City of Raleigh’s Open Data Portal Wins National Award

Jayne Kirkpatrick, Director, Public Affairs

 

For more information: Gail M. Roper, Chief Information and Community Relations Officer, 919-996-4645

 

Aug. 23, 2013

 

City of Raleigh’s Open Data Portal Wins National Award

 

The Public Technology Institute (PTI) has recognized the City of Raleigh’s open data portal with a 2013 Web 2.0 Award. The award recognizes state and local governments that have used Web 2.0 technologies and civic/social media tools to further citizen engagement, government accountability and operational efficiencies. Raleigh’s open data portal was recognized by PTI earlier this year with a significant achievement award in the 2012-13 PTI Technology Solutions Awards.

 

The Raleigh City Council unanimously adopted an open source resolution in February 2012. This was the first of many steps designed to make it easier to get information and interact with City of Raleigh government. After the resolution was adopted, City staff engaged with citizen groups, youth development programs, entrepreneurs, and businesses to develop an open data strategy. This strategy includes policies that serve as guidelines for availability, access, reuse and redistribution for City data sets.

 

Raleigh’s open data portal, part of the City’s Open Raleigh initiative, was launched in March. The open data portal allows access to City data sets in open and standard ways for tech savvy and non-technical users. The open data portal provides data and location information such as Raleigh parking, fire incidents, crime data and City budgets for fiscal years 2013 and 2014.

 

Since the open data portal launched, site traffic has increased from 1,500 page views per week to more than 10,000 per week. The City participates in regional open data events, such as the NC DataJam and the upcoming NC DataPalooza, to increase awareness and encourage more citizens and organizations to access and use the data that is available on the open data portal.

 

The NC DataPalooza will be held Sept. 12 from 8 a.m.to 11 a.m. at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences. DataPalooza is the culmination of the Triangle’s 90-day open data competition that kicked off earlier this year with the NC DataJam. For registration and more information about NC DataPalooza, visit http://ncdatapalooza.com.

 

Learn more about...

 

Public Technology Institute

 

Raleigh's Open Data Portal

 

Open Raleigh