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

(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