1. Jennifer Belissent, Ph.D., Principal Analyst
Webinar Big Data Is Changing Business And Open Data Is Changing The Business Of Government
Jennifer Belissent, Ph.D., Principal Analyst
January 10, Call in at 10:55 a.m. Eastern time

2. Agenda Open data is here. Why launch an open data initiative?
Data maturity in the public sector remains low.
How to launch an open data initiative
Review and recommendations

3. The floodgates are open . . .
Open data initiatives have picked up speed globally, at all levels of government.
The Open Data Catalog currently includes 275 registered data catalogs including more than 75 cities.
Source: Datacatalogs.org (

4. Open data in government has evolved quickly
The US government launches Data.gov.
Data.gov issues the request “Evangelist for data.gov open government” — in one year growing from 47 data sets at launch to more than 250,000.
Honolulu, Rome, Buenos Aires, Madison, and Zurich launch open data portals.
President Obama signs the memorandum on Transparency and Open Government.
The UK government launches Data.gov.uk.
Chicago, Seattle, New York, and San Francisco launch Cities.data.gov — a federated city data portal.
Toronto and Vancouver launch open data portals.
Edmonton, London, Boston, and Ottawa launch open data portals.
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
New York City launches the Big Apps Competition.
The US government issues the open data directive.
Chicago holds the first CityCamp.
New York City passes legislation mandating all departments to release public data.
Washington D.C. launches “Apps for Democracy.”
Washington holds the first Transparency Camp.
Barcelona, Chicago, Baltimore, Pamplona, Paris, Helsinki, Barcelona, Hong Kong, and Stockholm launch open data portals.
San Francisco issues a new data policy, the first law on open data, based on the eight principles of open government data.
San Francisco launches dataSF.gov and SF Data Apps contest.
San Francisco passes new legislation to “get back on the open data map.”
Source: Upcoming Forrester report “Open Data Changes The Business of Government”

5. Why launch open data initiatives?
Constituents demand it; peers are doing it; and new tools make it easier . . .
Improve transparency and information access
Improve operations and inform decision-making through data analysis
Increase citizen engagement in government
Improve services delivery and facilitate new services creation
Increase innovation and accelerate economic development
Why now?
Their constituents are demanding it. The financial downturn provided a strong catalyst for open data. Citizens became more vocal about wanting to know where their taxes were being spent. The media puts pressure on governments to make information public. And, many of the first open data programs responded. With their appetite whetted by the financial data, citizen groups continued to request information — initially through freedom of information mechanisms but later through the new open data programs.
Their peers are doing it. Just three years ago the City of Boston had a small data presence with 10 not particularly well-maintained data sets available. By their own assessment, eight of them had no value. Then they saw their peers launch pen data initiatives, and the rest is history. The flood of new programs suggests strong effects of peer pressure.
New tools are available to do it more easily now. While the concepts of open government — focused on greater government transparency and citizen engagement — are not new, the technology that makes it much easier to open government, and government data to constituents, is. New open data platforms such as Socrata, Junar, and CKAN — including data catalogs, visualization tools, and APIs to facilitate application development and data mash-ups — facilitate the launch of open data initiatives.
New organizations and media associations such Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and the National Freedom of Information Coalition have launched legal action against governments to force it to obey its own open records laws.
To illustrate these I will just go through some examples….

6. Transparency
Chicago increases transparency and dispels criticism through data.
Image source: City of Chicago (
Source: Upcoming Forrester report “Open Data Changes The Business Of Government”

7. Analysis to improve operations
Canopy inventory displayed on OpenStreetMap helps NYC Parks Department manage storm risk and the pruning schedules of the city’s trees.
Source: Github (

8. Analysis to inform policy decisions
DataDive enlists volunteer data gurus to help city organizations refine policy.
Disaster response calls concentrate in low-income neighborhoods.
Source: Shareable (
Crime spikes in the evening suggest times for community programs.

9. Engagement in data collection
Citizen reporting platforms make it easy for cities to engage citizens and gather data on the city.
Source: City of Boston (
nnnnn
City of Boston’s Citizens Connect engages citizens in data collection.

