Ottawa

Events

Hackfest - April 24, 2010
- It’s a gathering of local citizens, councillors, and city staff to write applications using public municipal data to show support for adopting an open data policy by the city government.
- Ottawa Cityʼs IT subcommittee of councillors and city staff are on board and are rallying the public to help them set the way forward by developing applications for the community, by the community.
GovCamp - June 17, 2010
Change Camp - July 17, 2010, Andrew S. Haydon Hall and Jean Pigott Place at City Hall, 110 Laurier Avenue West
- This event will look to further cultivate a community of interest in Ottawa around Open Data and ensure that the intent of the contest is met through dialogue with the public.

That Council:

adopt the principles of Open Government, as described in this report, and declare the City of Ottawa data to be “Open”; and
approve that the City fund an application open data contest to be funded from the City’s one-time and unforeseen account with prize money and incentives totalling $50,000; and
approve that Information Technology Services and Corporate Communications be encouraged to involve members of the public and others knowledgeable about open data applications in assisting the City in the contest, particularly in developing the criteria and website for the City.

Defining open data: For data to be truly open, it has to be available with a license that gives users the right to use the data, merge it with other data sets, modify it, and re-distribute it.
Seeking the open source-open data-open standards, like Vancouver.
In May 2010, City Council approved the Open Data report, and with it adopted the principles of Open Data, and approved an application contest to begin in the fall of 2010. The City strongly supports citizen participation as a vital component of planning, building sustainable communities, and encourage collaboration.