Austin, TX

RESOLUTION NO. 20111208-074

WHEREAS, Open Government is based upon the principles of transparency, efficiency, and collaboration; and

WHEREAS, Resolution 20071101-037 called for the implementation of Open Government Online, the next generation of the City’s website (AustinGO), scheduled for release on December 19, 2011, which utilizes advanced web technology of an open source content management platform, offers a data portal, and is mobile enabled; and

WHEREAS, the evolving technology landscape now offers additional opportunities to promote Open Government, such as mobile applications to provide city services and social media to engage the public; and

WHEREAS, Open Data, proactively disclosing City data, is the foundation of Open Government, is consistent with citizens’ right to public information, and promotes engagement with the potential benefit of civic development of applications to improve service delivery through expanded and innovative applications; and

WHEREAS, Open Source Platforms promote Open Government by fostering collaboration with opportunities for citizen-developed functionality and for the City to contribute to repositories for re-use of source code by other municipal governments, with the added potential to decrease costs and increase robustness of city-developed applications; and

WHEREAS, the City of Austin has been awarded with a partnership with Code For America in October 2011 providing the opportunity to share and expand technology with other jurisdictions across the nation; and

WHEREAS, development of an open government framework to guide the City’s adoption of open government technology should be transparent, efficient, and collaborative; NOW THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN:

That the City Council is committed to Open Government and the principles of transparency, efficiency, and collaboration and seeks to adopt an Open Government Framework with a comprehensive set of policies, initiatives, guidelines and standards.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That the City Council directs the City Manager to work with the Community Technology and Telecommunications Commission to develop recommendations for elements of an Open Government Framework to address the following:

1. Open Data: Rules and standards, based upon principles as outlined in Exhibit A; including limitations due to valid privacy, security, privilege, statutory, or administrative cost concerns, a program for setting priorities of data sets, a timeline for publication of data sets in each department, a design for user- friendly access of the data sets on the data portal, and ongoing metrics to assess progress in disclosure.
2. Open Source Platforms: Guidelines for inclusion in the procurement process, development processes for city-developed open source platforms and release guidelines for re-use by other entities; and approaches to enhance development of the city’s use of open source platforms in the civic realm.
3. Mobile applications: Strategic priorities for services with an evaluation of which applications should be developed or procured by the City; programs to promote citizen development and innovation; and an approach to sustainability and ongoing maintenance of high value, citizen-developed applications.
4. Social media: Standards to ensure that continued integration into city service delivery and citizen engagement is consistent and leverages new products and practices as they are available.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED:

That the City Manager, in developing the recommendations for the elements of an Open Government Framework, is directed to:

1. Develop an Open Government directive with administrative guidelines on steps to achieve transparency, efficiency, and collaboration;
2. Identify funding requirements and an implementation timeline for the various elements of the recommendations;
3. Participate in a national dialogue on standards for Open Data initiatives at the municipal level; and
4. Report bi-monthly to the Council Emerging Technology and Telecommunications Committee.

ADOPTED: December 8, 2011

ATTEST: Shirley A. Gentry, City Clerk

Exhibit A: Open Data Principles

The City of Austin is committed to fostering open, transparent, and accessible city government, and recognizes that by sharing data freely, the city will generate opportunities for economic development, commerce, and civic engagements for citizens. The city also recognizes that the adoption of open government data standards, and providing timely access to city data, will improve transparency, public access to information, and coordination between city entities and the private sector.

1. The rules and standards for publication of data sets shall be consistent with applicable law, including laws related to privacy and accessibility.
2. To the extent practicable and consistent with applicable law and policy, each City department or other entity (“Department”) shall make reasonable efforts to make available for publication all data sets under the Department’s control in an open format that is platform independent, machine readable, and made available to the public without restrictions that impede the re-use of that information.
3. All published data sets shall be in primary forms, as collected at the source, with a level of granularity consistent with law, privacy, and public safety. Only minimal necessary filtering and aggregation will be used to mitigate identified legal, privacy, or public safety issues.
4. All published data sets shall be made available and updated as often as necessary to preserve the integrity and usefulness of the data sets.
5. To the extent feasible, published data sets shall be presented and structured in a format that permits automated processing.
6. To the maximum extent allowed by law, published data sets shall be made available without any registration requirement, license requirement, or restrictions on their use.
7. All public data sets shall be made available with the descriptive information needed to understand what the data are, and how and when they were collected.