NEARC Fall 2017

Somewhere over the Rainbow: Next Generation Open Data
Over the past decade, Government has adopted the idea of ‘open data’ to improve constituent engagement, encourage economic development, and improve government efficiency. These laudable goals are often difficult to translate into real strategies or measurable impact. The result are ad-hoc efforts limited to simple websites with links to data or simple tools that have unclear benefit to both citizens as well as government colleagues.
Instead, what if we flipped the entire concept to drive engagement to achieve meaningful outcomes. And what if every single member of our community was empowered to be a colleague to accomplish this work? Successful communities involve the whole of community – what does that involvement mean in a highly-connected, digital enabled, and GIS powered world?