Open Data

What, why, and how

What

Structured data that is machine-readable and freely shared, used, and built on without restrictions.

Examples?

Budget, public health, science and research, citizen requests, regulation and permits, location, demographic, public safety

Why?

Transparency & Accountability

Builds public trust, good for a healthy democracy.

Engaging the Public

Necessary for a functioning democracy.

Many minds principle

"The best thing to do with your data will be thought of by someone else"

Credit to Eric Raymond & Rufus Pollock

How?

Getting Data

Local:   opendata.wichita.gov

State:   kanview.ks.gov

Nat'l:    data.gov

openwichita.org/data

Types of Data

Download

Getting a single file representing a dataset at a given point in time.

 

Great for archiving purposes, and easiest to achieve.

API

A web URL that can be requested any time to receive the current state of a dataset.

 

Often "programmable" to filter and transform data as you request it.

Formats

CSV, JSON, XLS

Working with Data

Learn Free Tools

Free software is everywhere!

Tableau Public

https://public.tableau.com

Plotly

https://plot.ly/create

High Charts

https://highcharts.com

Learn to Code

Just the basics can take you far!

Code Academy

https://codeacademy.com

devICT

https://devict.org

Local coding community

Steal Ideas

Build on the successes / failures of others.

Open Data Handbook

http://opendatahandbook.org/

 

Information and case studies.

Learn to Collaborate

Open Data is a community effort.

GitHub!

https://github.com/openwichita

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