1. 1 NNIP and Open Data NNIP Semi-Annual Partners Meeting May 12, 2011 Kathy Pettit

2. 2 Selected Open Data Milestones 4/2006: Creation of the Sunlight Foundation 12/2007: Principles of Open Government Data 12/2009: White House Open Govt. Directive 1/2010: CityCamp – Chicago UI/NNIP partners (Chicago, Milwaukee, New Orleans) 3/2010: Launch of data.gov 10/2010: Foo Camp 2010/2011: Various local open data meetings

3. 3 Foo Camp

4. 4 Goals of Open Data Transparency and Government Oversight Added Value (societal and private) Citizen Participation

5. 5 Characteristics of Open Data Complete Primary Timely Accessible Machine-processable Non-discriminatory Non-proprietary License-free Plus 8 more...

6. 6 Impressions: Differences from NNIP Primary data: Votes, government spending, meetings Public services, crime Dissemination through high-tech means little mention of digital divide, equal access Individual citizens access information directly Less focus on cleaning, interpretation of data

7. 7 Why Is This a Topic for Local Partners and the Partnership? Open data movement can either advance or hinder NNIP goals Being informed will help individual NNIP partners strategize about response Common understanding will help national messaging NNIP has alot to offer the Open Data community Should this be a focus of the partnership? Position papers, conferences, etc.

8. 8 Open Data Can Advance NNIP Goals Improve Data Access Expand data sets and data formats Broaden types of data NNIP partners generally don’t focus on like budgets and city expenditures Develop more comparable data in the long-term (standard data schemas) Highlight need for NNIP partners’ analytic, story- telling, and outreach skills Encourage tech folks to develop tools based on NNIP partner data

9. 9 Open Data Can Hinder NNIP Goals... Eliminate partners competitive advantage of being the only holder of raw data Exacerbate information and power divide through focus on high-tech delivery Create need for damage control when misleading data is published and acted upon

10. 10 NNIP has a lot to contribute Experience in getting governments to share data Help to prioritize data needed for action Knowledge about how to assess and clean data Capability to transform confidential data (health, schools, etc.) and create indicators (rates) Values about access to data for residents and organizations in low-income communities

11. 11 Options... Move towards more open data... More data is democratized.... But, opening up data broadly takes time and resources – may reduce time for other work, such as working with low-income neighborhoods (who are less likely to need raw data) Opportunities for interest from new types of funders But, if partners make all indicators easy to download, NNIP partners end up bearing all cost for access and processing, while competitors get data for free.

12. 12 Options... Move towards more open data (cont.) NNIP develop shared system to distribute data, partners without online systems could still be “open” Do nothing, keep going as is... Danger that NNIP partner organizations are viewed as (or act as) another “gatekeeper” hoarding data Nothing happens... this is just a fad.

13. 13 Discussion Questions Are these trends already affecting the position or strategies of local NNIP partners? Is this conversation limited to tech/good government circles, or spread to funders and community groups? Did I miss any benefits/hazards for NNIP? How explicitly should the partnership as a whole align with open data advocates? What lessons and values does NNIP want to share with the open data community?