Governments all over the world are sitting on treasure troves of data waiting to be released into the public. A lot of this closed data is a result of daily processes and can create an incredible positive effect when turned into open data. Open data is data that is freely accessible to the public, offered in machine readable formats, and published with an open license.
Most data that is generated and used has a spatial component to it — the geotag is one critical component of a dataset with many attributes. Releasing authoritative spatial data to the public offers the opportunity for awareness and analysis on where certain phenomena are occurring. Spatial data can include discrete phenomena in the form of points (bus stops), lines (bus routes), or polygons (transit jurisdiction areas). It also includes continuous data from aerial imagery or raster data (land cover or tree canopy). Highlighting the location of features when publishing data stresses the important role that geography plays in the phenomena we interact with in our daily lives. Cities are awash with vast amounts of both discrete and continuous data that can be shared with the public to help aid in decision making and spur economic development and civic engagement.
There is incredible value in releasing government data to the public — both internal and external. Government data should be open for many reasons, of which not all are captured below. There are benefits experienced within government which serve as internal incentives for openness, and positive externalities produced by the community which contribute to the external value derived from open government data.
Internal Incentives
- Easier data sharing and resource consolidation: A huge user of government data are governments themselves! Having accessible open data lowers the cost of data sharing between departments — people save time and resources by accessing a central repository of data rather than submitting and fielding requests for specific datasets. The number of FOI requests is also lowered, leading to increased efficiency and reduced costs in government.
- Openness agenda—transparency and accountability: Releasing open data grants a clearer look into government operations to its constituents. Citizens are able to access government data, manipulate and analyze it, and share it with others so broader populations can understand what their government is doing. Governments are held accountable by their citizens when citizens can both access and understand government data.
- Upgrade technological environments: While releasing data can be done without needing an overhaul of technical infrastructure, it can provide a good opportunity to upgrade an environment to ensure interoperability, ease of workflows, and increase speed.
External Value
- Economic development: It is oft cited that open data is a three billion dollar a year industry. Open government data provides businesses, entrepreneurs, and innovators a key resource to use for economic activities and spur data-driven economic development. Governments are enabling and promoting the creation of services and businesses by opening resources that they already have!
- Civic engagement: Communities that are introduced to open data are given a multitude of entry points into participatory governance. Citizens can use data to create opportunities to be directly involved and informed in government decision making, or use the data to help make better decisions in their daily life.
There are many specific examples that can be used to illustrate the above points, and also many opportunities that we have not observed yet! Part of the beauty in opening up government data is the unknown benefits and possibilities that can arise from combining datasets, creating services, and putting them in action.
Getting an open data initiative up and running shouldn’t be difficult or pain-staking. This guide will outline important factors to consider before you embark on opening government data, during the implementation of the site or portal, and after publication. It will ultimately provide insight to where more attention to particular factors may be needed to ensure success, and will distinguish best practices to help governments reach their goals.