Kansas City, MO

Sunlight provided assistance with the development of this policy.

COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR ORDINANCE NO. 150865

Amending Chapter 2, Code of Ordinances, entitled “Open Data Policy”, by repealing Article XVI, and enacting a new Article XVI entitled “Open Data Policy,” consisting of Sections 2-2130 through 2-2135, for the purpose of expanding the City’s existing open data operations to reflect existing and new best-practices.

WHEREAS, the Mayor and City Council adopted Resolution No. 140392 to declare its support for open data of public information for Kansas City; and

WHEREAS, the Mayor and City Council remain committed to promoting a culture of open data; and

WHEREAS, openness and transparency in government is in the best interest of all; and

WHEREAS, the adoption of open data improves provision of services, increases access to public information, and enhances coordination and efficiencies among departments and partner organizations; and

WHEREAS, much of the data collected by the City is stored within various City departments, offices and agencies, impeding the ability to aggregate, analyze and synthesize it to better allocate public resources; and

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

WHEREAS, every citizen has the right to prompt, efficient service from the government; and

WHEREAS, one goal of an Open Data policy is to proactively provide information currently sought through public record requests, thereby saving the City time and money; and

WHEREAS, in commitment to the spirit of Open Government, the City will consider public information to be open by default and will proactively publish data and data containing information, unless relevant public records laws allow the records to be closed; and

WHEREAS, information technologies, including web-based and other Internet applications and services, are an essential means for Open Government, and good government generally; and

WHEREAS, the protection of privacy, confidentiality and security will be maintained as a paramount priority while also advancing the government’s transparency and accountability through open data; and

WHEREAS, the Mayor and City Council desire to formally adopt an “Open Data Policy” by enacting it into the Code of Ordinances; NOW, THEREFORE,

BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF KANSAS CITY:

Section 1. That Chapter 2, Code of Ordinances, is hereby amended by enacting a new Article XVI entitled “Open Data Policy,” consisting of Sections 2-2130 through 2-2135, said Article to read as follows:

ARTICLE XVI. OPEN DATA POLICY.

Section 2-2130. Open data policy declared.

It is the policy of the City of Kansas City, Missouri that public data will be made open and freely available to all online in a machine-readable, open format that can be easily retrieved, downloaded in bulk format and reused utilizing readily-available and free Web search applications and software, subject only to valid privacy, confidentiality, security, and other legal restrictions.

Section 2-2131. Definitions.

As used in this open data policy, these terms shall have the following meanings unless it is apparent from the context that a different meaning is intended:

1. Agency means any City office, commission, board, advisory committee or other division of city government.
2. Chief Data Officer means the staff person designated by the City Manager to coordinate and implement the City’s Open Data program and policy.
3. Data means statistical, factual, quantitative, or qualitative information that is regularly maintained or created by or on behalf of the City.
4. Dataset means a named collection of related records, with the collection containing data organized or formatted in a specific or prescribed way, often in tabular form.
5. Open Data or Information means public data or information made readily available online, utilizing best practice structures and formats when possible, with no legal restrictions on use or reuse.
6. Open Data Portal means the Internet site established and maintained by or on behalf of the City, located at data.kcmo.org or its successor website.
7. Open Format means any widely accepted, nonproprietary, searchable, platform-independent, machine-readable method for formatting data which permits automated processes.
8. Protected Information means any dataset or portion thereof to which the City department or agency may deny access pursuant to any law, rule or regulation.
9. Public Data or Information means any data or information generated or received by the City of Kansas City that can be made public to the extent such action is lawful and prudent.
10. Publishable Data means data which is not protected or sensitive and which has been prepared for release on the open data web portal.
11. Sensitive Information means any data which, if published on the Open Data Portal, could raise privacy, confidentiality or security concerns or have the potential to jeopardize public health, safety or welfare to an extent that is greater than the potential public benefit of publishing that data.

Sec. 2-2132. Procurement, processes and publishing of open data.

(a) Whenever possible, technology shall be procured and efficient processes shall be used in a way that advances the policy of making public data and information open and available through the use of open data standards and formats.

(b) To the extent prudent and practical, the City shall:

1. Proactively publish high quality, public data with documentation (metadata) online;
2. Make publishable data freely available to all in machine-readable open formats, in both its raw and processed form, including a description of the source and quality of the data;
3. Ensure publishable data is in the public domain and can be easily retrieved, downloaded, indexed, sorted, searched, analyzed and reused utilizing readily-available and free web search applications and software;
4. Minimize limitations on the disclosure of public information while appropriately safeguarding protected and sensitive information;
5. Encourage innovative uses of the city’s publishable data by agencies, the public, and other partners; and
6. Maintain the City of Kansas City’s Open Data Portal which shall provide a central location for publishing city data.

(c) The development and implementation of these practices shall be overseen by the Chief Data Officer, reporting to the City Manager.

(d) The requirements of this Article shall apply to city department or agency and shall include data prepared on behalf of the City by outside parties.

Section 2-2133. Governance

The City Manager shall designate a Chief Data Officer who shall oversee the open data process, including:

1. Managing the Open Data Portal;
2. Identifying a designee for each department who will be responsible for managing the collection and release of data which, in coordination with the Chief Data Officer, shall be prioritized based on the goals established by the City’s performance management initiative, frequency of public records requests, and additional signals of interest from the public;
3. Working with each agency to identifying a designee who will be responsible for managing the collection and release of data which, in coordination with the Chief Data Officer, shall be prioritized based on the goals established by the City’s performance management initiative, frequency of public records requests, and additional signals of interest from the public;
4. Developing and implementing a process for identifying the relative level of risk and public benefit associated with potentially sensitive and protected information, and recommending which public data should not be published online;
5. Overseeing the creation of a comprehensive inventory of datasets held by each department and agency which is published to the Open Data Portal and regularly updated;
6. Establishing processes for optimizing methods of data collection, as well as publishing datasets and creation processes to the Open Data portal, including processes for ensuring that datasets contain unique identifiers and are reviewed for use-appropriate formats, quality, timeliness, and exclusion of sensitive and protected information; and that data published is complete, reliable, highly detailed, and presented in a way that maximizes public connectivity;
7. Maintaining written justification for why certain information is not published online; and
8. Establishing timelines, in coordination with departmental designees, for publishing public data on the Open Data Portal.

Section 2-2134. Open Data Portal

(a) The City established an Open Data Portal at data.kcmo.org in January of 2013. The Open Data Portal shall continue to be maintained by or on behalf of the City, shall be administered by the Chief Data Officer or his or her successor. The Open Data Portal shall be located at data.kcmo.org or a successor website. In the event a successor website is used, the Chief Data Officer shall notify the City Council and shall provide notice to the public on the main City website. The Open Data Portal shall be the central location where the City’s open data can be found, and datasets published on the Open Data Portal shall be explicitly placed into the public domain, thereby ensuring that there are no restrictions or requirements placed on use of these datasets.

(b) Code created and used by city staff to manipulate raw data shall be made public on a single city-wide code repository whenever possible.

Section 2-2135. Open Data Report & Review

(a) Within one year of the effective date of this ordinance, and thereafter no later than November 1 of each year, the Chief Data Officer shall publicly report on the progress toward achieving the goals of the city’s open data program, an assessment of the current scope of compliance, a list of datasets currently available on the Open Data Portal, and a description and publication timeline for datasets envisioned to be published on the portal in the following year.

(b) During the review and reporting period, the Chief Data Officer should also make suggestions for improving the city’s open data management processes in order to ensure that the city continues to move towards the achievement of the policy’s goals.

Secs. 2-2136 - 2-2149. Reserved.