10. Engagement in decision-making
Utah Planning brought citizens in to the state redistricting process.
Source: State of Utah (

11. Engagement of developers enables engagement . . .
Code for America engages citizens in doing, not just reporting or complaining.
Source: Code for America website (

12. . . . and creates new city services
. . . like help finding out if your car was towed or if your street will be swept.
Source: Sweeparound.us ( and wasmycartowed.com (

13. Open data delivers innovation and economic development
NYC Big Apps contests have generated more than 240 new applications and several new startups.
Source: MyCityWay (

14. Open data grows the existing economy
Health inspection grading in NYC contributed to growth in restaurant revenues.
Image source: NYC Open Data portal (
Source: Upcoming Forrester report “Open Data Changes The Business Of Government”

15. But data maturity remains low
Public-sector organizations lag in their use of data in decision-making.
Source: Upcoming Forrester report “Open Data Changes The Business Of Government”

16. But data maturity remains low
Few governments show maturity in process, organizational structure, and architecture.
Source: Upcoming Forrester report “Open Data Changes The Business Of Government”

17. Yet the public sector does show promise
Only a third have a formal data strategy, but almost half are creating one.
Source: Upcoming Forrester report “Open Data Changes The Business Of Government”

18. Launching open data? Just go for it!
Advice from the leaders in open data is to just jump in!

19. How do you get started with open data?
Evangelize and educate both internally and externally to enlist support.
Identify appropriate data sets and processes for submitting data.
Establish mechanisms to publish and promote the data — data portals, catalogs, and contests.
Measure success — at first anecdotally, then systematically.

20. Which data? First step: just ask
Start with the departments (the supply) and the developers (the demand). This is part of educating and evangelizing the stakeholders.

21. Or start with low-hanging fruit
Some cities start with budget data because they have it on hand. The City of Ghent launched its open data with the locations of its dog toilets.
Source: City of Ghent (

22. Determine appropriateness of the data
Ottawa provides a checklist for departments to determine open data eligibility.
Image source: City of Ottawa
Source: Upcoming Forrester report “Open Data Changes The Business Of Government”

23. Build, buy, or borrow . . . just get it out there
The next step is building a data portal and an application catalog.
Source: City of Ottawa ( and City of Palo Alto (

24. Remember all audiences . . .
The City of Moscow provides interesting visualizations of budget and operational data.
Image source: Moscow City Government (
Source: Upcoming Forrester report “Open Data Changes The Business Of Government”

25. . . . and multiple delivery channels
In Helsinki, a public information campaign placed eight different infographic posters throughout the city on bus shelters or other public locations.
Image source: Informaatiomuotoilu ( and Open Helsinki (
Source: Upcoming Forrester report “Open Data Changes The Business Of Government”

26. Promote the use of the data and apps
“Unconferences” and hackathons like CityCamp engage civic developers.
Source: CityCamp (

27. Launch a formal application challenge
Application development challenges have proliferated worldwide, increasing tech awareness in cities and producing innovative new services for cities. a
Source: April 6, 2012, “Governments Embrace New Modes Of Constituent Engagement” Forrester report

28. Collaborate through data federation and linked data
The linked open data cloud illustrates mashups of data across organizations.
Source: Linking Open Data cloud diagram, by Richard Cyganiak and Anja Jentzsch (

29. Measure the success of open data initiatives — not just downloads and data sets
Measure cost avoidance, operational efficiency and cost savings, revenue generation, economic development and innovation, and customer satisfaction.

30. In review . . .
Open data has transformed government into a platform for all.
Remember that open data is not just about data sets and technology.
Think about all audiences and purposes, not just developers and new apps.
Start with visualizations as well as the APIs to the data sets. Don’t forget transparency.
Link data to maps, census data, and other data to add value. Increase potential innovation.
Evangelize and engage, engage, engage . . .
Don’t forget to measure success.

31. Getting started . . .
Build a foundation by consolidating back-office applications and integrating shared services.
Start simple, but make the data portal compelling.
Build the right team — including executive sponsorship.
Ensure sustainability by establishing a strong stakeholder community. Promote open data.
Link open data to broader business intelligence goals.
Think strategically about data: use it as an asset.

32. Jennifer Belissent, Ph.D.