilitator to post
datasets to the site and maintain and expand the features and functionality of
the site. Agencies will ensure the quality of datasets and conformance of
datasets with open data standards and principles.
On a periodic basis, the working group will meet with the County’s IT
Collaborative Board to provide status reports on open data, make available any
new information on dataset formats or site content management, request
additional datasets and updates of existing datasets, and report on agency
responsiveness to public comments and requests on the open data portal. On
an ongoing basis, per the ordinance, the CIO will “identify impediments to open
government and to the use of new technologies and, where necessary, (will)
issue clarifying guidance and/or propose revisions to such policies to promote
greater openness in government.
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13. 3. Open Government Policies and Principles
a. Open Data Defined
In December, 2007, an “Open
Government Working Group” was Government data shall be considered open if it
convened by Public.Resource.Org is made public in a way that complies with the
(https://public.resource.org/) and principles below:
O’Reilly Media, with sponsorship
from the Sunlight Foundation, 1. Complete. All public data is made available.
Google and Yahoo. Out of that two- Public data is data that is not subject to valid
privacy, security or privilege limitations.
day event, the following principles
regarding the “openness” of open 2. Primary. Data is as collected at the source,
with the highest possible level of granularity, not
government data were developed.
in aggregate or modified forms.
Cook County considers these eight
principles of open government data 3. Timely. Data is made available as quickly as
necessary to preserve the value of the data.
in determining what datasets to
post to its open data site, the 4. Accessible. Data is available to the widest
range of users for the widest range of purposes.
frequency of posting, controls and
licenses, and data format. 5. Machine-processable. Data is reasonably
structured to allow automated processing.
b. Open Government Plan 6. Non-discriminatory. Data is available to
anyone, with no requirement of registration.
7. Non-proprietary. Data is available in a
Cook County’s Open Government format over which no entity has exclusive
ordinance requires the publication control.
of an Open Government Plan. Per
8. License-free. Data is not subject to
the requirements of the ordinance, any copyright, patent, trademark or
this Plan describes how trade secret regulation. Reasonable
departments will enhance and privacy, security and privilege
develop transparency, public restrictions may be allowed.
participation, and collaboration. It
Compliance must be reviewable.
describes steps the County has
taken to conduct its work more Retrieved from
openly and to publish information https://public.resource.org/8_principles.html, June 7,
online. Finally, this Plan describes 2011
how the County will create more
access to information and
opportunities for public
participation.
For FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) requests, the County uses a highly
manual process to meet the provisions of the law for responding to requests for
inspection or copies of public records (see
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=85&ChapterID=2). The
online data catalog includes copies of the FOIA requests that have been
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14. submitted to the County and a summary of action taken. Going forward, the
County will post to the data catalog datasets that have been provided in
response to FOIA requests. Again, as the ordinance states, “the presumption
shall be in favor of openness, to the extent permitted by law and subject to valid
privacy, confidentiality, security, or other restrictions and exemptions afforded
under FOIA or other applicable federal, state or local laws.” It is expected that
as more datasets are added to the data catalog, public data requests will be
handled directly by posting datasets to the site, or by referring the requestor to
the site, and the need for manual processing to fulfill data requests via FOIA will
diminish.
Additional requirements of the Open Government ordinance addressed in this
Plan are as follows (with references to location in this document):
• Describe steps the County is taking to enhance and expand its practices
to further cooperation among County Agencies, other governmental
agencies, the public, and nonprofit and private entities in fulfilling the
goals and objectives of the County (section 1, Government 2.0 and Open
Cook County).
• Describe proposed changes to internal management and administrative
policies to improve collaboration (section 2, Working Group and
Governance).
• Describe proposals to use technology platforms to improve collaboration
among employees and the public (section 2, Open Data Portal).
• Describe links to appropriate websites where the public can learn about
collaboration efforts (section 1 and throughout).
• Describe innovative methods, such as prizes and competitions, to obtain
ideas from, and to increase collaboration with, the public, as well as
those in the private sector, nonprofit, and academic communities (section
5).
• The website shall additionally include a mechanism that shall allow for the
public to provide feedback to the County on, and assess the quality of,
published information. This mechanism shall additionally allow for
recommendations from the public to the County of other information to
consider prioritizing for publication (section 2, Open Data Portal).
• Each County agency shall engage in its best efforts to respond to public
feedback received via the website on a regular, timely basis. Responses
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15. to such public feedback may include descriptions of actions taken, or
reasons for not taking action, based on such public feedback received
(section 2, Governance).
c. Public Domain
Datasets that are released through the County’s open data site are considered
“public domain” unless otherwise stated. Cook County and the users of Cook
County open data agree to abide by the provisions of an Open Data Commons
Public Domain License. The open data commons public domain license is
considered the model license governing use of government-issued datasets.
For specific terms of the public domain license please see the Appendix.
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16. Open Cook County Plan
1:
Ordinance
Cook
County’s
open
data
ordinance
begins
making
d ata
public.
