open data – Page 19 – National Freedom of Information Coalition

Sixteen ways (UK) councils can better use data

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Councils are not doing anything with valuable data that offers insight into the needs of communities, according to the local government thinktank Localis. In their report, based on interviews with council leaders in the UK, they said that local authorities could use data to find out what residents want in a similar way private companies such as Amazon do.

Council leaders said that, particularly around the integration of health and social care, partners were unwilling to share data and that a lack of knowledge about data protection laws was holding things back.

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White House Recruits Tech Entrepreneurs

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Uncle Sam wants a few good innovators — again. The White House has launched the third round of its Presidential Innovation Fellows (PIF) program, which pairs tech-savvy entrepreneurs from the private sector with top government officials to tackle selected challenges facing the administration.

The program's "lean startup" approach has delivered a variety of tools, including ones that help the public save on utility bills and improve access to government health information, and it has brought acclaim to participants.

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In UK, Open Data is putting fear into local government

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In recent years, the central government in the UK has been involved in pushing an open data agenda, not only on its home turf, but also globally through the Open Government Partnership of which it was one of the eight founding members. The idea is to create governments that are more open, accessible and accountable by giving the public access to a vast array of datasets that are downloadable and reusable.

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Coders Interpret Burlington’s Open Data

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The city of Burlington took a huge step toward more open government last week when officials released a wide variety of data on the city’s website.

Now, coders are interpreting that data and trying to create useful tools for the public.

This weekend about 30 people gathered at Fletcher Free Library in Burlington for Code Across BTV. It was one of 45 other CodeAcross events taking place around the world.

The idea was to take data that might not be all that interesting or accessible, and make it easier to understand and use.

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Tulsa computer experts create new civic innovations, apps using city’s open government data

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Computer experts in Tulsa are joining together for a weekend of civic innovation.

It's part of an international weekend of locally held events to use open government data and put it to good use. In May 2013, The Tulsa city council and mayor of Tulsa adopted the open and accessible data resolution, which provided more online non-risk data for third parties.

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Open Data, Open Government: Why & How

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Last time we checked in with Garrett Dunwoody, San Mateo County’s Open Data Manager, we talked about cybersecurity as it relates to open data for Cybersecurity Month. We also went over the definitions of open data and open government. Since then he has moved from the county’s Information Services Department and now works out of the County Managers Office on budget, performance, policy, and Open government initiatives. Today, we continue our conversation, but this time focusing on the why of open data and its relationship with open government.

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The drive to open data provides opportunities for tech community

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The open source movement can trace its beginnings to a famous strategy session held in Palo Alto, CA in February 1998, where the term "open source" was coined. That meeting led to the Open Source Definition, to advocacy for the use of open source software, and, fairly quickly, to worldwide recognition of open source principles.

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Esri To Enable Thousands Of Government Agencies To Open GIS Data To The Public

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A debate in the technology world that's been simmering for years, about whether mapping vendor Esri will allow public geographic information systems (GIS) to access government customers' data, finally has an answer: The mapping software giant will take an unprecedented step, enabling thousands of government customers around the U.S. to make their data on the ArcGIS platform open to the public with a click of a mouse.

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Chicago lays out next steps in Open Data Plan

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City of Chicago officials released a report Friday laying out a next set of goals for routine publication of data from city agencies.

The first annual City of Chicago Open Data Report resulted from a December 2012 executive order of Mayor Rahm Emanuel that required city agencies to publish data and metadata to a public portal. The information includes civic employee salaries, lobbyist data, budget data and more.

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Open data gurus share best practices

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In honor of Data Innovation Day the city of Philadelphia released a guidebook to provide advice and information to city departments and agencies on releasing open data. The city’s Open Data Guidebook offers suggestions on reviewing data for completeness and accuracy, adding metadata components and terms of use as well as staging the data and using application programming interfaces.

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