BIRMINGHAM CITY COUNCIL STRATEGY FOR OPEN DATA

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1 What we are trying t achieve BIRMINGHAM CITY COUNCIL STRATEGY FOR OPEN DATA This strategy sets ut hw Birmingham City Cuncil will prvide regular cmprehensive releases f public pen data and hw it will use pen data t supprt transparency, ecnmic grwth and cmmunity / citizen invlvement. The strategy is intended t prvide the mst effective way f delivering the requirements f the City Cuncil s Open Data Plicy. The Cuncil regards the intrductin f a cmprehensive set f services fr the publicatin f pen and linked data as a keystne f several f its initiatives t transfrm the nature f public services. These include the plicy gals f making Birmingham a Smart City and increasing lcal participatin in and cntrl f lcal services. The pen data strategy supprts fur key bjectives: 1. Engagement: Increasing citizen engagement in service develpment, decisin making and demcratic debate requires citizens t understand the cntext in which the Cuncil perates. Giving citizens and cmmunities access t sme f the Cuncil s peratinal data and in particular lcalised data can cntribute t encuraging infrmed respnses and invlvement. 2. Transparency: Enabling the public t understand, scrutinise and questin the services delivered and decisins made in the Cuncil requires infrmatin. The mre public pen data we can prvide, the mre input we can encurage, which culd help us nt nly be accuntable t citizens but als imprve ur services. The Leader s Statement has made becming an Open City ne f Birmingham s pririties. 3. Ecnmic Develpment: Releasing public pen data is cnsidered t be a trigger fr ecnmic and cmmunity activity. Cities arund the wrld have already fund that releasing widespread public pen data is enabling lcal businesses and develpers t create new applicatins. These can be f value t the cmmunity e.g. live rad gritting maps in the winter. These are ften prvided free f charge but they may be cmmercially viable - e.g. prperty / planning data used t create applicatins fr estate agents. Birmingham has a particularly active and grwing digital creative and ICT sectr that we aim t supprt. 4. Service imprvement and efficiency: Prviding pen data will supprt and accelerate the Cuncil s internal data sharing. Creating a cmprehensive pen data prtal that makes the data searchable and easily accessible in ne place shuld als increase staff prductivity and reduce the need fr meeting time-cnsuming Freedm f Infrmatin requests. Public feedback n pen data can help t imprve data quality and accuracy. Applicatins created by thers can give us ideas fr new r better services, culd be mre cst Page 1 f 5

2 Hw we will d it effective than cuncil nes r fill gaps in areas where the Cuncil des nt prvide a service. Several parallel activities will be needed t deliver the bjectives: Prvide plicy infrmatin and advice The plicy statement will be turned int a set f mre detailed prcedures cvering the applicatin f the crprate plicy in specific cntexts such as different types f data and different uses. This will guide Cuncil service areas in meeting the bjectives f the plicy. Identify and agree datasets fr publicatin Experience frm previus engagement f Birmingham s pen data cmmunity shws that data will attract interest if it: prvides transparency n Cuncil decisins (e.g. budgets) can be used t create revenue is real-time data that can be used t make decisins (e.g. traffic flw) helps citizens with infrmed chices (e.g. applicatins fr schl places per neighburhd) is updated regularly and released ver a lng perid f time We will engage further with Birmingham s digital innvatrs, develpers, data analysts, universities and the wider cmmunity t identify particular areas f interest. We will als engage with service areas t identify data that is requested regularly by the public r which is f interest t ther services. See Appendix 2 fr wrk carried ut by the Open Data Prject Bard in identifying ptential datasets. Create an Open Data platfrm Meeting the plicy bjectives requires the Cuncil t prvide mre than just a page n the Cuncil s web site with data sets attached. The technical platfrm which will be delivered will be capable f prviding the fllwing: making the data reusable There will be a range f standard sftware fr extracting data frm City Cuncil peratinal systems and turning the raw data int the technical frmats needed t make the data fully reusable making the data available A majr bjective f the strategy is the prvisin f a public lcatin fr the sharing f the data sets that are published, tgether with the supprting descriptive infrmatin (the scpe and currency f the data), explanatry material and basic sftware fr handling it. A specific prject t determine the particular technical platfrm t be used is already in prgress. It will be web-based, include scial media and while it is likely t be separate frm the City Cuncil s web site, it will be linked t it Page 2 f 5