Agency
heads
partner
with
Board
President
and
Commissioners
to
make
initial
high-­‐value
d atasets
public.
• This ordinance formalizes our open government plan and changes the County’s data bias from
private to public.
• County leaders built our ordinance using model legislation from other municipalities like San
Francisco and King County, Washington.
• Our ordinance considers best principles of open data, as well as the model of President Obama’s
Federal Directive and the Local Open Government Directive created by representatives from Code
for America, the Sunlight Foundation and others.
2:
Data
Portal
County
launches
a
single-­‐site
portal
centralizing
data
in
developer-­‐friendly
formats.
Data
offerings
continuously
expand.
• The County will create a single-site data portal that centralizes new and existing public data sets in
machine-readable, developer-friendly formats.
• Our portal will build on the success of open data portals in other municipalities, such as New York
City, San Francisco and Washington, DC.
• Our portal will build on the success of the federal open data portal: www.data.gov.
3:
App
Contests
and
Data
Camps
County
encourages
developers
and
activists
to
drive
new
and
improved
government
services
through
mobile
apps
and
data
visualizations.
• In open government municipalities, data-enabled developers and activists have revolutionized
government services using mobile apps.
• We will encourage and incentivize citizens to find inefficiencies and to visualize data in ways that
contribute to the policy conversation.
• We will encourage and incentivize developers and activists to help us make our government better
using contests, data camps and other programs.
4:
Continuous
Improvement
County
expands
data
offerings,
provides
ongoing
incentives
for
developers
and
activists
and
opens
a
conversation
about
improving
our
government.
• Open government is a growing, maturing movement.
• We will begin a running conversation with local thought leaders and activists to identify ways to
improve our government and to bring new and more meaningful data to the public.
• Chicago’s developing technology cluster, anchored by companies like Groupon and Everyblock,
drives leading developers and open government thinkers to Cook County.
Source: “Open Cook County Plan,” April, 2011. Accessed at http://blog.cookcountygov.com/wp-
content/uploads/2011/04/Red-Cook.ppt
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17. 4. Cook County Open Data Catalog
As described in detail in section 2, the County’s open data website was
launched in conjunction with collaborative efforts between state and local
governments, elected officials, civic groups, and representatives of the
technology and open data community. Moreover, the Cook County Open Data
site is built on the same platform that powers the Open Data initiatives at the
federal level, the State of Illinois.
The open data site is populated with Countywide information from more than 40
departments in County government. As of the date of this report, featured data
sets at www.data.cookcountyil.gov include a year-to-date map of foreclosures
in Cook County and a map of outpatient registrations within the Cook County
Health and Hospital System (CCHHS) – the beginning of an accurate look at
who uses CCHHS resources. There are more than 75 data sets that reflect the
most up-to-date information available throughout the County, including offices
of separately elected officials. The complete catalog of data sets can be found
at www.datacatalog.cookcountyil.gov (this site can be also be accessed from
the site home page).
a. Courts
Courts datasets posted to the site will include directory information, court
statistics, data on unclaimed child support,
b. Economic Development
Economic Development datasets posted to the site will include data on
Countywide capital planning, facility locations, building and zoning, and
planning and development.
c. Finance and Administration
Finance and Administration datasets posted to the site will include data on
revenue collection, expenditures, payroll, vendor payments, financial reports,
budgets, utility costs, environmental control, highways, adoption, FOIA
requests, human resources, risk management, performance management,
lobbyist information, statements of economic interest and other ethics data.
d. Forest Preserves, Parks and Recreation
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18. Forest Preserves, Parks and Recreation datasets posted to the site will include
data on boundaries, trails, shelters, groves, lakes, statistics and public activities.
e. GIS/Map Data
GIS/Map datasets posted to the site will include point files and shape files
showing locations of schools, hospitals, cemeteries, roads, lakes, and County
government facilities.
f. Healthcare
Healthcare datasets posted to the site will include data on public health, inmate
care, outpatients by general location, and County employee and retiree
healthcare.
g. Property and Taxation
Property and Taxation datasets posted to the site will include data on
assessment appeals, homeowner exemptions, foreclosures, and scavenger
sales.
h. Public Safety
Public Safety datasets posted to the site will include inmate statistics, crime
data, criminal warrants and child support warrants.
i. Standard File Formats and API
Data provided by Cook County on its open data site is available for download in
one or more of the following common formats:
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19. Source: “Democratizing data for open government,” retrieved from
http://download.microsoft.com/download/7/A/C/7AC9C1A9-3E05-4995-9A33-
4B0BB2691B5D/MSOpenGovDirectivePaper.pdf, September 16, 2011
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20. Socrata provides an open-source application programming interface (API) called
SODA for application linking to any dataset on the Cook County open data site.
Details on the SODA API are available at: http://opendata.socrata.com/api/docs.
j. Tutorials
The County’s open data portal includes a video tutorial in eight parts on how to
use open data, how to create visualizations using the tools available on the site,
and how to create applications. These video tutorials are available at the
Tutorials tab at www.data.cookcountyil.gov.
