Sunlight provided assistance with the development of this policy.
Office of the Mayor
City of Seattle
Edward B. Murray, Mayor
Executive Order 2016-01: Directing departments to comply with the new Open Data
Policy, directing all City data to be open by preference.
This Executive Order calls for all City data to be “open by preference” — meaning City
departments will make their data accessible to the public, after screening for privacy and
security considerations.
WHEREAS, the City of Seattle strives to be a “Smart City” that engages its public in
identifying and creating data-driven solutions to improve life in our City;
WHEREAS, the City is committed to the spirit of open government, building upon
existing open records laws, including the Washington state Public Records Act (O
51L5_§), and expanding the data it makes available to the public and tools such as
Performance Seattle and Open Budget Seattle for understanding this data;
WHEREAS, proactively making data generated through the course of the City’s
operations available and within reach of the public online, for its reuse and consumption,
creates value for our residents, government leaders, businesses, researches, and the
media;
WHEREAS, the City of Seattle’s Open Data Program, launched in 2010 with the
data.seattle.gov portal, allows critical information to reach decision-makers, resulting in
a real impact on the public, and provides our government with tools to make more
informed decisions;
WHEREAS, the Open Data Program supports my vision for Seattle to be an
interconnected city that fosters innovation by increasing quality of life for our residents;
increasing transparency, accountability, and comparability; promoting economic
development and research; and improving internal performance;
WHEREAS, the Open Data program is crucial to evaluating equity outcomes in our city
and improving the City’s relationship with underserved communities;
WHEREAS, the City is committed to helping the public derive value from the City’s data
by soliciting feedback, holding events, and partnering with academic institutions,
companies, and community organizations;
WHEREAS, the City has created a privacy program to eam the public’s trust in how we
collect and use their information and established a set of principles to help guide
decisions about how we open data in a way that does not create privacy hanns;
WHEREAS, the Open Data Program promotes improvements to data quality and
governance, including an improved understanding of the relationships between data
privacy, security, and open data;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, EDWARD B. MURRAY, Mayor of Seattle, hereby order City
departments and offices to make data available to the public, in a manner that encourages
innovative solutions and community engagement, by actively supporting and
participating in the Open Data Program.
Departments shall implement and observe the City of Seattle Open Data Policy,
maintained by the Department of Information Technology, or its successor, to ensure the
consistent publication of data and engagement with the public in this important initiative.
Specifically, departments are to:
Make the City’s data holdings open by preference (Policy section 1)
· Establish department accountability for open data activities, including the appointment of a department Open Data Champion (Policy section 2)
· Institutionalize the publishing of open data (Policy section 3)
· Participate in the administration and operation of the Open Data Program (Policy section 4)
· Engage open data stakeholders including members of the public, City departments and offices, civic technologists, and parties acting on the City’s behalf (Policy section 5)
All City offices and departments shall fully implement the policy, with assistance from the Open Data Program, by December 2016.
Inquiries by City departments and offices regarding this Executive Order should be
directed to Chief Technology Officer Michael Mattmiller at (206) 233-7937.