City of Ottawa is going Open Access

Great news for Ottawa Open Access fans! Thanks to an update from my Councillor's office, I was directed to a report tabled with the Information Technology Sub-Committee for the City of Ottawa, concerning the City's plans to open up their data. An excerpt:

While the City does not yet have a formal policy on Open Data, it has been taking steps to align with the global trend.

In December 2009, Corporate Communications and Information Technology Services partnered to conduct a consultation with members of the public who have experience with the Open Data movement at other levels of government, as well as parties with an interest in the topic.  This session validated the direction the City wishes to take and was a first step to engaging the public in the definition of a way forward for Open Data in Ottawa.

Consultations are also planned with a view to raising awareness of Open Data within the organisation, introducing the notion of information governance, and identifying potential data sets for posting on the City’s Open Data website.

Communications and ITS have been working together to develop a beta release of a City of Ottawa Open Data website in 2010.  The site will serve as a tangible first step in the creation of infrastructure to enable the release of further data to the citizenry.

Finally, the review of the City’s Data Dissemination Policy is currently underway.  A report will be tabled at CSEDC on April 06, 2010 and subsequently Council on April 14, 2010 that will recommend changes that enable Open Data.

This process was begun by City Council in August 2008, in a directive to review the City's Data Dissemination Policy. While they will win no awards for speed (even among municipal governments), at least the direction seems positive. I will be anxiously looking forward to the report to the Corporate Services and Economic Development Committee (CSEDC) on 6 April.


More to come!