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21. 5. Innovation, Challenges and Future Direction
Beyond the clear improvements to government transparency and accountability,
open government carries a very specific meaning. Open government means
putting data about government operations and public data that government
maintains--such as economic development data, public safety data, financial
data, and locational data—onto a public-facing website in an open format that
allows users to see all the data, to download it, and to point to it with custom-
built software applications.
This is much different from putting a table, or a pdf document, or a search
function on the web. With open government, the power to map the data, or
create a graph from it, or build a mobile app from it is in the user’s hands.
Over the past year the City of Chicago and the State of Illinois have begun to
publish data according to open government standards. With
data.cookcountyil.gov, Cook County joins them along with a host of other local
governments including Washington DC, Baltimore, New York City, San
Francisco, Vancouver, Canada and London, England in the open government
movement.
Many people were instrumental in this effort in Cook County and will continue to
play a role in sustaining it, from the sponsors of the Open Government
ordinance to elected officials, the Civic Consulting Alliance, local universities,
the Cook County Bureau of Technology, the County’s partners in Apps for Metro
Chicago, Socrata, and the Open Government Chicagoland group.
The County’s IT Collaborative Board, the Countywide IT planning group that
includes representation from all the County elected officials, was engaged
throughout this period and will play an important role in growing the number of
datasets on the open data website going forward.
The County has been a partner on the Apps for Metro Chicago competition
(www.appsformetrochicago.org) from the beginning with the City of Chicago,
the State of Illinois (including the Illinois Science & Technology Coalition), the
Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP), the Metropolitan Chicago
Information Center, the Civic Consulting Alliance, Motorola, the Chicago
Community Trust, and the MacArthur Foundation, and the launch of
data.cookcountyil.gov makes more datasets available for that program. The
apps competition has three phases in which developers compete for cash
awards to develop the best web or mobile application that uses public data.
Apps for Metro Chicago is the first contest that has involved multiple public
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22. participants from a metropolitan region, with the City, the County, CMAP and
the State all involved and all sharing data in an open government format.
Cook County’s agreement with Socrata to host the County’s open data site
includes a provision that Socrata will provide a single “federated” site on which
all of the Cook County, City of Chicago and State of Illinois datasets that are on
the individual government sites will be available. This federated site can serve
as a “one stop shop” for developers and the public for current datasets from the
three partner governments.
Future development of the federated site should include adding other Illinois
local government data by municipality, school district, or other taxing body. The
lead partners—City, County and State—can communicate with Councils of
Government and government and educational associations to provide
information about the open data platform, and provide a structure for
maintaining other government datasets on a common platform.
At the same time, the partner agencies can work with CMAP to determine how
to improve the sharing of public sector data. CMAP maintains the Metropulse
website (http://www.metropulsechicago.org), a public portal created by the
Chicago Community Trust and CMAP featuring a wide array of Chicago
metropolitan area data including transportation, land use, public safety,
workforce, housing and education data.
Open government, when it is joined with active citizen engagement, can have a
lasting effect on how government interacts with the public at large. The internet
has become a “location” of choice for people to interact with government
offices. As technology improves, expectations will increase for government
websites to be more responsive to people’s needs.
One clear area for improvement is for County processes such as property
assessment and taxation, or public meeting agendas and minutes, to be
enabled as “end-to-end” functions, so that from the perspective of the user on
the internet, the County appears as a single entity rather than a collection of
independent offices. This will require both technological innovation as well as
organizational innovation, and will be the challenge of the coming decade as
County government seeks to move more of its business online—to improve
convenience for citizens while at the same time reducing its day-to-day
operating costs.
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23. 6. Appendix: Cook County Open Government Ordinance
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24.
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25.
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26.
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27. 7. Appendix: Open Data Commons Public Domain License
Preamble
The Open Data Commons – Public Domain Dedication & Licence is a document intended to
allow you to freely share, modify, and use this work for any purpose and without any restrictions.
This licence is intended for use on databases or their contents (“data”), either together or
individually.
Many databases are covered by copyright. Some jurisdictions, mainly in Europe, have specific
special rights that cover databases called the “sui generis” database right. Both of these sets of
rights, as well as other legal rights used to protect databases and data, can create uncertainty or
practical difficulty for those wishing to share databases and their underlying data but retain a
limited amount of rights under a “some rights reserved” approach to licensing as outlined in the
Science Commons Protocol for Implementing Open Access Data. As a result, this waiver and
licence tries to the fullest extent possible to eliminate or fully license any rights that cover this
database and data. Any Community Norms or similar statements of use of the database or data
do not form a part of this document, and do not act as a contract for access or other terms of
use for the database or data.
The position of the recipient of the work
Because this document places the database and its contents in or as close as possible within
the public domain, there are no restrictions or requirements placed on the recipient by this
document. Recipients may use this work commercially, use technical protection measures,
combine this data or database with other databases or data, and share their changes and
additions or keep them secret. It is not a requirement that recipients provide further users with a
copy of this licence or attribute the original creator of the data or database as a source. The goal
is to eliminate restrictions held by the original creator of the data and database on the use of it
by others.
