Open Data Policy Guidelines » Guideline 18
Create a central location devoted to data publication and policies
Data portals and similar websites can facilitate the distribution of open data by providing an easy-to-access, searchable hub for multiple data sets. At their best, these portals or hubs promote interaction with and reuse of open data and provide documentation for the use of information (see Provision 13). Portals can be generalized or specific (e.g., a spending or ethics portal), and can vary in terms of their sophistication. Specific, issue-based portals should link to related portals when appropriate. Users looking at a portal for city campaign finance data, for example, could benefit from seeing a direct link to that city’s portal for lobbying information. Portals and other related websites also provide governments with the opportunity to go into detail about issues and policies related to their commitment to openness and transparency. To facilitate their findability these websites should permit indexing and searching by third parties such as search engines.
There are several helpful features that should be included in general or specific portals. A list of what data is contained within the portal is one necessary feature that simplifies the data finding process for users. If appropriate, this could be done through a link to a data inventory. Another beneficial feature to include in data portals is a view of analytics on data downloads. This will help users and government data providers understand what datasets are of the highest interest.
Examples of language for this guideline:
Here are examples of the language for this guideline as included in policies on this site. Please note that the selections of text below are imperfect, and you should check out their source policies to read them in context.
Cook County, IL — Ordinance (May 4, 2011)
Website. In not less than 90 days, the Cook County shall establish a common website that shall serve as the source for countywide and departmental activities related to this Open Cook County Initiative (the Website). County Officials shall use their best efforts to publish information to the Website, including, but not limited to: revenue, spending and procurement information; crime and health statistics; contracts with private firms; policies or procedures; and other data or information commonly requested pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in a format consistent with the standards set forth herein.
Raleigh, NC — Legislation (Feb 7, 2012)
The City of Raleigh will establish an open data website at www.raleighnc.gov/open that will serve as an open data catalog of the data available from the City of Raleigh in open formats.
New York, NY — Local Law (Mar 17, 2012)
Within one year of the effective date of this chapter and thereafter, the public data sets that agencies make available on the Internet shall be accessible through a single web portal that is linked to nyc.gov or any successor website maintained by, or on behalf of, the city of New York.
Web portal administration
Providence, RI — Resolution (Mar 19, 2012)
Propose a mechanism to make public information
hearings and votes accessible
Investigate current technologies and propose the development of a state of the art citizen dashboard and applications to provide new capabilities that government departments can harness to improve services and responsiveness to its constituency at a lower cost
Philadelphia, PA — Executive Order (Apr 26, 2012)
Within 90 days of the Chief Data Officer's assumption of responsibilities, the Office of Innovation and Technology shall establish a Portal that will serve as the source for Citywide and departmental activities with respect to this open government initiative. The Chief Innovation Officer, in his discretion, may build on previous open data initiatives, or may establish a new portal.
Madison, WI — Legislation (Aug 15, 2012)
single web portal that is linked to the city’s website
Chicago, IL — Executive Order (Dec 10, 2012)
located at data.cityofchicago.org or its successor website.
Montgomery County, MD — Legislation (Dec 17, 2012)
public data set that an agency makes available on the Internet must be accessible through a single web portal that is linked to www.montgomerycountymd.gov or any successor website maintained by, or on behalf of, the County
San Mateo County, CA — Administrative Memo F-5 (Mar 7, 2013)
made available through the County’s Open Data Portal
The County will build and maintain an Open Data Portal on the Internet that will serve as a gateway to Open Data assets and Open Government information
New York (state) — Executive Order (Mar 11, 2013)
online Open Data Website for the collection and public dissemination of Publishable State data, and, to the extent feasible, reports
maintained at data.ny.gov or such other successor website
San Francisco, CA — Legislation (Mar 28, 2013)
the policy incorporates the
the City's Open Data website, currently known as "DataSF"
Hawaii (state) — Legislation (Jul 3, 2013)
electronic data sets maintained by the department electronically available to the public through the State’s open data portal at data.hawaii.gov or successor website designated by the chief information officer
Austin, TX — Administrative Memo (Aug 26, 2013)
Within [45] days, the City of Austin shall establish a common Web page that will serve as the source for Citywide and departmental activities related to this Local Open Government Directive.
