FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 7th, 2014
Contact: Julia Leja
Scroll/search... open data ordinance
at
http://goo.gl/D2QLcK
http://meetingrecords.cityofboston.gov/sirepub/cache/2/icifoimmx55ifpif5v5q1d45/9696804072014012922515.PDF
Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu FILEs OPEN DATA ORDINANCE
BOSTON – Michelle Wu, Boston City
Councilor At-Large, today filed an open data ordinance to be proposed at the
April 9th meeting of the Boston City Council.
Following up on Wu’s 50 Ideas for Boston Families http://michelleforboston.com/ideas/ from the campaign trail (“Idea #41: Leverage data
using hackathons and availability of sanitized information”), the proposed
ordinance would require Boston’s city agencies and departments to make data
available online using open standards developed in collaboration with the
public, promoting opportunities for civic innovation.
“Government today should center
on making data-driven decisions and inviting in the public to collaborate around
new ideas and solutions,” said Wu.
“The goal of this ordinance is greater transparency, access, and
innovation. We need a proactive,
not a reactive, approach to information accessibility and open government.”
An open data ordinance
would codify open government policies and create consistency among Boston’s city
departments by developing uniform technical standards. It would institutionalize a culture of
open government while simultaneously requiring city departments to balance
transparency with privacy.
According to the Sunlight
Foundation, 21 cities, three states, and six counties have passed open data
laws. The City of Boston maintains
a data portal to make certain datasets accessible to the public at http://data.cityofboston.gov
but does not currently have a formal requirement to make data available beyond
federal Freedom of Information Act obligations. A municipal open data ordinance would mandate that agencies
and departments across the board contribute to these publicly available
datasets in accordance with technical standards that ensure privacy and public
safety. Boston currently has 46
datasets available on its portal; New York City, which passed an open data law
in 2012, has over 1,100 datasets at http://data.cityofnewyork.us
Wu cited San Francisco and New York City as municipalities
where open data laws have been particularly effective. In San Francisco, the open data ordinance
has provided opportunities to develop innovative partnerships with citizens and
companies, e.g. partnering with Yelp, a business review website, to display the
City’s publicly available health inspection scores on each restaurant’s Yelp
profile. New York City’s open data
law required soliciting public input in developing technical standards, and the
city continues to host regular competitions and challenges to invite public
analysis and participation in developing new civic innovation tools.
“Boston is a world-class city full of energy and
talent,” said Wu. “In addition to promoting open government, making information
available to the fullest extent possible will help leverage Boston’s energy and
talent for civic innovation. From public hackathons to breaking down silos
between city departments, putting more data online can help us govern smarter
for residents in every neighborhood.”
As Chair of the Committee on Small Business,
Entrepreneurship and Innovation, and Chair of the Committee on Arts and
Culture, Wu has prioritized strengthening Boston's innovation economy, creative
economy, and neighborhood small businesses.
###
The Wu Committee, PO Box 180231 Boston MA 02118
No comments:
Post a Comment