{"id":5883,"date":"2015-11-03T10:03:17","date_gmt":"2015-11-03T18:03:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/insider\/?p=5883"},"modified":"2015-11-03T10:03:17","modified_gmt":"2015-11-03T18:03:17","slug":"open-data-engagement","status":"publish","type":"insider","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/insider\/open-data-engagement","title":{"rendered":"From Open Data to Data Engagement"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beyond transparency and accountability, the ultimate goal of open government is to empower citizens by providing them with data in a meaningful context. <\/em><\/strong>
\nThe principles of open government and transparency suggest public access to information and, subsequently, scrutiny. Public scrutiny ultimately leads to accountability. Transparency and accountability together empower a public audience to weigh in on issues that matter to them, and provide an opportunity to influence decisions and hold the people making those decisions accountable.
\nWhen it comes to opening up GIS data, transparency is often cited as being a key driving factor in making that data available. But simply providing downloads for data is not enough, and in the grand scope of openness is somewhat meaningless.
\nOpening up GIS data is not an end, but rather a means to enable appropriate decisions, scrutiny, input, and also innovation. This requires more than just a one-time cul-de-sac data download. It requires a connection to the source and context that make that data inherently more meaningful, and subsequently more powerful. Our challenge is to think beyond the data download, and expand our thinking about what open data means in the modern context of Web GIS.
\n\"\"
\nWhy should GIS data be open?<\/strong>
\nBeyond the drivers that openness and transparency is not only a good idea, but a required checkbox in today’s government landscape, there are many reasons why opening up GIS data makes a lot of sense. It supports innovation and entrepreneurship. It facilitates communication, response, and supports better decisions. It bring together a broader community that can also contribute and participate. But looking inwards there are advantages as well\u2014breaking down internal information silos and amplifying the value of your GIS investments are but two.
\nThinking beyond the download<\/strong>
\nIn today’s Web GIS world, open data needs to be far more than a website that offers shapefile, spreadsheet, or KML downloads. It needs to be a way that others can engage <\/em>over GIS content. That content must be curated and authoritative, updated and timely. But more importantly it must be actionable<\/em>\u2014presented in ways that make sense to the user, and that enable engagement using the data.
\nThe potential users of your open data are many\u2014public consumers, knowledge workers in other organizations, and developers and entrepreneurs. With a broad landscape of potential users and uses, it’s vital to think beyond the download, and consider “openness” in the context of other delivery mechanisms to serve engagement.
\nMany ways to connect people with data<\/strong>
\nEngagement can come in a variety of forms. It can<\/em> be as simple as a spreadsheet or shapefile download, but that should not be a one-way street. That download should, at a minimum, include a way to subscribe to the source, to learn of updates or changes once the data has been fetched.
\nAlternatively, that same data can also be offered as services that can be connected to directly, from the source where it is maintained and updated. This is a far better approach, and one that leverages and supports the Web GIS ecosystem.
\nBuilding applications and information products, including Story Maps<\/a>, is also a way of opening up your data for engagement. While not traditionally thought of as open data, these are valuable ways to open your data, or more importantly\u2014to present information in a meaningful context\u2014to engage a broader audience.
\nA portal<\/em> is now an inherent part of a Web GIS, and serves as the central clearinghouse for engagement\u2014within your organization, to developers and entrepreneurs, and to a broader audience. It’s a relatively new, but very powerful part, of the ArcGIS platform. ArcGIS Open Data<\/a> is another type of configurable portal that is part of your GIS organization, and leverages some of the same resources in your portal to enable their use by a different audience.
\nEngagement, not openness, is the goal<\/strong>
\nThe idea of providing open access to data in a way that engages the public is rapidly changing from something that would be nice to have, to an essential element for success. The ArcGIS platform provides many opportunities to open up your data, and to engage others. These include downloads, access to services, configurable apps and Story Maps, and more\u2014all facilitated and managed via your portal.
\nRegardless of which options you choose, the goal is not just to open up your data, but to offer ways to interact with it, experience it, and amplify the inherent value of your work by delivering opportunities for engagement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5883","insider","type-insider","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-esri-insider"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFrom Open Data to Data Engagement<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/insider\/open-data-engagement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From Open Data to Data Engagement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Beyond transparency and accountability, the ultimate goal of open government is to empower citizens by providing them with data in a meaningful context. 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