All published data will be posted on the City of Austin data portal (http://data.austintexas.gov/)
Louisville, KY — Executive Order (Oct 11, 2013)
Open Data Portal” means the Internet site established and maintained by or on behalf of Metro Government, located at portal.louisvilleky.gov/service/data or its successor website.
Section 2. Open Data Portal.
Oakland, CA — Council Resolution (Oct 15, 2013)
WHEREAS, on June 20, 2012, staff returned to the Council with an Open Data System Implementation Report that outlined the implementation and planning of an Open Data system, identifying and prioritizing data, costs associated with developing an Open Data portal and a timeline for implementation; and
West Sacramento, CA — Internal policy (Oct 16, 2013)
Data portal” means the Internet site established and maintained by or on behalf of the City, located at data.cityofwestsacramento.org or its successor website.
For purposes of identifying data sets for inclusion on the City of West Sacramento’s data portal, The open data advisory group will consider the following:
The data set helps increase the City’s accountability, efficiency, responsiveness or delivery of services;
Honolulu, HI — Legislation (Nov 27, 2013)
(a) Each agency shall use reasonable efforts to make appropriate and existing electronic data sets maintained by the agency electronically available at no cost to the public through the city’s open data portal at data.honolulu.gov or its successor website designated by the city’s director of information technology
Los Angeles, CA — Executive Directive (Dec 18, 2013)
The General Manager of the Information Technology Agency and the Mayor’s Deputy Mayor for Budget Innovation establish an Open Data Portal that will serve as the central source for departmental open data.
All datasets determined to be accessible to the public shall be made available on this portal (to the extent permitted by law and subject to valid privacy, confidentiality, security, and other legal restrictions).
Illinois (state) — Legislation (Mar 7, 2014)
Public data sets that are made available on the Internet by agencies shall be accessible through a single web portal that is linked to data.illinois.gov or any successor website maintained by, or on behalf of, the State of Illinois.
Pittsburgh, PA — Legislation (Mar 19, 2014)
The Open Data Portal shall serve as the authoritative source for Open Data provided by the City of Pittsburgh.
Hartford, CT — Executive Order (Mar 26, 2014)
Portal shall serve as the authoritative source for Open Data provided by the City of Hartford.
Boston, MA — Executive Order (Apr 7, 2014)
All departments shall publish their public record data sets on the City of Boston open data portal to the extent such data sets are determined to be appropriate for public disclosure, and/or if appropriate, may publish their public record data set through other methods, in accordance with API, format, accessibility and other guidance of the Open Data Policy.
Jackson, MI — Legislation (Apr 27, 2014)
a) The city shall establish and maintain a publicly-accessible web portal linked to
www.Cityofjackson.org or successor website maintained by or on behalf of the city that shall host selected government open data in a searchable and usable interface.
Nashville, TN — Executive Order (May 12, 2014)
The Open Data Portal shall serve as the authoritative source for Open Data provided by the Metropolitan Government.
The Open Data Portal shall be hosted at http://data.nashville.gov
Chattanooga, TN — Executive Order (May 31, 2014)
A single web portal shall be (i) established and maintained by or on behalf of the City; and (ii) located at data.chattanooga.gov or its successor website.
Washington, DC — Executive Directive (Jul 21, 2014)
Open Government Web Portal: Within 30 days from the date of this Order, the Chief Technology Officer shall establish a common web portal that will serve as the source for District-wide and agency activities related to this Transparency and Open Data Directive. The Chief Technology Officer, in his or her discretion, may build upon an existing web portal, or may establish a new portal. Each agency shall be responsible for ensuring that the information required to be published online is accessible from the agency’s designated Open Government and FOIA webpage.
1) A single web portal, or integrated set of websites, shall be established and maintained by or on behalf of the District of Columbia. The Chief Data Officer, in collaboration with OCTO, may build upon previous open data initiatives, or may establish a new portal for managing and delivering open data benefits to constituents.