The position of the dedicator of the work
Copyright law, as with most other law under the banner of “intellectual property”, is inherently
national law. This means that there exists several differences in how copyright and other IP
rights can be relinquished, waived or licensed in the many legal jurisdictions of the world. This is
despite much harmonisation of minimum levels of protection. The internet and other
communication technologies span these many disparate legal jurisdictions and thus pose
special difficulties for a document relinquishing and waiving intellectual property rights, including
copyright and database rights, for use by the global community. Because of this feature of
intellectual property law, this document first relinquishes the rights and waives the relevant rights
and claims. It then goes on to license these same rights for jurisdictions or areas of law that may
make it difficult to relinquish or waive rights or claims.
The purpose of this document is to enable rightsholders to place their work into the public
domain. Unlike licences for free and open source software, free cultural works, or open content
licences, rightsholders will not be able to “dual license” their work by releasing the same work
under different licences. This is because they have allowed anyone to use the work in whatever
way they choose. Rightsholders therefore can’t re-license it under copyright or database rights
on different terms because they have nothing left to license. Doing so creates truly accessible
data to build rich applications and advance the progress of science and the arts.
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28. This document can cover either or both of the database and its contents (the data). Because
databases can have a wide variety of content – not just factual data – rightsholders should use
the Open Data Commons – Public Domain Dedication & Licence for an entire database and its
contents only if everything can be placed under the terms of this document. Because even
factual data can sometimes have intellectual property rights, rightsholders should use this
licence to cover both the database and its factual data when making material available under
this document; even if it is likely that the data would not be covered by copyright or database
rights.
Rightsholders can also use this document to cover any copyright or database rights claims over
only a database, and leave the contents to be covered by other licences or documents. They
can do this because this document refers to the “Work”, which can be either – or both – the
database and its contents. As a result, rightsholders need to clearly state what they are
dedicating under this document when they dedicate it.
Just like any licence or other document dealing with intellectual property, rightsholders should
be aware that one can only license what one owns. Please ensure that the rights have been
cleared to make this material available under this document.
This document permanently and irrevocably makes the Work available to the public for any use
of any kind, and it should not be used unless the rightsholder is prepared for this to happen.
Part I: Introduction
The Rightsholder (the Person holding rights or claims over the Work) agrees as follows:
1.0 Definitions of Capitalised Words
“Copyright” – Includes rights under copyright and under neighbouring rights and similarly related
sets of rights under the law of the relevant jurisdiction under Section 6.4.
“Data” – The contents of the Database, which includes the information, independent works, or
other material collected into the Database offered under the terms of this Document.
“Database” – A collection of Data arranged in a systematic or methodical way and individually
accessible by electronic or other means offered under the terms of this Document.
“Database Right” – Means rights over Data resulting from the Chapter III (“sui generis”) rights in
the Database Directive (Directive 96/9/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11
March 1996 on the legal protection of databases) and any future updates as well as any similar
rights available in the relevant jurisdiction under Section 6.4.
“Document” – means this relinquishment and waiver of rights and claims and back up licence
agreement.
“Person” – Means a natural or legal person or a body of persons corporate or incorporate.
“Use” – As a verb, means doing any act that is restricted by Copyright or Database Rights
whether in the original medium or any other; and includes modifying the Work as may be
technically necessary to use it in a different mode or format. This includes the right to sublicense
the Work.
“Work” – Means either or both of the Database and Data offered under the terms of this
Document.
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29. “You” – the Person acquiring rights under the licence elements of this Document.
Words in the singular include the plural and vice versa.
2.0 What this document covers
2.1. Legal effect of this Document. This Document is:
a. A dedication to the public domain and waiver of Copyright and Database Rights over the
Work; and
b. A licence of Copyright and Database Rights over the Work in jurisdictions that do not allow for
relinquishment or waiver.
2.2. Legal rights covered.
a. Copyright. Any copyright or neighbouring rights in the Work. Copyright law varies between
jurisdictions, but is likely to cover: the Database model or schema, which is the structure,
arrangement, and organisation of the Database, and can also include the Database tables and
table indexes; the data entry and output sheets; and the Field names of Data stored in the
Database. Copyright may also cover the Data depending on the jurisdiction and type of Data;
and
b. Database Rights. Database Rights only extend to the extraction and re-utilisation of the whole
or a substantial part of the Data. Database Rights can apply even when there is no copyright
over the Database. Database Rights can also apply when the Data is removed from the
Database and is selected and arranged in a way that would not infringe any applicable
copyright.
2.2 Rights not covered.
a. This Document does not apply to computer programs used in the making or operation of the
Database;
b. This Document does not cover any patents over the Data or the Database. Please see Section
4.2 later in this Document for further details; and
c. This Document does not cover any trade marks associated with the Database. Please see
Section 4.3 later in this Document for further details.
