Wichita needs a strong open data policy

City Hall’s openness to a civic hacking group’s call for an open data policy is welcome. Now the encouraging words should lead to action.

“I’m fully in support of it. We need an open data policy,” City Manager Robert Layton told The Eagle of the proposal by Open Wichita.

A 7-month-old collaborative initiative, Open Wichita envisions a policy that would ease access to legally public data sets related to the city budget, geography, demographics, utilities usage, bidding processes, licensing, the usage of parks and city facilities, and building permits and codes. It already has projects underway about public transit, voter turnout, local food sources and infant mortality rates.

“With the data being open, citizens – including Open Wichita – can build a lot of tools on top of that, extract that data,” organizer Seth Etter told The Eagle.

The group also says the project could promote efficiency and lead to software licensing savings and the development of open source software for use by Wichita and other cities.

Layton, who envisioned a platform allowing people to generate their own reports about crime or other specific issues, said he’d like to have a proposed open data policy ready for City Council consideration early next year.

Mayor Jeff Longwell and other council members should get involved and push a policy forward.

In a sample open data policy, Open Wichita lays out how such “digital innovation can enhance citizen communications, support the brand of the city as creative and innovative, improve service delivery, support citizens to self-organize and solve their own problems, and create a stronger sense of civic engagement, community and pride.”

Wichita will need all that and more if it’s to pull out of the entrepreneurial slump highlighted by the Wichita Community Foundation’s Focus Forward project, as technological tools and collaboration are among the distinguishing features of cities with strong startup cultures. Data analyst James Chung also has pointed to research finding Wichita hostile to young talent – the last thing a city can be if it expects to thrive in the 21st century.

With City Hall already working on upgrading information technology systems for utility billing, human resources and finance, the commitment to crafting and implementing an open data policy needs to be strong. And other cities have proved that adoption of an open data policy is no guarantee that it will be meaningful or sustainable.

But good for Layton and his staff for recognizing that shining light on municipal data can do more than foster public trust.

This story was originally published December 5, 2015 at 6:07 PM with the headline "Wichita needs a strong open data policy."