Position IT to Support and Be a Leader in Open Data Initiatives
- Open data programs are often seen as unimportant or not worth taking up space in the budget in local government.
- Open data programs are typically owned by a single open data evangelist who works on it as a side-of-desk project.
- Having a single resource spend a portion of their time on open data doesn’t allow the open data program to mature to the point that local governments are realizing benefits from it.
- It is difficult to gain buy-in for open data as it is hard to track the benefits of an open data program.
Our Advice
Critical Insight
- Local government can help push the world towards being more open, unlocking economic benefits for the wider economy.
- Cities don’t know the solutions to all of their problems often they don’t know all of the problems they have. Release data as a platform to crowdsource solutions and engage your community.
- Build your open data policies in collaboration with the community. It’s their data, let them shape the way it’s used!
Impact and Result
- Level-set expectations for your open data program. Every local government is different in terms of the benefits they can achieve with open data; ensure the business understands what is realistic to achieve.
- Create a team of open data champions from departments outside of IT. Identify potential champions for the team and use this group to help gain greater business buy-in and gather feedback on the program’s direction.
- Follow the open data maturity model in order to assess your current state, identify a target state, and assess capability gaps that need to be improved upon.
- Use industry best practices to develop an open data policy and processes to help improve maturity of the open data program and reach your desired target state.
- Identify metrics that you can use to track, and communicate the success of, the open data program.
Position IT to Support and Be a Leader in Open Data Initiatives Research & Tools
Start here – read the Executive Brief
Read our concise Executive Brief to find out why you should develop your open data program, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the four ways we can support you in completing this project.Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:
- Position IT to Support and Be a Leader in Open Data Initiatives – Phases 1-2
- Data Definitions Template
- Evaluate Dataset Template
- Dataset Contributor Agreement Template
1. Set the foundation for the success of your open data program
Identify your open data program's current state maturity, and gain buy-in from the business for the program.
- Position IT to Support and Be a Leader in Open Data Initiatives – Phase 1: Set the Foundation for the Success of Your Open Data Program
- Open Data Maturity Assessment
- Open Data Program – IT Stakeholder Powermap Template
- Open Data in Our City Stakeholder Presentation Template
2. Grow the maturity of your open data program
Identify a target state maturity and reach it through building a policy and processes and the use of metrics.
- Position IT to Support and Be a Leader in Open Data Initiatives – Phase 2: Grow the Maturity of Your Open Data Program
- Open Data Policy Template
- Open Data Process Template
- Open Data Process Descriptions Template
- Open Data Process Visio Templates (Visio)
- Open Data Process Visio Templates (PDF)
- Open Data Metrics Template
Workshop: Position IT to Support and Be a Leader in Open Data Initiatives
Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.
1 Define Business Drivers for Open Data Program
The Purpose
Ensure that the open data program is being driven out from the business in order to gain business support.
Key Benefits Achieved
Identify drivers for the open data program that are coming directly from the business.
Activities
1.1 Understand constraints for the open data program.
1.2 Conduct interviews with the business to gain input on business drivers and level-set expectations.
1.3 Develop list of business drivers for open data.
Outputs
Defined list of business drivers for the open data program
2 Assess Current State and Define Target State of the Open Data Program
The Purpose
Understand the gaps between where your program currently is and where you want it to be.
Key Benefits Achieved
Identify top processes for improvement in order to bring the open data program to the desired target state maturity.
Activities
2.1 Perform current state maturity assessment.
2.2 Define desired target state with business input.
2.3 Highlight gaps between current and target state.
Outputs
Defined current state maturity
Identified target state maturity
List of top processes to improve in order to reach target state maturity
3 Develop an Open Data Policy
The Purpose
Develop a draft open data policy that will give you a starting point when building your policy with the community.
Key Benefits Achieved
A draft open data policy will be developed that is based on best-practice standards.
Activities
3.1 Define the purpose of the open data policy.
3.2 Establish principles for the open data program.
3.3 Develop a rough governance outline.
3.4 Create a draft open data policy document based on industry best-practice examples.
Outputs
Initial draft of open data policy
4 Develop Open Processes and Identify Metrics
The Purpose
Build open data processes and identify metrics for the program in order to track benefits realization.
Key Benefits Achieved
Formalize processes to set in place to improve the maturity of the open data program.
Identify metrics that can track the success of the open data program.
Activities
4.1 Develop the roles that will make up the open data program.
4.2 Create processes for new dataset requests, updates of existing datasets, and the retiring of datasets.
4.3 Identify metrics that will be used for measuring the success of the open data program.
Outputs
Initial draft of open data processes
Established metrics for the open data program