Users of this Database are cautioned that they may have to clear other rights or consult other
licences.
2.3 Facts are free. The Rightsholder takes the position that factual information is not covered by
Copyright. This Document however covers the Work in jurisdictions that may protect the factual
information in the Work by Copyright, and to cover any information protected by Copyright that
is contained in the Work.
Part II: Dedication to the public domain
3.0 Dedication, waiver, and licence of Copyright and Database Rights
3.1 Dedication of Copyright and Database Rights to the public domain. The Rightsholder by
using this Document, dedicates the Work to the public domain for the benefit of the public and
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30. relinquishes all rights in Copyright and Database Rights over the Work.
a. The Rightsholder realises that once these rights are relinquished, that the Rightsholder has no
further rights in Copyright and Database Rights over the Work, and that the Work is free and
open for others to Use.
b. The Rightsholder intends for their relinquishment to cover all present and future rights in the
Work under Copyright and Database Rights, whether they are vested or contingent rights, and
that this relinquishment of rights covers all their heirs and successors.
The above relinquishment of rights applies worldwide and includes media and formats now
known or created in the future.
3.2 Waiver of rights and claims in Copyright and Database Rights when Section 3.1 dedication
inapplicable. If the dedication in Section 3.1 does not apply in the relevant jurisdiction under
Section 6.4, the Rightsholder waives any rights and claims that the Rightsholder may have or
acquire in the future over the Work in:
a. Copyright; and
b. Database Rights.
To the extent possible in the relevant jurisdiction, the above waiver of rights and claims applies
worldwide and includes media and formats now known or created in the future. The
Rightsholder agrees not to assert the above rights and waives the right to enforce them over the
Work.
3.3 Licence of Copyright and Database Rights when Sections 3.1 and 3.2 inapplicable. If the
dedication and waiver in Sections 3.1 and 3.2 does not apply in the relevant jurisdiction under
Section 6.4, the Rightsholder and You agree as follows:
a. The Licensor grants to You a worldwide, royalty-free, non-exclusive, licence to Use the Work
for the duration of any applicable Copyright and Database Rights. These rights explicitly include
commercial use, and do not exclude any field of endeavour. To the extent possible in the
relevant jurisdiction, these rights may be exercised in all media and formats whether now known
or created in the future.
3.4 Moral rights. This section covers moral rights, including the right to be identified as the
author of the Work or to object to treatment that would otherwise prejudice the author’s honour
and reputation, or any other derogatory treatment:
a. For jurisdictions allowing waiver of moral rights, Licensor waives all moral rights that Licensor
may have in the Work to the fullest extent possible by the law of the relevant jurisdiction under
Section 6.4;
b. If waiver of moral rights under Section 3.4 a in the relevant jurisdiction is not possible,
Licensor agrees not to assert any moral rights over the Work and waives all claims in moral
rights to the fullest extent possible by the law of the relevant jurisdiction under Section 6.4; and
c. For jurisdictions not allowing waiver or an agreement not to assert moral rights under Section
3.4 a and b, the author may retain their moral rights over the copyrighted aspects of the Work.
Please note that some jurisdictions do not allow for the waiver of moral rights, and so moral
rights may still subsist over the work in some jurisdictions.
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31. 4.0 Relationship to other rights
4.1 No other contractual conditions. The Rightsholder makes this Work available to You without
any other contractual obligations, either express or implied. Any Community Norms statement
associated with the Work is not a contract and does not form part of this Document.
4.2 Relationship to patents. This Document does not grant You a licence for any patents that the
Rightsholder may own. Users of this Database are cautioned that they may have to clear other
rights or consult other licences.
4.3 Relationship to trade marks. This Document does not grant You a licence for any trade
marks that the Rightsholder may own or that the Rightsholder may use to cover the Work. Users
of this Database are cautioned that they may have to clear other rights or consult other licences.
Part III: General provisions
5.0 Warranties, disclaimer, and limitation of liability
5.1 The Work is provided by the Rightsholder “as is” and without any warranty of any kind, either
express or implied, whether of title, of accuracy or completeness, of the presence of absence of
errors, of fitness for purpose, or otherwise. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of
implied warranties, so this exclusion may not apply to You.
5.2 Subject to any liability that may not be excluded or limited by law, the Rightsholder is not
liable for, and expressly excludes, all liability for loss or damage however and whenever caused
to anyone by any use under this Document, whether by You or by anyone else, and whether
caused by any fault on the part of the Rightsholder or not. This exclusion of liability includes, but
is not limited to, any special, incidental, consequential, punitive, or exemplary damages. This
exclusion applies even if the Rightsholder has been advised of the possibility of such damages.
5.3 If liability may not be excluded by law, it is limited to actual and direct financial loss to the
extent it is caused by proved negligence on the part of the Rightsholder.
6.0 General
6.1 If any provision of this Document is held to be invalid or unenforceable, that must not affect
the cvalidity or enforceability of the remainder of the terms of this Document.
