For the fourth time, the City of Edmonton has come out on top when it comes to how open and available its city data is to the public.
Public Sector Digest released its annual list of Canada’s Top 20 most open cities on Wednesday. Edmonton is ranked in the No. 1 spot, with a score of 98.82 per cent. Winnipeg came in in second place, followed by Ottawa, Calgary and Montreal. (See the Top 20 list below).
“The City of Edmonton has demonstrated that their open data program continues to grow in maturity and is an example of how adequate resources can foster open data work,” read a media release from PSD.
Open data is raw, readable information that is made freely available to residents, businesses or anyone interested in the research and analysis. PSD said open data is a strong indication of an organization’s open government initiatives to “uphold the values of transparency and accountability.”
PSD launched its Open Cities Index in 2015. The index asks organizations 71 questions related to the readiness, implementation and impact of its data. This year, 55 Canadian municipalities from nine provinces and one territory took part in the Open Cities Index. Several American cities were also included in the 2019 assessment.
“This honour reinforces our efforts to connect with our citizens and gives them a window into what our municipal government does,” Mayor Don Iveson said.
“Transparency and openness are key values for us at the City of Edmonton and we’re really pleased that we continue to lead the way nationwide as an open city. ”
Edmonton has an open data committee that meets on a monthly basis, a formal city-wide open data policy, as well as an open data plan that allows the public to access over 1,130 open data sets.
Edmonton also ranked first in the Open Cities Index in 2015, 2016 and 2017. PSD did not compile the index in 2018.
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