Minneapolis, MN — Legislation (Aug 1, 2014)
There shall be a City Open Data Portal available within 120 days of this policy enactment, for access by the public where (1) all data sets published shall use a format that permits processing of the data for download through an automated programming interface (API) or bulk download; (2) the public is notified of updates to the data; (3) all data sets should be accessible to external search capabilities, such as Google, etc.; and (4) provide functionality to solicit feedback from the public and to encourage public discussion on open data policies and data set availability;
Bloomington, IL — Ordinance (Aug 25, 2014)
As part of the commitment of the City to open, transparent and honest government, the City website at www.cityblm.org shall include the following information and documents accessed by a link named “Transparency” on the website homepage.
Houston, TX — Administrative Policy (Sep 18, 2014)
Open Data Portal - A website where data released by the City is available for public use and where links to other City data sets are centrally indexed. The Open Data Portal will support citizen engagement and input.
The EDO shall:
Amherst, NY — Legislation (Oct 6, 2014)
portal/place shall be established on the Town’s website that will serve as the source for Town-wide and departmental activities with respect to this open government initiative
Suffolk County, NY — Resolution No. 811-2014 (Oct 15, 2014)
that Information Technology is
directed to develop a website or web portal
that provides public access to data sets that are published pursuant to its established policy;
Denton, TX — Administrative Directive (Feb 9, 2015)
OPEN DATA AVAILABILITY a. Public data sets that the City makes available on the Internet shall be accessible through a single web portal that is linked to Cityofdenton.com or any successor website maintained by, or on behalf of, the City of Denton.
Detroit, MI — Executive Order (Feb 19, 2015)
Detroit GO DATA Initiative
This Initiative, implemented through Detroit GO DATA, will foster and create a more transparent, open, collaborative, participatory and accountable relationship between the City government and the people it serves, fostering a creative culture and innovation-driven economy. In an effort to provide better customer service to the public, it is the purpose of this Executive Order to increase the accessibility and the availability of certain data collected or maintained by the City. Increasing the public’s access to high quality, accurate data and information is critical to this mission and will also improve business functions and prepare for future innovations in City operations.
This open data philosophy will be coordinated and accomplished through Detroit GO DATA. The cornerstone of this major shift in City policy will be that data and information, unless exempt from disclosure under State or federal law, will be available to the public, starting with an open data portal.
Jackson, MS — Executive Order (Sep 1, 2015)
The City will maintain an Open Data Portal where the City's published data will be publicly available.
Datasets published on the Open Data Portal shall be placed into the public domain.
Cambridge, MA — Legislation (Sep 21, 2015)
The ITD shall provide and manage a website to make Open Data and Data Sets accessible to the public.
The website will include information of all available Open Data and Data Sets.
Asheville, NC — Council Resolution (Oct 13, 2015)
The City shall maintain an open data website that will serve as an open data catalog of the data available from the City.
Waco, TX — Council Resolution (Dec 15, 2015)
The City will work to create and maintain a publicly available location on the city’s website or in another suitable online location where the city’s published data will be available for download.
Tacoma, WA — Council Resolution (Feb 2, 2016)
establishing and maintaining an open data web portal that provides a central location for published City data
Independence, MO — Administrative Policy (Mar 15, 2016)
Establish and maintain an open data web portal that provides a central location for published city data
Location for Published Data Web Portal
The city will maintain open data on its existing Open Data Portal at www.ci.independence.mo.us/open/. Should a successor website be used, the IT Steering Committee shall provide public notice on the City’s website: http://www.ci.independence.mo.us/
Victorville, CA — City Council (Apr 5, 2016)
Create a comprehensive inventory of Datasets held by each City Agency, which shall be
Las Vegas, NV — Legislation (Apr 12, 2016)
Establish and maintain an open data web portal that provides a central location for published City data
Pennsylvania (state) — Executive Order (Apr 18, 2016)
Creating and maintaining a comprehensive Enterprise Open Data Portal for Enterprise and public accessibility.