6.2 This Document is the entire agreement between the parties with respect to the Work covered
here. It replaces any earlier understandings, agreements or representations with respect to the
Work not specified here.
6.3 This Document does not affect any rights that You or anyone else may independently have
under any applicable law to make any use of this Work, including (for jurisdictions where this
Document is a licence) fair dealing, fair use, database exceptions, or any other legally
recognised limitation or exception to infringement of copyright or other applicable laws.
6.4 This Document takes effect in the relevant jurisdiction in which the Document terms are
sought to be enforced. If the rights waived or granted under applicable law in the relevant
jurisdiction includes additional rights not waived or granted under this Document, these
additional rights are included in this Document in order to meet the intent of this Document.
Source: Retrieved from http://opendatacommons.org/licenses/pddl/1.0/, September 18, 2011
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32. 8. Appendix: What is Open Data?
from Open Data, Open City (University of Toronto: September, 2010)
WHAT IS OPEN DATA?
We live in a knowledge economy. We access, evaluate and compare many kinds of information
every day, from checking bus schedules to sorting emails by priority. Cities deal with lots of
information too, and most of it can be classified as “data,” collections of information generated
and used by people and computers. The availability and use of data by and for the public is an
emerging municipal issue as cities realize the many benefits of “opening up” their data.
Open data is both a philosophy and a practice. Municipalities collect extensive data about the
city and its residents, and the practice of freely sharing this data online is gaining ground in cities
across the country and around the world. Vancouver and Washington, D.C. both have official
open data policies, and many other cities are launching their own open data initiatives. “Data”
here means everything from statistics to address lists and recycling schedules, from information
on election results by riding, to the locations of schools or streetlamps. Since such information is
important for both the governance and understanding of a city, a clear policy on how that data is
stored, used, and presented to the public is necessary.
The call for open data goes a step further than simply requesting access to the numbers; “open
data” describes data that is digital and flexible, so that it can be shared and integrated into
computer applications. It must be available in a machine-readable format1, so that it can be
downloaded and manipulated by people who wish to use it. Open data advocates want access
to the “raw” information so that it can be used and reused with other data sets and by any
number of computer applications. For instance, the city’s water-use statistics2 may be available
as a list in a PDF document, which can be read by people, but which a computer program
cannot interpret. If these statistics were in a format that a computer could read, for instance as a
spreadsheet of populated columns, one could play with the data, looking for patterns, or
comparing it with other sets. Homeowners worried about their water consumption could
compare their use with neighbourhood averages, or even be automatically emailed their month-
to-month statistics. Such services are but one example of the possibilities of open data for
citizens and the city.
In order to realize the potential of a large, well-organized, and accessible collection of
information, open data initiatives require planning and commitment. The immediate benefits and
long term potential of open data include more efficient city operations, more interaction between
the city and its citizens, a more data-literate citizenry, and the opportunity for entrepreneurs to
use city data innovatively for public or proprietary use. Open data promotes democracy, fuels
entrepreneurship and improves efficiencies by repurposing data for many uses.
1 Being in “machine readable format” means, as the name suggests, that the data can be recognized and interpreted by
a computer. Examples of machine-readable technology range from an old-fashion library punch card to a supermarket
barcode to a cassette tape.
2 Cities collect statistics on the volume and frequency of water consumption.
OPEN DATA AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT
While open data may seem at first glance like something reserved for technology geeks, the
intention of the open data movement is the opposite of exclusivity: it aims to foster an
understanding of government information for the average citizen. While not everyone will make
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33. use of the data, it’s important for citizens to know that it’s accurate and available, and that
accessible data is a right, not a privilege. It is also an increasingly important skill for participation
in the information and knowledge economy. As Canadian entrepreneur and open government
activist David Eaves wrote in a June 10th blog post, historically “we didn’t build libraries for an
already literate citizenry. We built libraries to help citizens become literate. Today we build open
data portals not because we have a data or public policy literate citizenry, we build them so that
citizens may become literate in data, visualization, coding and public policy” (“Learning from
Libraries: The Literacy Challenge of Open Data,” http://eaves.ca/). We all need to understand
how data is manipulated to support arguments and ideas. A basic level of statistical awareness
is necessary so that we understand the context of the data presented: we all need to know to
ask, where did the data come from? Was the author paid to produce it? What are their biases?
Can I check that the results are correct?
The process of understanding information is often characterized as an upward progression from
data, to information, to knowledge, and finally to wisdom. Similarly, data becomes more
valuable—more useable—through collection, structuring, and distribution. Cities conduct
extensive data collection and structuring, but much of the data are not shared, often because its
value outside of its original intent is not recognized. Some city data is distributed to us formally:
garbage pickup schedules, smog warnings, and public library locations are all data sets
collected by the city and presented to the public in some form, usually on a flyer or website. But
this data is static. For data to be open, it must be flexible and manipulable.
