Open Data Policy

Open data has the potential to create transparency, empower accountability, enhance efficiency and lead to cost savings, improve service quality, and increase public participation. According to The Open Definition, open data is data that can be “freely used, modified, and shared by anyone for any purpose”.

The goal of this policy is for the city of Birmingham to publish as much data as possible as open data. To help draft the policy, the Sunlight Foundation provides a set of guidelines that addresses the questions What Data Should be Public, How to Make Data Public, and How to Implement Policy, including sample language and use cases. There is also a useful comparison of current municipal and state open data policies in the US.

To find out what datasets the City of Birmingham has already published, check the US City Open Data Census.

More Info

For more information on the Birmingham Open Data movement or to sign the petition, check out birminghamopendata.org.

Project Lead

Tait Wayland