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The State of the State of Open Data

Mark HeaddDeveloper EvangelistAccela, Inc.

Seth AxthelmDeveloper EvangelistAccela, Inc.

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Agenda

• What is “open data”?

• Who is publishing open data?

• Who is using open data?

• Open data policies

• Open data portals

• The current state of open data

• Challenges to open data

• The future of open data

• Q & A

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What is “open data”?

Open data is data that can be freely used, reused and redistributed by anyone - subject only, at most, to the requirement to attribute and share alike.

• Availability and Access.

• Reuse and Redistribution

• Universal Participation.

• Source: Open Data Handbook http://opendatahandbook.org

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Who is publishing open data?

• U.S. City Open Data Censushttp://us-city.census.okfn.org/

Federal Data.gov Site

• Cities – http://cities.data.gov

• Counties – http://counties.data.gov

• States – http://states.data.gov

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Who is using open data?

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Open data policies

http://sunlightfoundation.com/policy/opendatamap/

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Open data portals

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The current state of open data

First, we must be clear that open isn’t enough. The phrase “open data” should always be accompanied by words like “structured”, “licensed”, and “updated.”

Second, it’s time to put a spotlight on interoperable data. We’re currently just scratching the surface of what open data can enable. Making it easy to combine different datasets and APIs is key to taking our work to the next level.

And third, we need to focus on building ecosystems, not apps. New models of collaboration across our community will help us offer services that have a sustainable and proven impact.

https://medium.com/@EricHysen/lets-build-the-road-network-of-civic-tech-79427d968422

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Challenges to open data

• Fulfilling mandates vs. embracing opportunities.

• Data portals as data islands.

• Lack of common data specifications.

• Data publishing without engagement.

• Failure to institutionalize.

• Sharing failures as well as successes.

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The future of open data

• More data, greater variety & richness.

• Cross jurisdictional data portals.

• Common specifications for common data.

• Multi-tenant civic solutions built on common data.

• Greater government collaboration with outside developers.

• More sophisticated data use by governments themselves.

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Question & Answer Session

Mark HeaddDeveloper EvangelistAccela, Inc.

Seth AxthelmDeveloper EvangelistAccela, Inc.

Accela Developer LinksDeveloper Portal: https://developer.accela.comDeveloper Blog: http://devblog.accela.comDeveloper Twitter: https://twitter.com/acceladevGitHub: https://github.com/Accela-Inc