Philosophically, the open data movement has grown out of a larger push for government
openness. Advocates of open data believe that in a modern democracy, governments should
share the data they collect, and that open data is a concrete way to teach and encourage
government participation. Accessible data means that citizens can see and evaluate the impact
of city policies. Citizens will know where to go to find out how tax dollars are spent, they will be
able to calculate the numbers themselves, and compare them to other years, other
municipalities, or any other metrics that interest them. Our ability to fully engage as citizens is
enhanced when we have the ability to access the output of government work. In a country
whose official motto includes the phrase “good government,” it seems obvious that we should
be able to know when our government is being “good.” Richard Poynder’s UK-based blog,
“Open and Shut” makes this argument very well. With regard to The Guardian newspaper’s
launch of the “Free Our Data” campaign, he writes:
“... [The Guardian] wanted to draw attention to the fact that governments and government
agencies have been using taxpayer’s money to create vast databases containing highly valuable
information, and yet have made very little of this information publicly available. Where the data
has been made available access to it has generally been charged for [... and] released under
restrictive copyright licences prohibiting redistribution, and so preventing third parties from using
it to create useful new services. The end result, The Guardian believes, is that the number and
variety of organisations able to make use of the data has been severely curtailed and innovation
stifled.”
While it can be argued that hoarding data can curtail innovation, it can also be said that sharing
too much information can cause problems, too. In political environments where every decision is
criticized or ridiculed, civil servants will be understandably reluctant to share the information that
led to their decisions. The challenge for cities creating open data initiatives is to release as much
data as possible while ensuring legitimate privacy and security concerns are met.
OPEN DATA, ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION
A solid commitment to open data would not only benefit Torontonians on principle. Opening
updata sets leads not only to increased accountability and trust but, for the entrepreneurial
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34. among us, innovation through the development of applications, most often in the form of
“mashups,” digital products created from preexisting elements. Programmers and developers
create mashups by combining two or more technologies or data sources to create a new
product or service; some of this services are created simply to benefit our fellow citizen, while
others include an intention of profit. A simple version of a mashup would be a store’s “Is It In
Stock?” feature, which combines location data and stock data to tell a customer if the product
they want is available nearby. Toronto software developer Mark Headd used data sets on
location and space availability of child care centres to create a daycare search by postal code
using texting or Twitter. Mark describes the application as “quite simple, and is still rough in
many ways, but it was completed within several hours and demonstrates how governments that
release interesting and valuable information empower developers to build useful things”
(“Toronto Opens Government Data,” voiceingov.org/). This year Jeff Aramini, a former
epidemiologist at the Public Health Agency of Canada, developed HealthAndSafetyWatch.com,
a website that tracks product and food recalls using aggregated federal and provincial open
data in combination with media monitoring software. This information is then overlaid on a map,
alerting users to recalls in their area. Several iPhone applications have been developed—some
free, some fee-based—to deliver TTC schedule information on demand and in a mobile format.
Examples of useful mashups abound and span the spectrum of generic public service tools to
highly specialized proprietary applications. What these programs have in common is their
reliance on flexible, open data.
THE IMPORTANCE OF STANDARDIZED OPEN DATA
Standardization is an essential, albeit expensive, component of this openness. Standardization
means that the data sets can be more easily shared, but it also means that the city will have to
invest dollars to standardize existing and legacy data systems in a more flexible format. While
the start-up costs of standardizing data collection are high, both financially and in terms of
human resources, over time the benefits to the city are manifold. David Eaves, who advises the
City of Vancouver on the development of their open data policy, argues that data is a strategic
asset that cities should be using to help themselves, that the centralization of data will help the
city manage itself more efficiently. An excellent example of using standardization to improve
both efficiency and user experience is Toronto’s 311 service, which integrates city service
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35. responses into a single system, allowing for ease of access and faster response time.
The cost of developing systems to standardize, share, and archive data could be shared
between cities, who could come together to negotiate with potential vendors of the appropriate
tools. An open data policy is a mechanism for cities to “help themselves,” and, in addition, it is a
tool for cities to learn from each other while encouraging important policy learning opportunities.
OPEN DATA PORTALS AT WORK
Toronto is one of several Canadian cities aiming to publish its data in an open format catalogue,
along with Vancouver, Nanaimo, Edmonton, and Ottawa. Most recently, London (Ontario)
launched Open Data London and Montreal has announced Montréal Ouvert. The City of Toronto
launched toronto.ca/open in November 2009. The catalogue offers about thirty datasets, most of
them static geographic data, including ward, park and neighbourhood boundaries, locations of
places of worship, traffic signals and food banks, and some TTC schedules. The sets are
available in flexible digital formats and some data are automatically updated or available in real-
time. The portal’s contents are available under an open license, which means that anyone,
anywhere in the world, has the city’s permission to a “world-wide, royalty-free, non-exclusive
license to use, modify and distribute the datasets in all current and future media formats for any
lawful purpose” (City of Toronto Open Data project). Created by local data enthusiasts to
support Toronto’s open data project, dataTO.org is a collaboration site inviting the open data
community to request new data, suggest enhancements, and share in the development.
