Transparency Advisory Board: Consolidated Report of the Portal, Standards, and Priorities Working Groups

November 13, 2013 Introduction Senate Bill 283 requires the Utah Transparency A visory Boar !TAB" to stu y the establishment o# an in#ormation $ebsite to provi e access to public ata an ma%e a recommen ation to the le&islature re&ar in& its implementation' (pen &overnment ata has the potential to provi e a itional value to the state by &eneratin& ne$ &overnment e##iciencies, provi in& a hi&her e&ree o# public accountability an stimulatin& economic &ro$th' The TAB has revie$e national tren s an evelopments as $ell as e)istin& $ebsites an ata availability in the state o# Utah in creatin& this recommen ation' Base on this revie$, TAB recommen s that (pen'Utah'&ov be a apte to meet the &oals an ob*ectives o# e##iciency, accountability, an economic &ro$th un er the irection o# the Utah Transparency A visory Boar ' This sin&le $ebsite shoul prominently #eature capabilities that inclu e+ 1' 2' 3' ,inancial Transparency, such as is currently available #or State an local public entities on the Transparent'Utah'&ov $ebsite (pen access to public ata repositories, evelope in a $ay that provi es easy to use o$nloa capabilities, ynamic #ilterin&, an automate pro&rammer inter#ace services to ma)imi-e utili-ation an promote re.use' A sin&le point o# access #or /0A1A requests an access to open recor s'

Figure 1. 0elationship o# (pen'Utah'&ov to other State (pen /overnment Sites

2n a ition to these primary #eatures, the $ebsite shoul also provi e lin% capabilities to other e)istin& repositories o# public in#ormation, inclu in& maps, photo&raph collections, la$s an re&ulations, etc' that currently e)ist on a&ency $ebsites' (pen ata an recor s shoul be base on a no.$ron& oor approach to &overnment an has the potential to enhance access to other e)istin& $ebsites' The public shoul not have to be e)perts on &overnment to #in the in#ormation an ata they are see%in&' Objectives and Priorities Financial Transparency The State3s #inancial transparency $ebsite no$ inclu es #inancial recor s #rom Utah3s cities an to$ns, counties, special istricts, school istricts an hi&her e ucation, as $ell as all state a&encies' 4ith over 56 million recor s available, it has become a valuable resource #or users' Transparent'Utah'&ov shoul be ma e more interestin& an relevant #or the avera&e citi-en' The current site is eep on ata, but oes not sho$ ho$ that ata is relevant to citi-ens' The boar shoul analy-e $ays to provi e visuali-ations an in#o&raphics that a more conte)t to the ata' /eolocation services coul even help provi e more relevance' Data 2n creatin& a ne$ $ay o# accessin& &overnment atasets, the state shoul #ollo$ best practices in promotin& open access an interoperability' Some o# the best practices #or eliverin& open ata inclu e+ The ability to #ilter ata base on user. e#ine criteria' The ability to e)port ata to a variety o# use#ul #ormats such as )ls, csv, p #, etc' The capability to embe e#ine ata sets in other $ebsites $hile accessin& the source ata'

The current policy o# the Unite States &overnment is that open an machine rea able ata is the ne$ e#ault #or &overnment in#ormation' This policy reco&ni-es not only the value o# ata to promote e##iciencies in &overnment, but also as a tool #or innovators to create ne$ pro ucts an services' 4hile much o# the ata the state collects #alls into this same cate&ory an shoul be publicly available, it is also critical to ensure that privacy an security la$s are respecte an a here to' A mo ern open ata portal $ill provi e ma*or enhancements to the public in the $ay they are able to access an utili-e ata' 7rovi e multiple o$nloa options in the most convenient #ormats' 8reate rich visual conte)t $ith maps an charts' 2ntro uce A72s #or real.time ata access to selecte ata sets' 9elp i enti#y opportunities #or ata re.use in the #ast &ro$in& mobile app mar%et' Stimulate &reater citi-en participation'

