2016 Open Data Report: What a Year It Has Been!

The City of Chattanooga has released the 2016 Open Data Report, which reflects on the City’s progress and looks to the future on ensuring transparency and accessibility of public data online. Under an Executive Order issued in 2014, Mayor Andy Berke developed an open data policy and increased transparency in city government through creation of an online portal.

Anyone can access the online portal, where data on reducing violence, growing the local economy, improving literacy, strengthening neighborhoods, and other community priorities, is readily available and continually refreshed. The 2016 Open Data Report reviews how people are using data available on the portal as well as future initiatives aimed at increasing transparency through access to new datasets and enhanced community engagement.

“The city is committed to providing citizens with detailed info about issues affecting daily life. From public safety data about police and fire incidents to building permits, this info empowers residents to understand and react to what is occurring in Chattanooga neighborhoods,” said Tim Moreland, Director of Performance Management and Open Data. “Over the last year, we have seen incredible growth in citizens engaging with data on our open portal.”

Highlights from the 2016 Open Data Report

By the Numbers:

• 202 City & Community Dataset Available on the Portal
• 5 Times More Page Views on the Portal Compared to 2015
• 2.5 Times More Downloads from the Portal Compared to 2015
• 33 Times More Data Accessed Through Downloads
• 16 % More Users of Data from the Portal

Key Findings of 2016

• Multiple departments and agencies work together to ensure timely, accurate, and complete data on the open data portal
• More participation from community partners strengthens data available
• Number of Open Datasets available are growing
• The public is more engaged with the the open data portal portal
• Data is being leveraged for apps and software development across the community
• The City is working on automating uploads to ensure timely access to data

Key Findings for the Year Ahead

• Upgrades to the portal and a new related informational website are underway
• Citizens will be able to request a dataset they would like to see on the portal
• A new website will allow citizens to sign up to receive program updates

The City of Chattanooga will continue to host civic hack nights at City Hall, where anyone is welcome to participate in using city data to increase the quality of life for everyone in Chattanooga. Past hackathons have lead developers to create useful applications such as browsing 311 requests to informing residents how to easily find and contact their police precinct.

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