States Offer Information Resources: 50+ Open Data Portals; Forbes, April 30, 2018

Meta S. Brown, Forbes; States Offer Information Resources: 50+ Open Data Portals

"The United States federal open data portal, data.gov, launched in May, 2009, with just 47 datasets. It was not an instant hit.

 Today, with more 200,000 datasets, it’s a lot more popular. Still, real-life demands for information about our governments, people and economy exceed the supply of available data.

The creation of a centralized portal for federal government data has fostered open data initiative across the country. Dozens of cities have established their own open data portals (here are 90 examples).

 In the 50 years since the federal Freedom of Information Act was passed, US states have been gradually introducing similar laws (see freedom of information laws by state). Likewise, many are now developing state-level open data portals.


These state data resources vary in style and depth. Some look much like data.gov, and include a wide variety of datasets. But not every state has a comprehensive data portal yet, let alone deep selections of data.

Here’s a listing of general and geographic open data portals for US states, plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico..."

Open Data And The Fight Against Disease; HuffPost, June 8, 2017

Adi Gaskell, HuffPost; Open Data And The Fight Against Disease

"Recently the Open Data Barometer produced its fourth analysis of the state of open data around the globe.  The index ranks governments on a range of factors, including the maturity of its open data initiatives, the implementation of open data programs, and the impact those programs have had.

The index, which has the United Kingdom on top of the pile, highlights the variability in open data around the world, both within the developed world but also the developing world.

Nowhere is the importance of open data as critical as in healthcare, and a recent paper from the European Commission highlights some of the benefits, and challenges, of doing so, with a number of fascinating case studies from across Europe."

What does 2017 hold for open data initiatives?; Guardian, 1/6/17

Sir Nigel Shadbolt, Guardian; What does 2017 hold for open data initiatives?

"In 2016, open data was central to a growing number of projects across the globe. Throughout the year, data initiatives attempted to change the banking industry, took strides towards getting London fit, and fought “superbugs” through a real-time record of antibiotic resistance.

How will we see the open data ecosystem continue to grow in 2017? We asked the experts to tell us what the coming year will hold."

City lays out next steps in Open Data Plan; Chicago Tribune, 2/7/14

Amina Elahi, Chicago Tribune; City lays out next steps in Open Data Plan:

"Using public civic data, developers have created Web apps such as legislation-tracker Chicago Councilmatic and the interactive 2nd City Zoning map.

Others have used the data to build businesses. SpotHero won the 2011 Apps for Metro Chicago contest with a product built on data from the City of Chicago and other local agencies. Today, the parking app is available in seven cities.

The city posts select data sets to GitHub, an open source code-sharing platform. Developers are free to build upon or manipulate that data, since it is covered by an MIT License.

The City of Chicago's Data Dictionary, which anyone can search to find out whether the portal or GitHub hosts data sets on particular topics, is another such tool. In its current form, the technical results may turn off less experienced users, but Schenk says future plans include improving the interface and filtering."

Minneapolis sees civic push for open data; Minneapolis Star Tribune, 2/1/14

Eric Roper, Minneapolis Star Tribune; Minneapolis sees civic push for open data:

"Residents of Chicago can track their city’s plows and pothole repairs in real time. In Seattle, 911 calls are quickly detailed online. New Yorkers can sift through city contracts with a simple mouse click.

Minneapolis has kept a tight grip on the information it collects even as cities across the country open up streams of public data to developers, journalists and the public. But this past November’s election has spurred calls at City Hall to liberate that data, from food inspections to landlord violations, so it can be analyzed and manipulated for the public good.

“I figured when I came to Minneapolis that I was going to find a liberal, open place — very progressive, etcetera,” Otto Doll, the city’s chief information officer, told a gathering of data enthusiasts last week. “And we are, in certain ways, but not with our data.”...

“Really what this is doing is it’s transforming the way in which a government performs,” says Ian Kalin, open data manager for Socrata, a Seattle-based company that works with governments across the country to open data sets and store them online. He estimates that more than 100 governments in the U.S. have launched open data initiatives, mostly in the past five years.

Socrata works with Chicago, which has released nearly 1,000 data sets. Developers there have created apps that allow the public to dig into detailed crime statistics, research the most active lobbyists, locate vacant buildings and track city legislation."