Participation has been low, perhaps due to the limited number of data sets offered in Toronto’s
Open Data catalogue. Additionally, despite the ease with which datasets can be released in
many formats, the catalogue has typically chosen only one format per data set. The catalogue
also uses internal city terminology (“cuts” for excavation work or potholes, “Toronto Centreline”
for a set on road markings), terms not always familiar to citizens.
Operating since September 2009, Vancouver’s more advanced data.vancouver.ca currently
offers over 100 data sets. But it’s not just the number of sets available that is impressive: the city
has turned the portal itself into an interactive feedback and discussion space, and has built RSS
feeds that aggregate city information such as job postings and bike route detours.
Across the pond, data.london.gov.uk acts as a hub, pointing visitors to raw data sets available
on a number of agency websites. Data available includes life expectancy at birth by ward,
household waste disposal by borough, and the locations of every polling station for the 2010
elections. The portal calls itself a first step, and promises that they are “committed to influencing
and cajoling other public sector organisations into releasing their data here too.”
(data.london.gov.uk). London’s datastore should be a source of inspiration for Toronto’s future
efforts. At the federal level, Canada lags behind both the United States and the United Kingdom.
In the US data.gov, founded in 2009, has over 270,000 data sets available. With the help of Tim
Berners-Lee, credited with inventing the World Wide Web, the British government has launched
data.gov.uk, “a key part of the Government’s Transparency programme.” The Canadian
government has thus far shown less enthusiasm; there is no national open data strategy, and
therefore no central hub for national data sets.3 As the largest city in the country, Toronto has
the resources to be a leader in government transparency, and to encourage the use of its data
for myriad purposes, championing the value of a digitally literate citizenry.
3
Not content to wait for our administrations to take the lead, a few Canadian innovators have attempted to address the
gap. Their efforts include openparliament.ca, run by Michael Mulley, and datadotgc.ca, run by David Eaves, which he
describes as his effort at “showing our government, and Canada, what a federal open data portal could and should look
like.” CivicAccess.ca and datalibre.ca are two other websites involved in championing the necessity of open, free data in
the name of democracy and transparency in the information age.
POLICY IDEAS
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36. A successful open data initiative needs more than just accessible data to be effective. It requires
formal commitments from the city on a number of fronts, the development of a robust
centralized portal, and enthusiasm from the general population. It also, particularly in the early
years, needs a dedicated team with a variety of skill sets, including technophiles, marketers, and
those who can best promote citizen engagement.
Cities who make data available and actively market what they are sharing demonstrate their
belief in the benefits and potential of open data. In order to make open, accessible data sets
partof standard operating procedures, cities need to have policies in place that will help
standardize creation and facilitate pro-active distribution. All city data should be created in
shareable formats, regardless of whether it is deemed allowable or worth sharing at that
moment. Policy should include a written, official commitment to updating data sets, and to
communicating these updates through a variety of channels. Certain sets, such as public
transportation and election information, should be recognized as being priority sets, with more
regular and formal updates required.
Toronto’s open data catalogue has a lot of room to grow, and should be looking to the plethora
of information on the city and its governance already available, and known to be of interest,
through http://toronto.ca/. All of this data should be housed in the centralized online portal,
allowing anyone with an idle curiosity to browse, download, and play with what is already public
information on a standard platform. This portal must be designed to protect sensitive data, and
to ensure that privacy concerns are addressed, investigated, and dealt with promptly. This will
help build trust between the specific department overseeing the portal, City of Toronto
employees, and the general public, and encourage the enhancement of the portal’s
development.
As important as it is to open up data, it’s equally important for citizens to make use of it. Cities
are unlikely to be convinced of the value of open data unless there’s a community of
enthusiastic users who can demonstrate its value. Every municipality is low on cash and
resources, resulting in a focus on efficiency in delivering city services. Open data is a way for
cities to create more value for every citizen; citizens benefits from the development of innovative
and useful applications, and the city is viewed as having played a key role in offering value-
added services and fuelling entrepreneurship. When cities open up their data, they are initiating
a conversation with the people using the data, and the initiative will succeed as long as both
sides are listening, participating and working towards a common goal.
Conclusions
Open data initiatives work when the host city understands the benefits to both the citizens and
to itself, and is willing to reap those benefits by committing to success through investment.
When open, accessible data is harnessed by data-savvy citizens to create valuable tools that
serve all kinds of needs, there are many wins: the city has encouraged and satisfied
entrepreneurism; the entrepreneur has found satisfaction in creating a valuable tool, and the
citizen benefits from the tool itself. Open data can enhance the relationship between the city and
its citizens by sharing what it collects, and in return the citizens can offer value to the city by
taking the time to create tools the city hasn’t the time or budget to build. Bringing a sense of
cooperation that is necessary for a healthy and progressive future, open data initiatives make
cities and their citizens partners in growth and innovation.
Source: Martin Prosperity Institute, Open Data, Open City (University of Toronto: September, 2010)
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