An example of local Open Data policy from outside Europe: the City of Vancouver

(Paywall-free popularization like this is what I do for a living. To support me, see the end of this post)

(this page is part of my Open Data, Open Society report. Please follow that link to reach the introduction and Table of Content, but don’t forget to check the notes to readers!)

In May 2009 the City of Vancouver approved an Open City Motion stating that, “since the total value of public data is maximized when provided for free or where necessary only a minimal cost of distribution … and when data is shared freely, citizens are enabled to use and re-purpose it to help create a more economically vibrant and environmentally sustainable city”, the City will:

  • freely share with citizens, businesses and other jurisdictions the greatest amount of data possible while respecting privacy and security concerns;

  • move as quickly as possible to adopt prevailing open standards for data, documents, maps, and other formats of media

  • Identify immediate opportunities to distribute more of its data;

  • Index, publish and syndicate its data to the internet using prevailing open standards, interfaces and formats;

  • Develop a plan to digitize and freely distribute suitable archival data to the public;

  • Ensure that data supplied to the City by third parties (developers, contractors, consultants) is delivered in a prevailing open-standard format and licensed under permissive terms that allow the data to be treated as in the public domain

Who writes this, why, and how to help

I am Marco Fioretti, tech writer and aspiring polymath doing human-digital research and popularization.
I do it because YOUR civil rights and the quality of YOUR life depend every year more on how software is used AROUND you.

To this end, I have already shared more than a million words on this blog, without any paywall or user tracking, and am sharing the next million through a newsletter, also without any paywall.

The more direct support I get, the more I can continue to inform for free parents, teachers, decision makers, and everybody else who should know more stuff like this. You can support me with paid subscriptions to my newsletter, donations via PayPal (mfioretti@nexaima.net) or LiberaPay, or in any of the other ways listed here.THANKS for your support!

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