| permalink | /index/ |
|---|---|
| layout | hero |
| filename | index.md |
| title | Project Open Data |
| description | Description |
| published | false |
The federal government needs to manage its data as the asset it really is; an open asset for every American just like roads or natural resources. The intent is that this policy is a broad government wide approach to ensure federal information is collected, managed, processed and published in such a way as to reduce barrier to access by itself, other agencies and the public. Open means there is no barrier to consumption of an information asset.
From financial statistics to agriculture production and from human health to air quality, the Federal Government collects and produces large amount of data. In today’s digital society, government data has become an essential part of daily life – everyday Americans obtain weather information before they leave home and rely on data from the Global Positioning System (GPS) when they get on the road. Just as more and more private companies consider data as a corporate asset, the Federal Government must view government data as a national asset. Towards this end, the Federal Government launched Data.gov in 2009 to publish agency data sets, and today more than 2,500 data sets are available for download.
Despite this progress, vast amounts of government data are still locked in internal data stores. When data is released, it is often published in closed formats that limit data discoverability and accessibility. More critically, open data practices have not been institutionalized in many Federal agencies even as the stores of government data continue to grow. Too often, agencies build systems that are not architected to maximize interoperability and support open data needs. To further unleash the power of government data, it is imperative to establish a government-wide open data policy that institutionalizes and operationalizes open data practices. In doing so, the Federal Government can achieve several important objectives including spurring the economy, increasing transparency, improving service to customers, and saving taxpayer dollars through increased efficiencies.
This Appendix was purposefully developed as GitHub pages so that real collaboration and input could help us make our open data policy better. Please suggest enhancements by editing the content here. We fully intend to make this a living collaboration for continued open data.
This section is a list of definitions and principles used to guide the project.
2-1 Open Data Principles - The set of open data principles.
2-2 Open Standards - The definition for open standards. NEEDS Content
2-3 Open Data Glossary - The glossary of open data terms.
2-4 Open Licenses - The definition for open licenses. NEEDS Content
2-5 Common Core Metadata - The schema used to describe datasets and APIs, and published data at agency.gov/data. NEEDS Content
Implementation guidance for open data practices.
3-1 U.S. Government Policy on Open Data - NEED LINK & sentence
3-3 Roadmap - NEED Content & sentence
3-4 Use Cases - NEED content & sentence
3-5 Public Data Listing - The specific guidance for publishing the Open Data Catalog at the agency.gov/data page. NEED content
3-6 Frequently Asked Questions - NEED sentence
This section is a list of ready-to-use solutions or tools that will help agencies jump start their open efforts. These are real, implementable coded solutions that were developed to significantly reduce the barrier to implementing open data at your agency. Many of these tools are hosted at Labs.Data.gov and developers are encouraged to contribute improvements to them.
4-1 Database to API - Dynamically generate RESTful APIs from the contents of a database table. Provides JSON, XML, and HTML. Supports most popular databases. Hosted
4-2 CSV to API - Dynamically generate RESTful APIs from static CSVs. Provides JSON, XML, and HTML. Hosted
4-3 Spatial Search - A RESTful API that allows the user to query geographic entities by latitude and longitude, and extract data.
4-4 Kickstart - A WordPress plugin to help agencies kickstart their open data efforts by allowing citizens to browse existing datasets and vote for suggested priorities.
4-5 PDF Filler - PDF Filler is a RESTful service (API) to aid in the completion of existing PDF-based forms and empower web developers to use browser-based forms and modern web standards to facilitate the collection of information. Hosted
4-6 Catalog Generator - Multi-format tool to generate and maintain agency.gov/data catalog files. Hosted
4-7 JSON Validator - Validation tool to confirm the formatting of agency.gov/data catalog files. Hosted
4-8 API Sandbox - Need link and sentence.
This section contains programatic tools, resources and/or checklists to help programs determine open data requirements.
5-1 Metadata Resources - NEED content and sentence
5-2 Business Case for Open Data - NEED Content & sentence
5-3 Future Department Case Study - NEED sentence and name
5-4 Open License Examples - NEED Content and sentence
5-5 Chief Data Officer Material - Sample language for a Chief Data Officer position description.
5-6 API Basics - Introductory resources for understanding Application Programming Interfaces (APIs).
5-7 Data Release Safeguard Checklist - Checklist for improving privacy and security prior to data release. - Need link
5-8 Digital PII Checklist - NEED Sentence and link
Case studies of novel or best practices from agencies who are leading in open data help others understand the challenges and opportunities for success.
6-1 Department of Labor API Program - A department perspective on developing APIs for general use and in particular building the case for an ecosystem of users by developing SDKs.
6-2 Department of Transportation Enterprise Data Inventory - A review of DOT's strategy and policy when creating a robust data inventory program.
6-3 Disaster Assistance Program Coordination - The coordinated campaign led by FEMA has integrated a successful data exchange among 16 agencies to coordinate an important public service.
6-4 Environmental Protection Agency Central Data Exchange - The agency's data exchange provides a model for programs that seek to coordinate the flow of data among industry, state, local, and tribal entities.
6-5 FederalRegister.gov API - A core government program update that has grown into an important public service.
6-6 National Broadband Map - The National Broadband Map, a case study on open innovation for national policy. Produced by the Wilson Center.
6-7 National Renewable Energy Laboratory API program - An agency perspective on developing APIs for general use and in particular building the case for the internal re-use of the resources.
For Developers: View all appendices (and source)