3 . help with managing the data Data will be published in raw frmat and, in rder t encurage reuse f the data, a basic set f data manipulatin and analysis tls will be prvided t assist thse users wh want t develp skills in using the data. See Appendix 1 fr draft implementatin plan. Prcesses fr extracting data The technical platfrm being prvided will be supprted by a set f prcedures fr identifying, requesting and putting int prductin the agreed prcess fr extracting raw data frm peratinal systems r ther lcatins. Standards Adhering t technical and infrmatin standards is critical t ensuring the effective use f pen data. Cmpliance with frmally apprved r de fact standards is a key success factr fr delivering an pen/linked data service. The principal surces f standards are: Natinal/industry-wide: Cmpliance is needed with the relevant technical standards fr data frmats and key elements f the infrmatin framewrks. Descriptins f the data (metadata) will cnfrm t the relevant accepted standards such as the Integrated Public Sectr Vcabulary (IPSV) and INSPIRE (fr gegraphic data). Lcal/specific: The natinal r ther agreed standards will be supplemented as required by lcally determined standards at least until mre widely agreed standards are develped. These include extending IPSV and INSPIRE with lcal place names. Addressing issues f data wnership The Cuncil plans t cmmissin mre services in the future. We need t ensure that peratinal data and data cllected r created by these services are fully accessible by the Cuncil if we are t cntinue t meet the bjectives f the pen data plicy. This wrk will invlve Crprate Prcurement Services and Legal Services in ensuring that cmmissining wrk and cntracts fully reflect the need t retain access t data. Managing the wrk The initial implementatin will be verseen by the Open Data Prject Bard. One f the deliverables f the strategy will, hwever, be prpsals fr the cntinuing crss-service management f the basic publicatin service. Prjects Each f the cmpnents f this stage will be cvered by a frmal prject in rder t ensure its effective delivery. Initial prjects include: the prvisin f a publicatin platfrm; the Page 3 f 5

4 identificatin (and, if necessary develpment) f standards and their implementatin in the technlgy and prcesses; the develpment f the necessary supprting prcedures and the creatin and supprt f stakehlders and develper cmmunity grups. What we need t d the wrk The fllwing resurces will be required t achieve the gals set ut in the Open Data Plicy: Funding Funding fr the initiatives will be sught frm the fllwing surces: the Cuncil s wn financial resurces, tied t the delivery f plicy gals and internal perating efficiencies; external grant funding The pssibility f jint ventures with ther bdies will als be investigated. Peple/skills The existing skills and experience available t the City Cuncil and Service Birmingham will be enhanced by the engagement f peple r rganisatins with cmplementary skills such as lcal academic institutins and the natinal standards bdies. Technlgy Wherever pssible, existing technlgy available t the City Cuncil will be used t deliver the new services. Where these are inadequate r need t be supplemented by additinal r different technlgies, pen technlgies will be preferred ver prprietary nes. Partnerships Partnership wrking is a key element f the prgramme. Partnerships will be frmed with ther interested bdies and higher educatin. One f the mst imprtant elements f the verall apprach will be t build a cllabrative develper cmmunity linked t the pen/linked data platfrm. Implementatin and Review The prgramme and its cmpnent prjects will fllw the City Cuncil s standard practice fr managing prjects. Page 4 f 5

5 Appendix 1 Draft Prject Plan ODPlan_v01.xls Appendix 2 Open Data Respnses This sheet cntains details f the 37 data sets that were cntacted data hlders within BCC. It als cntains infrmatin abut the availability f the data, the data hlders respnse and recmmendatins based n the data hlders respnse. Open Data Respnses.xls Open Data Details This sheet cntains details fr all 62 data sets supplied by the Open Data Bard. The sheet includes the fields that where identified, the data wner that was cntacted r (where applicable) further details. Open Data Details.xls Page 5 f 5