Fort Worth Launches Data Portal, Calls for Community Involvement in Innovation
July 29,2014
Reposted from City News (fortworthtexas.gov)
The City of Fort Worth entered the national open data movement this week with the pilot launch of a new portal aimed at software developers.
The portal – data.FortWorthTexas.gov – receives information directly from city systems to making information easily accessible without requiring a Public Information Act request.
Interacting with the data portal will be familiar to anyone who has used a spreadsheet, but the system provides visualization tools and other ways to use live city data outside of the Fort Worth website. The site – powered by Socrata – also allows users to access the information in a variety of formats, from common Excel and PDF documents to the more programmer friendly JSON and XML. The system also provides live connections for software developers to pull information directly into their own applications – a connection known as an Application Programming Interface (API).
Although the amount of data available at launch is small, Mayor Betsy Price said that it represents the beginning of a shift in how the city interacts with residents.
“Government transparency doesn’t mean having to ask for information, then waiting days to get it in whatever format staff happens to have,” Price said. “By making information immediately available when our residents and businesses need, we are changing the conversation from how to get information to how can the information make our work – and government engagement – easier.
“As I said in my 2014 State of the City Address, this is the year of technology. We need members of the community who are interested in working with this data to help us find new, innovative ways to use the information.”
As part of the launch, the city is looking for local software developers and designers who want to help guide the Open Data initiative. Those interested in participating can sign up online to receive more information.
Piloting Fort Worth’s future
The Open Data pilot project includes the rollout over the next six month of information that has been popular in other open data cities.
Currently, development permits and certificates of occupancy are available in portal, and city staff is working to make code violation information, crime data and capital project information available soon. Data is updated manually now, but automated updates will be rolled out to provide near real-time information as the pilot progresses.
For newly appointed City Manager David Cooke, the pilot project is a way to take stock of how data is used across departments.
“City departments generate a great deal of information by just doing their jobs, but they don’t always see what other departments are producing,” Cooke said. “This pilot gives us the chance to see what barriers we have to data sharing internally, and I hope to find new ways departments can connect.”
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