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This week, Pennsylvania joined the majority of states – as well as the federal government, and many cities and municipalities – by launching a public open-data portal.
You may be asking, “What is open data?” Simply put, it is data that anyone can access, use and share. It can be exported into spreadsheets, leveraged by apps, and combined with other data, among many other practical applications for both private- and public-sector initiatives.
And why does it matter? Open data has the potential to increase transparency to the public, support learning and discovery in our universities and research institutions, spur innovation and growth in our economy, and improve civic engagement.
Let’s use government performance as an example. In the past, departments published lengthy reports with an abundance of bar charts and graphs to show the results they were achieving on behalf of taxpayers.
The Wolf administration’s open-data initiative takes performance transparency a step further by providing the raw data behind the analog reports. OpenDataPA also will consolidate datasets from other state agency websites to create a one-stop shop for all of the commonwealth’s open data.
With the launch of OpenDataPA – at data.pa.gov – the public has access to datasets that demonstrate the progress state agencies are achieving in education, job creation, infrastructure and government efficiency.
The datasets we released with the launch of OpenDataPA are only the beginning. We are partnering with stakeholders – including the Office of Open Records, colleges and universities, and cities – to identify and prioritize future datasets for publication.
As the commonwealth’s open-data initiative continues to grow, we look forward to seeing how the data is used by researchers, entrepreneurs, developers and policy makers. Among the Wolf administration’s many transparency achievements, OpenDataPA is the next step toward making Pennsylvania government more open, accountable and innovative.
Sharon Minnich
Secretary
Office of Administration
Harrisburg