We are working to replace data.okc.gov and want your feedback before it is launched. Please visit the new site, explore the features and let us know your thoughts.

• What’s working well?

• What could be improved?

• Is there anything missing?

Your input will help us build a better data portal.

• DGB
  • Official created in early 2024, set forth a charter:

2024.05.OKC Data Governance Charter.pdf

• Cross-departmental group tasked with overseeing the City's data strategy, management, and policy priorities to ensure that data can be leveraged as a strategic asset in service of the City's Mission" -- making sure folks have access to the data they need to do their jobs and that it's of sufficient quality to support the City's decision making
• In addition to DGB membership to set policy / priorities, each department has a data steward (the go-to data person for the department) to help us drive the board's work forward - they're the ones helping us assess needs, gather data, and do the leg work that achieves the City's data goals

• What Works Cities
  • "What Works Cities recognizes and celebrates local governments for their exceptional use of data to inform policy decisions, allocate funding, improve services, evaluate the effectiveness of programs and engage residents." From <https://whatworkscities.bloomberg.org/about-us/>
  • WWC outlines best practices for Cities related to data and decision making. The DGB has used the WWC program to help guide its efforts and ensure OKC is in line with best practices. WWC also provides support for Cities trying to improve in this area, and they've been very helpful in our efforts
  • WWC lays out a set of criteria for these best practices and Cities are able to apply for "certification" at different levels to validate those efforts by supplying documentation of those best practices in action within their City for those criteria.
  • In 2024, OKC was certified by WWC at the Silver level -
    • https://whatworkscities.bloomberg.org/cities/oklahoma-city-ok-usa/
    • We are one of 111 certified cities across the world right now (one of 73 in the US, one of 2 in OK)
  • OKC is continuing to use WWC criteria as a guide for our efforts and actively pursuing additional certification
• Open Data
  • OKC has had an Open Data portal for some time - posting various datasets for public access and use
  • Our current portal is being sunset (I believe Aug 2026) but also provided only limited functionality and had some barriers for ease of use - so we looked for a new portal
  • The new portal allows us to provide more information and in a more user-friendly format
    • We can also provide meta data - data about the data - that can be useful. This includes publication date and last update of the dataset, what department maintains the data, and information about each value in the data set (what type of data), along with any limitations or the intended use of the data
  • The beta site for the new portal is live, and the old site is still available as we work to migrate datasets over to the new portal before the sunset date
    • Some data sets are available in both places - take a look to see how much more information you can get in the new portal! (e.g. look for info on your trash services in the old vs the new portal!)
• Today
  • Through the efforts of the DGB, in line with WWC best practices, and coinciding with the beta launch of the new portal, the DGB has established an Open Data Policy - recommitting the City to an Open Data mindset. We will be working to proactively publish more datasets in our new portal that may be of use to our community, and providing information that makes that data more useful (and the new portal makes that data easier to use). Council approval of this policy solidifies this approach and shows a city-wide commitment to transparency and accessibility.