Anchorage, AK — Operating Procedure (Apr 20, 2016)
Municipality of Anchorage Departments will work cooperatively with the Information Technology Department (ITD) to make their respective datasets publicly available via the Open Data Portal. The Open Data Portal
the internet site established and maintained by or on behalf of the City, located at http://www.muni.org/opendata or its successor website
Saint Paul, MN — Council Resolution (Apr 27, 2016)
The City shall establish and maintain an open data web portal that provides a central location for published city data.
Little Rock, AR — Board of Commissioners Resolution (May 3, 2016)
Establish and maintain an open data web portal that provides a central location for
Milwaukee, WI — Council Resolution (Jul 14, 2016)
Oversee the creation of a comprehensive inventory of datasets held by each city
department or division which is published to the central open data location and is
The city will create and maintain a publicly available location on the city’s website or in
another suitable online location where the city’s published data will be available for download.
Scottsdale, AZ — Resolution (Aug 31, 2016)
The City Manager is directed to coordinate with the other charter officers to develop an Open Data Program which is consistent with City policy and public records and other applicable laws, provides for as appropriate proactive release of data and information to support City priorities and decisions, establishes and maintains an Open Data Portal where the City’s published data will be publicly available online, and creates a process for oversight and leadership of the Open Data Program
New Orleans, LA — Executive Order (Sep 1, 2016)
much of the data collected by the City is not cataloged, impeding the ability to aggregate, analyze and synthesize it to better allocate public resources
Wichita, KS — Administrative Regulation (Sep 8, 2016)
Pursuant to section IV., CDO shall establish an online repository for the City of Wichita's open source code.
CDO shall immediately begin work to establish a single enterprise data inventory for all City of Wichita government data.
Topeka, KS — Executive Order (Oct 3, 2016)
Incorporating data that is collected by various City departments into a single location will facilitate the ability to aggregate, analyze and synthesize it to better allocate public resources.
Establish and maintain an Open Data portal that provides a central location for published City Data and Data Sets;
The ITD shall provide and manage a website to make Open Data and Data Sets accessible to the public. The website will include information of all available Open Data and Data Sets. This information shall also be available in a Machine Readable format.
Naperville, IL — Council Resolution (Nov 15, 2016)
The City of Naperville commits to an open data program to share data by:
Establishing and maintaining an accessible open data portal that provides an online location for valuable City data.
Kansas City, KS — Administrative Order (Nov 28, 2016)
Unified Government departments will work in cooperation with the Open Data Committee as outlined in this Administrative Order to make datasets publicly available on the UG Open Data portal.
New Jersey (state) — Legislation (Feb 6, 2017)
(1) create, maintain, and post or have posted on the
open data website an inventory of all its open data and datasets
pursuant to the standards and timetables established by the Chief
Fort Collins, CO — Council Resolution (Feb 7, 2017)
(6) Maintain the City’s open data portal, which shall provide a central location for publishing City data.
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.
Birmingham, AL — Executive Order (Apr 18, 2017)
Develop a process for prioritizing datasets to be released onto the City Of Birmingham Open Data Portal.
Salinas, CA — Council Resolution (Jun 6, 2017)
Oversee the creation of a comprehensive inventory of datasets held by each city department, that is published to the central open data location and is regularly updated;
Modesto, CA — Administrative policy (Aug 2, 2017)
Oversee the creation of a comprehensive inventory of datasets held by each City agency which is published to the central open data location and is regularly updated;
The City will create and maintain a publicly available location on the City’s website or in another suitable online location where the City’s published data will be available for download.
Sacramento, CA — Internal policy (2013)
A single web portal (SacCityData) shall be: established and maintained by or on behalf of the City of Sacramento; administered by Department of Information Technology; and located at www.data.cityofsacramento.org or its successor website.
Williamsville, NY — Legislation (2014)
(4) A portal/place shall be established on the Village’s website that will serve as the source for Village-wide and departmental activities with respect to this open government initiative.