Open Data Kitchener. Open Data Framework. Introduction. Prepared by Jury Konga, egovfutures Group. October 23, 2013.

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1 Open Data Framework Introduction Prepared by Jury Konga, egovfutures Group October 23,

2 Background Open government in Canadian municipalities has been in place, to varying degrees, for some time and now there is a new model for expanded and enhanced Open Government that can provide leadership in local government. The City of Kitchener has undertaken the development of a new Open Government Framework and as illustrated below, Open Data is a foundational component related to transparency and it also facilitates addressing the principles of accountability and participation. The City of Kitchener has recognized the importance of Open Data and is moving forward with the implementation of an Open Data portal. The following is provided as an open data framework that defines the requirements for moving forward with a corporate open data initiative, initially led by the Corporate Information Technology Division. 1

3 The What and Why of Open Data What - Defining Open Data To provide further context for open data, the following definition is often used in the open data community: A piece of data or content is open if anyone is free to use, reuse, and redistribute it subject only, at most, to the requirement to attribute and/or share-alike. Source: In addition, Open data is also associated with being "machine" (computer) readable and having an acceptable Terms of Use agreement that isn't restrictive. There is also a short video from Grande Prairie County, AB that does a good job of relating open data in the local government setting. The Principles of Open Data The original eight open data principles came from a December, 2007 meeting of advocates in California. Based on subsequent operating experience, it was logical to update the principles and this was completed in August 2010 by the U.S. Sunlight Foundation, a non-profit organization that focuses on transparency in Government. The updated Ten Principles for Opening Up Government Information, via the Sunlight Foundation, are as follows (abbreviated full details at : 1. Completeness. Datasets released by the government should be as complete as possible, reflecting the entirety of what is recorded about a particular subject. 2. Primacy. Datasets released by the government should be primary source data. 3. Timeliness. Datasets released by the government should be available to the public in a timely fashion. 4. Ease of Physical and Electronic Access. Datasets released by the government should as accessible as possible, with accessibility defined as the ease with which information can be obtained, whether through physical or electronic means. 5. Machine readability. Information should be stored in widely-used file formats that easily lend themselves to machine processing. 6. Non-discrimination. "Non-discrimination" refers to who can access data and how they must do so. 7. Use of Commonly Owned Standards. Commonly owned (or "open") standards refers to who owns the format in which data is stored. 2

4 8. Licensing. The imposition of "Terms of Service," attribution requirements, restrictions on dissemination and so on acts as barriers to public use of data. 9. Permanence. This principle addresses the need for access to the open data in perpetuity. This speaks to the need for access at all times during the data lifecycle (online and archived). 10. Usage Costs. This principle services to remove inappropriate fees for access to data. One of the greatest barriers to access to ostensibly publicly-available information is the cost imposed on the public for access--even when the cost is de minimus. Most government information is collected for governmental purposes, and the existence of user fees has little to no effect on whether the government gathers the data in the first place. Imposing fees for access skews the pool of who is willing (or able) to access information. It also may preclude transformative uses of the data that in turn generates business growth and tax revenues. These ten principles need to be considered in undertaking the implementation of the open data portal. It should also be clearly understood that adherence to all the principles is difficult, if not impossible, for the initial data release but it is understood that achieving these principles is the desired end state. The complete text of the principles may be found at the previously provided URL link. Why the Value Proposition of Open Data The following provides a summary of some benefits associated with defining the value proposition for open data: Open Data Benefits - a Citizen and Community perspective Ease of access to government information Economic development opportunities leading to job creation Reduced costs for government operations Enhanced eservice delivery Apps, Apps, Apps for citizen, business and community Increased opportunities for community engagement and collaboration in addressing societal needs Open Data Benefits - a Business perspective Economic development opportunities Reduced costs to find & use government data Start-ups that leverage the data Value Added Resellers Innovation through new products & services Open Data Benefits - a Government perspective Enhanced services to citizens and businesses Reduced costs via internal access and less external Freedom of Information (FOI) and data requests Economic development 3

5 Improved government transparency & trust Increased citizen engagement, collaboration with business and community groups Enhanced transparency and increased TRUST Open Data Kitchener Source: AMCTO Open Data Forum: Open Data Matters October 30, Open Data Framework Overview There are a number of components required to move an open data initiative from concept to reality. The following provides an illustration of the key open data framework components that need to be addressed by the City. Key Framework Components Governance. Governance is required for both the initial portal launch and the ongoing program operations. For purposes of the portal launch, the open data governance will be overseen by the Open Government Steering Committee while the technical and logistical considerations will be undertaken by the Open Government Project Team. The Open Data portal implementation will be led by Information Technology. The longer term governance can be defined following experience with the open data portal launch and related open government initiative. Open Data Portal. An open data portal is the public facing website that will allow access to the open data either directly or via a separate open data catalogue. There are a variety of portal content components that can be considered as well as the possible integration with the website s open government elements. Examples of portal designs and content will be provided as part of the implementation portal planning. Community Engagement. Open data initiatives require an ongoing program of community engagement to assist in optimizing the use of the data and assisting with determination of data release priorities. The community should not only be the local community but also participation in 4

6 the overarching local global open data community including other governments. Standards. It is important to understand that the open data portal launch should adhere to industry/community standards where practical. In particular, the provision of open data in generally accepted data standards by the community is important. Similarly, the standards related to information management and the underlying technology must consider current and future trends. Operations. Open Data will require a series of operational processes (e.g. Extract-Transform-Load or ETL and guidelines (e.g. open data prioritization) which may or may not currently exist within the City. Further suggestions will be provided as part of the implementation planning. Supporting Infrastructure Components Open Data/Information Management Policy. An Open Data is important to provide the context for open data operations within the City. It may be a part of a larger Information Management policy which could include open data, records management, etc. It is not essential that the open data policy be prepared and passed by Council prior to the portal launch. In fact, it may be preferred to have a draft policy in place before going live and allow the experience of the portal launch project to refine the original draft. It is important to note that data/information cannot be made open based on fundamental requirements such as ownership of the data and on restrictions defined by MFIPPA such as personal privacy and proprietary information. Technology infrastructure & Tools. There are a number of supporting technology requirements including: portal CMS, open data catalogue, data/information management (including versioning/archiving), internal/cloud storage, and metadata management. Further considerations will be developed as part of the implementation planning. Data. Open data requires raw data to be made available for the portal launch. Initial considerations will look to currently stable, structured data that can be considered low hanging fruit, e.g., geographic information systems (GIS) data. A process will be provided to assess the suitability (e.g. ownership) of data for open data release consideration. Human & Financial Resources. Experience has shown that both human and financial resources are important to ensure the sustainability of the open data initiative. Further consideration of these requirements will be developed as part of implementation planning. 5