Week 6: Open data  

Technology  in  the  Public  Sector  

Northwestern  University  MPPA  490  

Summer  2012  -­‐  Greg  Wass  

1

Fiscal crisis motivates transformation

2

$1,750

$1,850

$1,950

$2,050

$2,150

$2,250

$2,350

$2,450

$2,550

$2,650

FY08 FY09 FY10 FY11 FY12 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16

Mill

ions

Revenue

Expenses

($210) ($659) ($453) ($537)

The transparency imperative

¨  Public trust in government at an all-time low?

¨  Fiscal crisis: most states and local governments still in a financial crisis brought on by the recession

¨  Difficulty meeting service demands with declining/stagnant revenues

¨  New capabilities available through web-based, mobile and social networking technologies

¨  New demands for open government, collaboration, and shared services

3

A 2010 study by the University of Illinois at Chicago called Cook County a “dark pool of political corruption,” revealing that nearly 150 contractors, employees and politicians have been convicted on corruption charges since 1957. --from an October 2011 Government Technology magazine article by Brian Heaton

The circle of public trust

4

The open government movement

¤  Data must be: ¤  Complete

¤  Primary

¤  Timely

¤  Accessible

¤  Machine processable

¤  Non-discriminatory access

¤  Non-proprietary formats

¤  License-free

5

Source: http://www.opengovdata.org/home/8principles

A 2007 working group of 30 open government advocates in Sebastopol, CA, developed the 8 Principles of Open Government Data. These principles have become the de facto starting point for evaluating openness in government records.

The open government movement (cont’d)

¤  Washington, DC

¤  San Francisco

¤  Baltimore

¤  Chicago

¤  Portland

¤  New York City

6

Governments globally are using the power of the Internet and Web, including social media, to transform governance, empower citizens and rebuild the social contract between political leaders and citizens. Although the emphasis and details differ from country to country, many central governments are making more information public and easily available on the Web in formats that citizens can access, reuse, mash up, remix, visualize, map and share.

Tracking and mapping tools and systems allow citizens to examine government activities and expenditures. Citizen engagement platforms and tools allow governments to reach out and incorporate the perspectives and ideas of citizens in decision-making and policy-making. Still others are building networked relationships between the public and private sectors to solve challenging problems that cannot be addressed by either sector working alone.

An increasing number of countries are building transparency and accountability and driving public and private innovation through the use of information and communication technologies, including social media.

Right to Information. Several countries – including Indonesia, Mexico, Turkey and India – have recently passed legislation guaranteeing the right of citizens to public information and requiring ministries to make information accessible to the public. The Obama Administration has inked an open government partnership with India to exchange best practices and share data.

Transparency and Accountability. Tracking systems used in countries such as India, Kenya and Brazil allow and engage citizens in the monitoring and exposure of inefficiencies and corruption.

Open Data. Today, 10 countries or more have open data portals. Significant Data.gov initiatives are now established in Australia, Canada, Estonia, Norway, the United Kingdom, the United States and New Zealand. These efforts are designed to make government data accessible in a form that may be used by citizens.

Excerpt from The Future of Government: Lessons Learned from Around the World, 2011

Open Government and Open Data, Part 1

These innovations tap not only emerging information and communication technologies but also the expertise and creativity of individuals, the private sector and the power of collaboration and participation using data and evidence for decision-making.

It should be obvious that only those citizens with broadband access and the digital literacy to engage in these types of activities can benefit directly. Thus, countries increasingly must focus on education, broadband access and digital literacy for citizens to gain the benefits of open government and social media use for citizen engagement.

Moreover, even in wealthy countries like the United States, as downloading of large datasets increases, older servers are unable to manage such highly intensive activities, causing computers to crash. Most governments will need to make careful choices about how much data, what types need to be available immediately and in what form. Low- and middle- income countries represent the “next frontier” for open government and open data reforms.

To this end, the World Wide Web Foundation launched an Open Government Data Feasibility Study of the Governments of Chile, Ghana and Turkey to determine in what ways middle- to low-income countries have the capacity to develop and maintain open government data projects.

A number of international organizations and foundations have formed a donor collaborative called the Transparency and Accountability Initiative to foster the powerful concepts of transparency and accountability through greater use of networking and information technologies coupled with social media.

Open government and open data represent an emergent “movement” worldwide although national governments will continue to differ with respect to their definition and implementation of these ideas. Clearly, sharing best practices and lessons that work as experience accumulates will be key.

Excerpt from The Future of Government: Lessons Learned from Around the World, 2011

Open Government and Open Data, Part 2

data.gov.uk

9

data.vancouver.ca

10

NYCopendata.socrata.com

11

Data visualizations: 311

12

Data visualizations: Viegas/Wattenberg

13

Data visualizations: Look at Cook

14

Open government in Cook County

¨ Many residents don’t know what County government is or what it does

¨ Many residents don’t know how their tax dollars are collected or spent

¨ Historical lack of transparency means many local citizen activists are disengaged and cynical

¨ Lack of transparency breeds doubt, skepticism, inefficiency and corruption

15

Open government in Cook County

1.  Ordinance: Cook County’s open data ordinance begins making data public. Agency heads partner with Board President and Commissioners to make initial high-value data sets public.

2.  Data portal: County launches a single-site portal centralizing data in developer-friendly formats. Data offerings continuously expand.

3.  App contests and data camps: County encourages developers and activists to drive new and improved government services through mobile apps and data visualizations.

4.  Continuous improvement: County expands data offerings, provides ongoing incentives for developers and activists and opens a conversation about improving our government.

16

Open government timetable

17

March-April 2011 Summer 2011 2012 Beyond

Enact open data

ordinance

Host launch party/

App contest

Continue fostering developer community through data camps, and

contests and conferences

Partner with vendor to create single-site data portal

Use resulting information to improve government efficiency, effectiveness

and fairness

Invest County data owners Expand public data offerings

Open data site

18

Open data site architecture

19

“Apps for Metro Chicago”

20

Regional open data site

21

Results and reactions ¤  “The Cook County open data website

was launched on-time and it has been a reliable platform for the County to deliver information to citizens and for potential use by entrepreneurs developing applications. The shared platform with the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago keeps costs down and promotes consistent approaches for data sharing.”—TechAmerica, The Cloud Imperative: Better Collaboration, Better Service, Better Cost, Feb 2012

¤  “(Metrochicagodata.org) appears to deliver what public-sector technologists long have said could be possible—a truly regional clearinghouse where all public data is available for free in one place.”—Government Technology, May 2012

¤  “Yesterday, Cook County released an unprecedented amount of data on their website. It’s exciting to see both the City of Chicago and Cook County creating new, innovative ways to inform and engage with citizens about important local issues including public safety, economic development and especially government spending.”—Illinois PIRG, Sep 2011

22

Next steps

¤ Big Data

¤ More use of open data for research and analysis

¤ Expanding data.gov

23