Burlington Ranked in Top 10 of North America’s Most Open Cities
*Please see below a news release issued by the City of Burlington.
Burlington, Ont. – April 12, 2021 — The City of Burlington climbed five spots from 2019, to rank 9th on North America’s Most Open Cities Index for 2020, published by Public Sector Digest (PSD).The Open Cities Index was launched by PSD in 2015 as Canada’s first study to benchmark municipal open data initiatives across the country and has since expanded to include organizations from across North America. The Index provides a way for local governments to measure the maturity and performance of their open data programs and offers insight on how they can improve.A total of 41 organizations participated in the 2020 edition of the Open Cities Index, with 18 Canadian cities and municipalities represented in the Top 20.The Open Cities Index measures the readiness, implementation, and impact of the participating cities’ open data initiatives. A new dataset category was added for 2020, specifically to gather data on how municipalities have adapted to share COVID-19-related data with their community and external organizations.
"We are very proud to be recognized for our efforts to share information with Burlington residents through open data. Through its online portal, Navigate Burlington, the City provides access to over 63 open data sets and over 100 assets including maps and charts, and we continue to grow our online data catalogue." -- Andrew Maas, Manager of Asset Planning
Quick Facts:
- Open data is raw data, readable by software and computers, that is made available free of charge to individuals, businesses or anyone interested in research and analysis.
- Research software and app developers can use programs to access this data automatically and apply it to their own purposes.
MAYOR MEED WARD'S TAKE:The City of Burlington is committed to promoting transparency and accountability in government. The Open Cities Index gives us the opportunity to measure how our data services rank amongst our peers and shows us where we can build and grow our open data programs to ensure it can be accessed and used effectively by the community and open data enthusiasts.The City Clerk’s open data sets for recorded votes, meeting attendance and declarations of pecuniary interest are now live. View them on the Navigate Burlington Page by clicking the link.Links and Resources:
- Read the 2020 Open Cities Index results published by Public Sector Digest.
- Visit the City of Burlington’s online open data platform, Navigate Burlington.
--*Posted by John Bkila, Mayor's Media and Digital Communications Specialist