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1. Executive Summary 2. Open Data Overview

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1. Executive Summary 2. Open Data Overview 1. Executive Summary Open data is structured, machine-readable data that is freely shared, used and built on without restrictions or cost. Advocates and organizations such as the Global Open Data Initiative say that data owned by governments should be publicly accessible, since public money was used to fund the work. The open data movement is gaining momentum worldwide and open data has been adopted in over 50 Canadian municipalities. In mid-2015, an Open Data Portal will be made available online where anyone can download the City of Greater Sudbury’s available open data for free. Staff will continue to proactively publish datasets on the portal after the launch and the public may also make suggestions about datasets that could be released as open data. This program will be implemented on an ongoing basis and within existing resources. 2. Open Data Overview Open data is provided in machine-readable format and with a licence that has few restrictions, so that the data can easily be re-used. Datasets released as open data are provided as collected, unless privacy, contractual, security, privilege or other limitations restrict the release of all or parts of the data in the dataset. An example of municipal government open data is a Microsoft Excel file listing bus stop locations. Open Data in Other Canadian Municipalities In 2009, the City of Nanaimo was the first municipality to implement open data in Canada. Since then, over 50 Canadian municipalities and regions have released their own open data catalogues, 18 of which are in Ontario. Phone interviews have been conducted with 12 Canadian municipalities with open data programs to gather information, identify open data trends and get feedback on any lessons learned. Over the past few years, developers have used the open data of municipalities to develop free web or mobile applications such as transit apps, defibrillator finders, nearby building permit notifications, bicycle parking finders, inspection history for food premises, beach water quality monitors, park locators, road construction maps, child care centre finders, election poll location maps and city facility locators. Public Sector Open Data Working Group The staff lead of the City’s Open Data Project is a member of the Public Sector Open Data Working Group (PSOD). This group is lead by a Policy Analyst from the Government of Ontario and contains members from various Ontario municipalities with open data. PSOD meets monthly through webinars or teleconferences in order to share updates on municipal open data efforts. This helps ensure that all Ontario municipalities are aligned in their open data goals and aware of new trends. The group also has a private portal on Yammer to share tools and have further discussion on various open data topics. The Benefits of Open Data Citizens, organizations and businesses want municipalities to have open data because they can benefit from the information and add value to it. Open data can: improve transparency and accountability; build trust between the City and the public; promote citizen engagement and allow the public to provide more informed input to the City; Open Data Report Page 1 of 10 improve effectiveness and efficiency of the City; improve communication and data sharing with other municipalities; provide equitable access; enhance the value of data by allowing people to add value to it; and contribute to innovation and economic growth. Open data transforms governments from service providers to organizations that encourage and inspire growth. Tony Clement, president of the Treasury Board of Canada, believes that “open data is one of the most valuable natural resources of the 21st century.” Privacy, Security and Legal Implications Dataset releases must follow the requirements of the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. M.56 [MFIPPA], Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004, S.O. 2004, c. 3, Sched. A, and all other applicable legislation. Datasets containing personally identifiable information or subject to any privacy, security, legal or other restrictions will not be released as open data. The City may also have contractual or other obligations, all of which may limit the data which can be published on the Open Data Portal. When a dataset cannot be released as-is due to any restrictions, staff will evaluate whether a modified version of the dataset can be released that would comply with such requirements. Open by Default “Open Data by Default” is the first principle of the G8 Open Data Charter, which was adopted by Canada in 2013. Open by default means that data approvals should start from a position of data openness and that data should be released unless privacy, security, legal or other restrictions exist. Instead of asking the question “why should we release this data?”, staff should instead ask “are there any reasons why we can’t release this data?”. Greater Sudbury is part of a select group of municipalities to have committed to adopting the ambitious “open by default” standard. 3. The City of Greater Sudbury’s Open Data Program Open Data Team An internal Open Data Team is being established with staff members from the Information Technology department, City Clerk’s Office, the CAO’s Office and other applicable departments. This team will review dataset suggestions, provide general open data support to departments and facilitate data release. Open Data Policy An Open Data Policy has been developed and is attached as Schedule A to this report. The Policy was prepared with input from staff in the City Clerk’s Office, Legal Services and Open Data Coordinators from other Canadian municipalities. Staff are recommending that Council adopt the Open Data Policy. Open Data Licence An Open Data Licence has been attached in Schedule B. Staff are recommending that Council adopt a municipal adaptation of the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario’s Open Government Licence, which was developed with extensive consultation from governments, open data experts and the Open Data Report Page 2 of 10 general public. This licence is used by several municipalities and provinces. It is already familiar to frequent open data users and ensures that data can be more easily amalgamated from various sources. After consultation with Legal Services, only one significant change was made to the standard licence, which is the inclusion of a statement to protect information under the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act, R.S.O. 1990, c. M.56 and the Personal Health Information Protection Act, 2004. Several other municipalities have also made a similar addition to the standard licence and the modification is highlighted in the preamble to the licencing agreement. Open Data Publishing Process/Roles and Responsibilities of Staff A flow chart demonstrating the Open Data Publishing Process is provided in Schedule C. The staff member who currently maintains the dataset (the “Data Custodian”) will complete a form describing the dataset being considered for public release. The Manager of the department that owns the dataset will review the form and determine whether the dataset can be released as open data. The Roles and Responsibilities of City staff for the purposes of the Open Data Program are provided in Schedule D. 4. Recent Developments and Portal Launch Open Data Event The City of Greater Sudbury has already embarked on the process of making data open to the public. In September 2014, the City hosted a public event at Tom Davies Square to inform citizens of open data and to gather feedback on what they would like to see in the City’s Open Data Program. The event was attended by software developers, researchers, professors, students and City staff. The staff lead on the open data project has been invited to speak at a number of similar open data events. Open Data Pilot On International Open Data Day (February 21st 2015), the City formally started an Open Data Pilot by launching a webpage at www.greatersudbury.ca/opendata, which has now had more than 500 pageviews. The page explains what open data is, has an Open Data Feedback Form and provides links to download Transit data in several formats. Transit data was selected for the Pilot based on recommendations by other municipalities and also because there was a demand for it, as evidenced by several Greater Sudbury Transit apps that have been developed by external developers. In addition, the bus stop data was easy for the general public to understand and provided a good example of open data, since it was available in three of the most popular open data formats. The Transit data is provided in CSV format (for Microsoft Excel), SHP format (for mapping/GIS applications) and API format (a tool created by the City’s IT staff that allows external developers to access real-time bus arrival times for use in web/mobile apps). Staff have been in contact with several developers who are currently using the Transit API. The Open Data Pilot was a worthwhile learning opportunity for all involved and helped to raise awareness of open data in the community. Staff experienced that there is good value in releasing open data because reviewing data prior to release can make it not only more useful to open data users, but also to the corporation. Open Data Portal Launch Once the Open Data Policy is approved by Council, the Open Data Team will begin educating staff about the City’s Open Data Program. The team will work with supervisors to identify potential datasets for public Open Data Report Page 3 of 10 release and staff will begin preparing the approved datasets for release on the Open Data Portal. Staff will also review comments submitted by the public through the Open Data Feedback Form.
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