Open Federal Data to Benefit Local Communities (US0089)

State and local governments are increasingly using Federal open data to deliver value and improve citizen services at the local level. For example, cities use postal data compiled by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to benchmark the successes of blight eradication initiatives, and to borrow effective practices from cities experiencing success. Urban planners use data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on projected sea level rise, in concert with elevation data from the U.S. Geological Survey, to set zoning and building standards that account for climate change. Additionally, state and local emergency planners rely on data feeds from the National Weather Service to trigger protocols that protect critical infrastructure as severe weather approaches. In 2015, the Administration published an online map containing open datasets from community-based initiatives across more than 15 Federal agencies to help citizens discover the work taking place in their own communities. The Administration will continue to update the map with datasets on new
initiatives to help citizens, researchers, journalists, and other stakeholders identify and track the progress of this
work in a single, accessible location.
The Administration will release additional Federal data to fill crucial
information gaps at the local level and spur civic innovations that foster economic growth, access to healthcare,
community resilience, and other entrepreneurial efforts.

For details of these commitments, see the report: https://www.opengovpartnership.org/documents/united-states-mid-term-report-2015-2017/

Commitment 37. Open Federal Data to Benefit Local Communities

Commitment Text:

Open Federal Data to Benefit Local Communities

State and local governments are increasingly using Federal open data to deliver value and improve citizen services at the local level. For example, cities use postal data compiled by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to benchmark the successes of blight eradication initiatives, and to borrow effective practices from cities experiencing success. Urban planners use data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on projected sea level rise, in concert with elevation data from the U.S. Geological Survey, to set zoning and building standards that account for climate change. Additionally, state and local emergency planners rely on data feeds from the National Weather Service to trigger protocols that protect critical infrastructure as severe weather approaches. In 2015, the Administration published an online map containing open datasets from community-based initiatives across more than 15 Federal agencies to help citizens discover the work taking place in their own communities. The Administration will continue to update the map with datasets on new initiatives to help citizens, researchers, journalists, and other stakeholders identify and track the progress of this work in a single, accessible location. The Administration will release additional Federal data to fill crucial information gaps at the local level and spur civic innovations that foster economic growth, access to healthcare, community resilience, and other entrepreneurial efforts.

Responsible Institutions: Census Bureau and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the Department of Commerce, Department of Education, Department of Labor, Office of the Surgeon General in Health and Human Services (HHS), Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Department of Agriculture (USDA), and United States Geological Survey (USGS)

Supporting Institutions: State and local government leaders, civil society stakeholders, academia, advocates, and technologists

Start Date: Not Specified ....... End Date: Not Specified

Commitment Aim

This commitment aimed to update an online map repository of open data derived from community-based initiatives that receive federal funding, with the goal of helping the public to identify and monitor progress on these initiatives via a single platform.

Status

Midterm: Limited

At the midterm, the government had not yet updated the map of open datasets from community-based initiatives to include additional datasets. [536]

End of term: Limited

On the basis of publicly available information, there is no evidence that the government has made progress on this commitment post-midterm. The map repository is now only available via an archived version of President Obama’s White House website, which is no longer being updated. [537] Completion for this commitment therefore remains limited.

Did It Open Government?

Access to Information: Did Not Change

This commitment did not open government with respect to access to information due to its limited completion at the end of term.

Carried Forward?

At the time of writing, the US government had not published its fourth national action plan, so it is unclear if this theme will be carried forward. The government should nevertheless direct efforts to activities that more directly leverage open data to facilitate better outcomes in local communities, such as those described under Commitments 38 and 40.

[536] The map website specifies that it was last updated in August 2015, prior to the start of the third national action plan. A comparison between this website (available here: https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/omb/place) and an archived version from October 2015 (available here: http://bit.ly/2heUFGR) confirms that the number of datasets available on the website has not changed.

[537] The White House. “Map of Administration Community-based Initiatives.” https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/omb/place