Des Moines, IA

Sunlight provided assistance with the development of this policy.

RESOLUTION DIRECTING THE CITY MANAGER TO ESTABLISH AN OPEN DATA PROGRAM, IMPLEMENT A PLAN TO DEVELOP REASONABLE PRACTICES, REQUIRE DEPARTMENT DIRECTORS TO COMPILE DATA IN APPROVED FORM, DEVELOP A SYSTEM FOR USE AND DISSEMINATION OF DATA AND REPORT TO COUNCIL.

WHEREAS, the City ofDes Moines strives to being financially strong and provide exceptional municipal services in a customer-friendly manner with an involved community- community members and businesses; and

WHEREAS, the City seeks to better allocate resources, enhance coordination and collaboration among city agencies, and ultimately make data-driven decisions across the organization; and

WHEREAS, access to public information promotes a higher level of civic engagement and allows community members to provide valuable feedback to government officials regarding local issues; and

WHEREAS, the thoughtful implementation of an open data program improves services, increases transparency and access to public information, and enhances coordination among departments, partner organizations, and community members; and

WHEREAS, open data has the potential to drive innovation, economic development, and external collaborations; and

WHEREAS, in commitment to the spirit of good government, the City strives to proactively publish high value data; and

WHEREAS, information technology, including web-based and other internet applications and services are an essential means for open government; and

WHEREAS the protection of privacy and confidentiality will be maintained as a paramount priority.

BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of Des Moines, Iowa the Des Moines City Manager is hereby directed to:

1. Establish an open data program, a governing structure for the program and an implementation plan to develop and implement reasonable practices related to open data.

2. Develop standards for determining what constitutes high-quality, machine readable data.

3. Require the City department directors to compile and provide that data in a form and quality that meets the standards set by the City Manager.

4. Develop a system for use of high quality, machine-readable data by the various departments and employees of the City.

5. Develop a system for disseminating to the public high-quality data that City staff determines would be of value to the public and is not confidential under state or federal law or City policy regarding sensitive information.

6. Report to Council on the progress made on these standards and systems within 12 months of the date of this resolution.