https://medium.com/challenges-to-democracy/improving-service-and-communication-with-open-data-a-history-and-how-to-894042263dc4

This post by Emily Shaw, originally published by Data-Smart City Solutions, is based on her recent paper in an ongoing series published by Data-Smart City Solutions exploring data-related facets of civic engagement in today’s cities. Shaw first defines “open data” and then describes some of the different ways that local, state, and federal governments have been opening their data, starting with early efforts by the U.S. Census and sites such as THOMAS from the U.S. Congress. Shaw also examines the political and other motivations behind opendata initiatives, including the mandate to do more with less, improving internal data use, and improving communication between governments and the public. Finally, she offers useful suggestions for governments looking to begin the process of opening up their data. Download a PDF version of Emily’s full paper here.

Enacting policies to make more data publicly accessible also makes governments more accessible to the communities they serve. Open data fuels the kind of two-way communication that increases opportunities for the public to interact with government, while also allowing local governments to maximize the value of their data.