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City updates progress on digitizing public data

NYC is still aiming to get all of its public data online by 2018.
NYC is still aiming to get all of its public data online by 2018. Photo Credit: Checker Motors Corporation Factory Photo

The city will roll out a new initiative Wednesday to increase New York’s digital transparency and give New Yorkers better access to data from its various agencies.

The mayor’s office and Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications will give an update on the city’s Open Data Plan, which aims to get all public data online by 2018.

The agencies will also launch programs that will engage New Yorkers with the information, including citywide forums and a visualization tool for certain data.

“All of this means it will be easier for people, even those with no programming experience — like myself — to find the information they want, and better ways to use that information,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said in a statement.

More than 1,350 data sets are now available on the NYC Open Data portal, including new figures on Pre-K locations and seats; salary information for public employees; and WorkForce 1 job listings and events. The city plans to add 90 more sets to the portal by the end of the year, including school attendance and trip information from the Taxi and Limousine Commission.

Chief Analytics Officer Dr. Amen Ra Mashariki said the city wants New Yorkers to make the most of the information so it came up with new programs this summer.

DoITT will launch the “Data Lens” pilot Wednesday, which will give users “cards” or display formats that visually show off the information in the form of bar graphs, line graphs and maps. The data in the pilot will include universal Pre-K locations, restaurant locations, 311 Service Requests, NYPD motor vehicle collisions, and Wi-Fi hot spots.

Over the summer, the mayor’s office and DoITT will hold engagement sessions at various parts of the five boroughs where they can hear feedback from New Yorkers about open data. The forums, which will have locations determined later this summer, will culminate in an open data summit in the fall.