Redesigned NYC Open Data Portal welcomes 50,000 new users a month and received over 3 million visits this year alone
The Mayor’s Office of Data Analytics and the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications today released the annual update to the NYC Open Data Plan, a schedule of public datasetsCity agencies plan to release through 2018. Over the last year, agencies have released datasets across hundreds of categories, from the number of trees planted to FDNY incident dispatch numbers. The annual update is part ofOpen Data for All, a strategic overhaul around how the City collects and reports data to New Yorkers, with a focus on helping as many New Yorkers as possible view, understand, and engage with information that describes how government is helping them live, work, and play.
“Transparency is vital for a healthy government and flourishing democracy. That’s why Open Data for All is delivering more data, in more ways, to more New Yorkers than ever before,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio.
“Open Data is more than a collection of ones and zeros—it’s truly a portrait of how New York City runs,” said Anne Roest, Commissioner of the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications.“We’ve focused on making sure that more New Yorkers are empowered to access this data and subsequently use it to lift up their communities. We’re proud that this year’s report tells those stories alongside the numbers.”
Since the launch of Open Data for All in 2015, the program has seen unprecedented success, including more than 3 million visits to the Open Data Portal—now home to over 1,700 datasets—in the last year alone. Over 165 new datasets have been added in the past year, including:
· New York Police Department (NYPD) Complaint Data, specifically information on felony, misdemeanor, and violation crimes reported to the NYPD from 2006 through 2016. Historical data through 2015 can be found here, and 2016 data can be foundhere.
· City Council Participatory Budgeting Data: contains details on all Participatory Budgeting Project projects from 2012 – present. Participatory Budgeting is a democratic process in which community members directly decide how to spend part of a public budget. Council Members choose to join Participatory Budgeting New York City (PBNYC), giving at least $1 million from their budget for the whole community to participate in decision–making. Through a public vote, residents then decide which proposals to fund.
· Programs and Benefits API: This dataset provides benefit, program, and resource information for over 40 health and human services available to NYC residents, and is used on ACCESS NYCand Growing Up NYC. The data is kept up-to-date, including the most recent applications, eligibility requirements, and application dates.
· Department of City Planning (DCP) Facilities Database: TheCity Planning Facilities Database, and the NYC Facilities Explorerinteractive map, aggregates more than 35,000 records from 50 different public data sources, capturing both publicly and privately operated facilities ranging from health and social services, recreation, education, to solid waste management.
Additionally, thirty-eight new datasets are now automatically updated,including the Department of Environmental Protection's Harbor Water Quality sampling information, and the Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications' Building Footprints and Street Centerline maps.
The digital version of the 2017 Open Data for All Progress Report invites New Yorkers to give feedback on specific sections and share their own open data stories until September 1. The City’s Open Data team will also host anevent at Civic Hall on Wednesday, July 19 at 6 p.m., where New Yorkers featured in the report will discuss how they are using open data to improve their communities. The event will also be livestreamed.
"Open Data for All is a critical part of our commitment to transparency, equity, and quality service,” said Emily Newman, Acting Director of the Mayor’s Office of Operations. “We are thrilled that so many New Yorkers are using this tool to make an impact in their communities.”
“Open Data provides transparency on how government works and is critical for how entrepreneurs build better technologies for New Yorkers,” said Miguel Gamiño, New York City Chief Technology Officer. “The portal reaches an average of 50K new users per month, and a total of 140K users per month which demonstrates that this information is being consumed and of real value both to new and existing users.”