Records Access Priorities The /overnment 0ecor s Access an 1ana&ement Act !/0A1A" provi es &ui in& principles #or recor s access' The le&islative intent o# the /0A1A eclares that the :e&islature reco&ni-es the ;public3s ri&ht o# access to in#ormation concernin& the con uct o# the public3s business< as $ell as the ;ri&ht o# privacy in relation to personal ata &athere by &overnmental entities< !Utah 8o e =3/.2.102"' A central portal #or the /0A1A open recor s request process $ill provi e a uni#orm proce ure #or all state a&encies an provi e irect access to other &overnmental entities3 open recor s request proce ures' 1' 7riority shoul be public recor s that ocument accountability o# &overnment' (r inances an policies >lection ata Business actions :e&islatively require reports 2' The state shoul start $ith public in#ormation alrea y in i&ital #ormats' 3' 7ublication sche ules shoul be applie to online recor sets' ?' 7ublic in#ormation available throu&h a portal shoul be coor inate an in e)e ' Recommendations TAB recommen s ei&ht steps $hen implementin& an open ata strate&y #or &overnment' The state o# Utah has been $or%in& on some o# these steps since #irst intro ucin& the ori&inal ata'utah'&ov in 2005' Some o# these steps have been a apte #rom the (pen @ata ,iel /ui e as a potential recommen ation #or a ne$ open ata mo el in Utah' 1' 2' 3' ?' Start Small' 2mplement an (pen @ata 7ilot $ith ne$ tools an services' ,ocus on ata an recor s that enhance /overnment Accountability' 2nvolve @evelopers' State an local a&encies $ill nee to $or% $ith those that best %no$ an un erstan e)istin& ata sources' Buil a community o# ata ste$ar s in or er to maintain a sustainable open ata portal' 6' 2ncrease A&ency 7articipation' Althou&h it may be important to start small, the &oal $ill nee to inclu e e##orts to involve many a&encies at both the state an local levels' =' (ptimi-e #or >##iciencies an 8ost' A' ,e erate @ata $ith 8ities, 8ounties, an States' 2n a ition to local sources in Utah, most ata e)ten s across state boun aries an in many cases, it may be help#ul to partner $ith nei&hborin& states an #e eral a&encies such as the B:1, 3

,orest Service, or 8ensus' 8' >nsure an intuitive, easy.to.use inter#ace' Standards The primary &oal o# stan ar s is to ma%e ata more accessible an to create inter#aces an e)periences that ma%es ata most use#ul to those $ho nee it' This can best be accomplishe $ith+ Data catalog interoperability. Stan ar i-e catalo& schema allo$s #or universal ata poolin&' Data portability based on standard data formats. The &oal is to move to$ar #ormats that evelopers can use #or popular ata sets, base on real.$orl e)amples an collaboration bet$een ata publishers' Application portability based on open data API standards. Stan ar i-e the application pro&rammin& inter#aces !A72s" use to pro&rammatically access open ata, usin& establishe protocols' Guidelines The #ollo$in& &ui elines an recommen ations are propose + Uncompressed data. @ata shoul be ma e available in an uncompresse #ormat $here possible' This &ui eline shoul not be misconstrue to preclu e automatic compression in transit by 4eb servers an clients' Use non-proprietary, open formats !ere possible. 7roprietary ata #ormats are more li%ely to require speciali-e , proprietary, an sometimes costly so#t$are or tools' (pen ata shoul use the most open #ormat that $ill reasonably provi e the necessary structure' Use o# open #ormats $ill potentially e)pan access an re uce costs #or ata users' >)amples o# open #ormats inclu e, but are not limite to the #ollo$in&+ i8alen ar v8ar 0ich Site Summary !0SS" 8omma.Separate Balues !8SB" Tab.Separate Balues !TSB" >)tensible 1ar%up :an&ua&e !C1:" DavaScript (b*ect Notation !DS(N" 0esource @escription ,ormat !0@," Eeyhole 1ar%up :an&ua&e !E1:" (ther e#acto stan ar s an #ormats, such as >)cel !')ls an 4

