What Omaha Can Learn From NYC’s Open Data Program
2018 is no different… New York City continues to lead the pack in civic innovation. The city has released their fourth annual open data report which it calls Open Data For All.
The report this year included over 2000 data sets including 629 data sets which are making their debut in 2018. The data sets are collected with help from 38 city agencies whose participation in the data program is mandatory.
The data collected helps NYC make data driven/informed decisions about how to prioritize civic deployment of scarce resources: time, space, money, energy, etc.
The program, which is considered to be the gold standard in civic data, dates back to 2012 when Mayor De Blasio’s administration made an open data policy the law of the land in NYC.
Insights garnered from the open data project are far reaching but touted data sets can answer questions such as:
- Where can I find public wifi in my neighborhood?
- What type of tree is that in front of my office?
- What are all of the registered businesses on this block?
- Where are all the construction projects in the city happening on a map?
- What are the demographic statistics of my home zip code?
- What were the SAT results by school for college bound seniors in NYC last year?
- How many parking citations were issued last year and where?
The list goes on and on. The Open Data program, still in its infancy in NYC, is gaining momentum and becoming more robust year over year. Perhaps most promising is that multiple data sets that are seemingly unrelated can be brought together to make meaning through data where none existed before!
Each year since 2012 NYC has expanded its open data program. Earlier in 2018, NYC launched its inaugural Open Data Week which was a weeklong series of 30 events held throughout the city bringing awareness and attention to the city’s open data program which is increasing becoming the envy of the world.
Also in 2018, the city hosted a competition where citizens created proposals for projects based on one or more of the city’s 2,000+ open data sets.
First place finishers were announced in four categories:
Data Science Award
For the most compelling data analysis using at least one dataset from NYC Open Data
WINNER: Plan(t)wise: planning a green canopy over the Big Apple
Submitted by Niki Athanasiadou.
This project shows which trees can grow the best in NYC based on growth history and survival.
Most Creative Award
For the most compelling visual analysis using at least one dataset from NYC Open Data
WINNER: An Interactive Visualization of Street Trees
Submitted by Allen Yee of cloudred.
This creative project shows the variety and quantity of street trees in all five boroughs. Ever wonder what the most/least common tree in NYC is? Well this project is the place to look!
Mayor’s Civic Award
For the project that best facilitates engaging in civil society and uses at least one dataset from NYC Open Data
WINNER: myPB.community
Submitted by Bitsy Bentley & Hadassah Damien of Participatory Budgeting Project’s Participation Lab
The Open Data award goes to myPB.community. The project uses a democratic process to help community members decide how to spend public money.
Open Data Award
For the project that had the highest overall rating and uses at least two datasets from NYC Open Data
WINNER: myPB.community
Submitted by Bitsy Bentley & Hadassah Damien of Participatory Budgeting Project’s Participation Lab:
The Open Data award goes to myPB.community. The project uses a democratic process to help community members decide how to spend public money. The PBNYC completed its 7th cycle of voting in about 60% of the Districts across the city, spending about $30 million tax dollars in the process!
Takeaways for Omaha
I think I speak for the entire city when I say “Omaha is jealous.”
Clearly, NYC has done a tremendous job but given how resourced of a city they are it is somewhat expected that they’d be taking the lead on open data. Omaha, on the otherhand, has far fewer resources and lacks sufficient advocates to implement such an open data regime.
However, Omaha is making improvements that shouldn’t go unmentioned.
The best thing the city currently has going for it as far as open data goes is probably a report of all complaints that have been reported through the Mayor’s Hotline. You can check out the full 2017 report here to see all 28,043 complaints fielded by the Mayor’s Hotline.
The city is creating a new app for reporting things like potholes, graffiti, areas that need snow removal, etc. The app was demo’d for the Mayor’s Millennial Advisory Committee. Having been in the room during the demo, I can say that the app is a leap forward for the city. Even better news is that it appears that Omaha’s suburbs will likely be using the new app as well which will centralize data reporting and keep associated costs low across the metro.
The app will automate service orders to public works to fix potholes and remove graffiti which should drastrically expedite city services.
There’s still a huge opportunity to link together other useful Omaha data sets and keep them all in one common, easily accessible place. Because of how few cities are making serious open data plays, this could be an area where Omaha can excel and become a leader.
Actions Omaha Can Take:
- Create an open data advisory council: With an executive order, Mayor Stothert could create a data advisory council that could do much of the legwork, free of charge, that would be needed to get an open data policy created in Omaha. One of the major tasks of the council could be to create a culture around open data/data driven decision making in Omaha.
- Emulate Tulsa’s Urban Data Pioneers Program: Tulsa’s current mayor was elected in 2016 and took office with promises of implementing an open data program. Unfortunately, funds weren’t quite there so city employees and data geeks from around the city banded together to create Tulsa’s Urbran Data Pioneers Program which has taken up counting the city’s potholes and abandoned buildings; timing the city’s traffic lights; and measuring the population’s stability and growth. Omaha might not be able to match NYC’s program but it can most certainly create its own version of Tulsa’s data brigade.
- Create an open data policy: Omaha can use NYC’s data policy as a jumping off point and modify the policy to fit our city’s capabilities, desires, and needs.
- Create an open data plan: Determine how data will be collected. What data will be collected? How frequently will data be updated? Where and how will data be stored to maximize access? What new vendors will the city need to contract with to meet its data demands?
- Automate as much of the data collection as possible: NYC was able to automate the collection of 38 new data sets in 2018. Automation of data not only makes it cheaper to make data driven decisions but it also makes data more current and increases the accuracy of resulting decisions made from it.
- Create civic hackathon events utilizing Omaha’s open data sets: The logical next step after an open data plan has been successfully implemented would be to create opportunities to build off of the insights gathered through the data program. The hackathon is a popular and effective format for engaging hundreds and reaping the benefits of collaboration in a short period of time.
