Mayor Rogero Announces New Open Data Policy and Data Portal

Communications Director

Kristin Farley
[email protected]
(865) 215-2589

400 Main St., Room 691
Knoxville, TN 37902

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Mayor Rogero Announces New Open Data Policy and Data Portal

Posted: 07/17/2017
The data is coming!

Mayor Madeline Rogero announced today that the City of Knoxville has adopted an Open Data Policy to govern the release and public accessibility of City data. The policy commits City departments to sharing data and statistics about their operations and programs. The information will be compiled on the City’s Open Data page at www.knoxvilletn.gov/opendata.

Knoxville’s Open Data Policy is one result of the City’s participation in the What Works Cities initiative, created by Bloomberg Philanthropies to help city governments make better use of data to inform their decision-making and provide public transparency.

“From Police and Fire to potholes and parks, our departments generate and use a huge amount of data every day,” Mayor Rogero said. “We have always been committed to openness and transparency in our operations. The Open Data Policy will encourage all of our departments to think creatively about how we can provide even more data and information to the public, and how we can use it in measuring our own performance.”

The policy, also available on the Open Data page, commits the City to develop and implement practices that will allow it to:

• Proactively release all publishable City data, making it freely available in 
open formats, with no restrictions on use or reuse, and fully accessible to
the broadest range of users to use for varying purposes;
• Publish high-quality, updated data with documentation (metadata) and
permanence to encourage maximum use;
• When feasible, provide or support access to free, historical archives of all
released City data;
• Measure the effectiveness of datasets made available through the Open
Data Program by connecting open data efforts to the City’s programmatic
priorities;
• Minimize limitations on the disclosure of public information while
appropriately safeguarding protected and sensitive information; and
• Encourage and support innovative uses of the City’s publishable data by
agencies, the public, and other partners.

As a starting point, the Open Data page has links to many existing sets of data and information. That collection will be added to over time as departments identify data and formats that will be useful and interesting to the public.    

About What Works Cities:
What Work Cities, launched in April 2015, is the largest-ever philanthropic effort to enhance cities’ use of data and evidence. The initiative is providing technical assistance to 100 cities on a rolling basis through 2018. Cities around the country are receiving support, guidance and resources to succeed through a consortium of leading organizations assembled by Bloomberg Philanthropies: the Behavioral Insights Team, the Center for Government Excellence at Johns Hopkins University, the Government Performance Lab at the Harvard Kennedy School, Results for America and the Sunlight Foundation.

In 2016, What Works Cities was named by Forbes as “one of the 10 most promising philanthropic bets” of the year and by Engaging Local Government Leaders as the “most important company operating in the local government arena.” In March 2017, the initiative launched What Works Cities Certification, the first-ever national standard for data-driven governance. The report “What Works Cities: How Local Governments Are Changing Lives,” released in June 2017, summarizes cities’ accomplishments with the initiative. For more information, visit whatworkscities.org.