')ls)", #ormats $ill also be supporte ' Find "ommon #tandards. 4here common, open stan ar s #or ata are not available, the State o# Utah, throu&h the mechanism o# the State o# Utah @ocument >)chan&e Stan ar or a similar bo y shoul recommen common #ormats #or i##erent ata types' Pro$ide useful metadata. 1eta ata ma%es ata use#ul by allo$in& users to search, lin% to other ata sources, an cate&ori-e' 4here open meta ata stan ar s such as the @ublin 8ore are applicable, they shoul be use in pre#erence to proprietary or close meta ata #ormats' Preser$e structure. 7re#erence shoul be &iven to #ormats that preserve as much o# the ata structure as possible' ,or e)ample, a calen ar ma e available in the i8alen ar #ormat has more potential o$nstream uses than the same calen ar in an 9T1:, 7@,, or 4or ocument' %TTP, URIs, %T&' and ot!er (eb #tandards. The use o# 4eb stan ar s #or ma%in& ata available is pre#erre to other transport me ia' APIs. 4here applicable, ata shoul be ma e available as a 0>ST#ul A72 that preserves structure' Financial Requirements and Impacts Althou&h many elements to create a ne$ open ata portal are alrea y in place, the State shoul e)pect to e icate some ne$ resources to ma)imi-e the bene#its o# open ata' The TAB recommen s the a ition o# a central ata coor inator in the state$i e e/overnment o##ice' The ata coor inator coul provi e several valuable #unctions+ 8oor inate the implementation o# ata stan ar s approve by the boar ' 2 enti#y &aps in ata an in#ormation available on the portal' 7rovi e recommen ations #or ne$ stan ar s an relate ata technolo&ies as they evolve' 8oor inate an train a&encies in the use o# ata mana&ement tools inclu in& those use by the portal'

The state shoul also purchase so#t$are, or a clou service, that supports the elivery o# open ata to multiple #ormats' Alto&ether, it is estimate that the cost o# a state$i e ata coor inator, so#t$are, an associate stora&e $ill cost appro)imately F260,000 per year' The implementation o# open ata $ill also require a level o# investment #rom state an local a&encies to loa ata sets to the ne$ site'

2n or er to #ully implement the public recor s search, State Archives $oul require the #ollo$in&+ T$o a itional ,T> at Archives at a cost o# appro)imately F=0,000G,T> 2ncrease server an stora&e capacity !60TB $ith 10H annual &ro$th" (n&oin& pro&rammin& an maintenance support+ FA6,000Gyear A itional support #rom a&ency recor s o##icers

Public Benefits and Opportunities Because so many public an private entities have associate a hi&h value $ith the elivery o# open &overnment ata, many ne$ tools have been evelope that #acilitate better $ays o# eliverin& open ata' The state shoul be&in to levera&e these tools, an enhance opportunities #or the private sector to a ne$ value to &overnment ata' Base upon e)perience at the ,e eral level an in states such as 2llinois, (re&on, an Ne$ Ior%, there is a si&ni#icant potential 0eturn on 2nvestment !0(2" #rom open ata' Allo$in& private sector companies to use ata an other relevant in#ormation enables the creation o# applications that many a&encies have neither the time or bu &et to complete' (ver the past eca e, the state o# Utah has establishe itsel# as a lea er amon& the states in the $ay it utili-es technolo&y to eliver services to citi-ens' ,rom 2008 to 2012, Utah $as one o# only t$o states to receive an ;A< &ra e in the biannual @i&ital States Survey publishe by the 8enter #or @i&ital /overnment' 2n a stu y by the 8enter #or 7ublic 7olicy an A ministration, it $as reveale that the state save an avera&e o# over F13 per transaction #or business that $as con ucte online' Utah3s success in i&ital &overnment has save the state millions o# ollars an also helpe establish the state as a technolo&y lea er' To maintain this status, it is important that the state continue to invest in ne$ a vancements, inclu in& open ata' The state has the opportunity to ta%e some o# the most use#ul e)periences #rom other states an the #e eral &overnment an provi e one o# the best (pen /overnment sites in the nation' 4ith the ri&ht tools in place, Utah can become even more e##ective an e##icient, $hile openin& up a itional economic an business evelopment opportunities'