Next Steps
The near future of the program will include continual data releases along with an expansion of our services to emphasize analytics and technical solutions to improve data use and management techniques. The portal launch was a significant milestone for our team, but we knew all along it was really just the beginning. As we juggled our data release process with the work of choosing, procuring and setting up the portal, some of the automation work had to be pushed to our backlog. And to keep up with the publication timeline of the Open Data Policy, we must also be constantly looking ahead at what datasets we will publish next and what datasets need to be added to our inventory.
The portal after launch
Enhance our automation
We have many of the pieces in place to automate updates to the portal, including direct connections to the databases and files where the original data is managed. Now, we need to finish writing code that runs itself on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, depending on the update schedule for each dataset. More information about automation of data updates can be found in Chapter 4.
Maintain stability
We are building a solid infrastructure for automated data delivery that we can leverage across the organization both internally and externally. However, technology breaks, databases change and servers go down. We must be able to monitor our technology and receive alerts when we need to act.
Continue the data release process for the portal
Our current official inventory includes over one hundred high-value, public datasets, and we will be adding to our inventory as we employ a digital solution for discovering datasets across the City. All of these datasets must be published to the portal by 2020, unless there is a legitimate obstacle to publication. Our publication schedule is maintained in our Compliance Plan.
Increase portal usability
We want people to access and view City data with ease. For some users, downloading a .csv and performing their own analyses will be too difficult. We plan to build more data visualizations and publish them as Data Stories for those users. Another way we can help those users is by providing aggregations of data along with the full dataset. Additionally, other users who want to view geographic data might not have the correct software for viewing Shapefiles, so we want to add map previews for those datasets. Full datasets will always be available for download, but the City also needs to cater to the less tech-savvy, but engaged, citizen.
Measure impact and engage with the community
Here are some ways we will track whether people are using the portal while promoting portal use among different groups of users:
Ask people to sign up for a mailing list hosted by Mailchimp. Mailchimp has analytics on whether people read the emails we send out.
Ask people to tell us when they’ve built something with City data, and promote those projects. We have a submission form on the portal homepage for this purpose.
Assist PD in organizing a community Data event.
Evaluate user browser behavior as captured in our web analytics. This will help us understand what content, layouts and features result in the most engagement from our users.
Measure the internal impact of the portal through Amazon S3 analytics. Amazon S3 is a cloud storage solution that we are using as part of our publication pipeline. It will allow us to understand how City employees are accessing and using the data in the portal.
Solicit feedback about the portal through a submission form available on the portal homepage.
Work with UCSD to enhance the pipeline of data.sandiego.gov users
Take advantage of opportunities where we can work with the library in order to engage our local community with using data.
Other next steps
Launch a data help desk
At a minimum, we want other City staff and the public to have a way to ask questions about the data the City has released on the portal. This is possible through a link we placed on the portal homepage that opens a form a person can fill out to ask questions or request help. Our ultimate vision is to have a data help desk, where City staff can get hands-on help with using data, and the public can view tutorials and ask technical questions.
Implement an automated solution to keeping the data inventory up-to-date
We are currently in the process of deploying a tool that can track metadata, dictionaries and query logs to understand what data we have in various databases across the city and help us understand the significance and application of different data. Because of the number and diversity of data sources we have, we are slowly applying this project across multiple database implementations. The vision is to be able to maintain data dictionaries, queries and documentation in one central, accessible place.
Plan a City data day
One way to get people engaged in using data is to bring everyone together for a day to collaborate and attempt an actual analytics project. We have tools people can use and expertise to offer.
Expand our services in the realm of technological intervention and analytics
In FY 17, Performance & Analytics will begin applying knowledge of statistics and analytics tools to real City problems. We can also leverage the skills of other P&A team members in this capacity, and brainstorm and implement technological solutions to data problems. We have already begun doing this with the City’s Performance Dashboard, and assisting with the PD Dispatch project.
Launch the Open Data team blog, full of tutorials, ideas and examples of how the City is using open data
Open Data has an official information website at datasd.org. Currently, you can visit that site to view and vote on the inventory. We also plan to use that as place to publish visualizations of City data and blog posts about how we made them as well as other tutorials for using data. We also want to publish features about community members who are using City data in their businesses or as part of their mobile apps.