Open Data Toolkit

Through public and business engagement, collaboration and innovation Edmonton has become a leader in Open Government and Open Data. As an advocate for open, transparent and accessible government, the City of Edmonton created this toolkit to assist other municipalities in furthering their own Open Data efforts. The strategic planning, business, technical, communication and legal documents contained in this toolkit represent the framework in which the City of Edmonton's Open Data program operates. 

Strategic Planning Documents

Open Government Policy
Draft policy available to other municipalities and government agencies upon request.

Open Data Road Map
A digram illustrating the road map for the City of Edmonton's Open Data Program.

Project Management Plan
Note: This document is now changing in scope as the City of Edmonton's Open Data Project evolves into a full-scale program. It is being included as a historical reference to help illustrate the growth of the City’s Open Data project. 

Business Documents

Business Requirements
The Business Requirements document clearly captures the requirements for version 2.0 of the Open Data Catalogue. It starts with a brief description of the business/technology problem, followed by the current and future state of the business, an analysis of the gap between the 2 states and the requirements of the proposed solution.

Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) provides the City of Edmonton's open data participants (City business units and/or external public and private organizations) with guidelines for making digital data available in an Open Data Catalogue format.

Service Support Agreement
The Service Support Agreement defines the roles and responsibilities of both the open data team and partipants in the program. It outlines base service level expectations and a high-level incident reporting and escalation process.

Open Data Metadata
Provides the end user with the ablity to interpret and understand the data set.

Technical Documents

System Architecture Framework
The System Architecture Framework is a technical document used to describe the structure, components and relationships needed to effectively develop and sustain the City of Edmonton's open data information system.

ODC 2.0 Alternatives Comparison, Proposed Architecture and Recommendation
A power point presentation that visualizes the architectural diagrams and different platform alternatives considered with the recommended choices for Open Data Catalogue selection.

Legal Documents

Terms of Use
Protects and promotes the City of Edmonton's commitments to open data and ensures that the recipients of these data sets give back to the community the benefits they derive from these data sets.

Disclaimer
Specifies or delimits the scope of rights and obligations that may be exercised and enforced by parties involved.

Communications Documents

Communications Plan
Open Government/Open Data communications plan available to other municipalities and government agencies upon request. 

Video
This is IT
City Council Data Release News Conference
City Council Data: A Citizen’s Perspective

Blog Posts
Edmonton's New Open Data Catalogue!
Apps4Edmonton – The Gift that Keeps Giving
Open City Workshop
Open as a “Way of Being”
From Edmonton to Edmonton 2.0
Edmonton Goes to CityCamp
Open Data and You: Low Fat & Acronym Free

Community Partners and Engagement

CityCamp Edmonton
CityCamp is an unconference focused on innovation for municipal governments and community organizations. As an unconference, content for CityCamp is not programmed for a passive  audience.  Instead, content is created and organized by participants and coordinated by facilitators. Participants are expected to play active roles in sessions. This provides an excellent format for creative, open exchange geared toward action.

DemoCamp Edmonton
DemoCamp is an event that brings together developers, entrepreneurs and investors to share what they’ve been working on and to find others in the community interested in similar topics. For presenters, it’s a great way to get feedback on what you’re building from peers and the community, all in an informal setting. Launched in 2008, DemoCamp Edmonton has steadily grown into one of the largest in the country, with 200-300 people attending each new event.

Open City Workshop
On March 6, 2010, the City of Edmonton hosted the Open City Workshop to bring together community leaders, academics, students, technology enthusiasts and public sector employees to explore and advance the role of Open Information in Alberta's capital region. They discussed current and planned activities in Edmonton and other Canadian and international jurisdictions as well as possibilities for government, community, academic and private organisations.

Apps4Edmonton
Together with community partners, the City of Edmonton proudly launched Apps4Edmonton in 2010 - a contest which encouraged residents to develop applications that would benefit Edmontonians.  Every Edmontonian had an opportunity to actively participate in re-shaping our city.  Using data sets from Edmonton’s Open Data Catalogue, participants were challenged to develop an app for either a smart phone, mobile device, or PC web browser.

G4 Canada
The Cities of Toronto, Edmonton, Ottawa and Vancouver have joined forces to collaborate on Open Data in Canada.

MISA (Municipal Information Systems Association) Prairies
MISA is an established Canadian association of municipal government representatives and others interested in the effective use of information technology to provide better and more cost-effective services to municipal taxpayers and clients.

 

For more information:

Ashley Casovan

Title	Strategic Coordinator, Office of the CIO
Telephone	780-423-4733
Email	ashley.casovan@edmonton.ca