History of Open Data in Philadelphia

The following is a short history of Open Data in Philadelphia:

• 1998: U-Penn Releases Neighborhood Information System (NIS). The Cartographic Modeling Lab, a research lab at the University of Pennsylvania, releases parcel level data to the public via the Neighborhood Information System (NIS).  The U-Penn team negotiated data sharing agreements with each agency that maintained data related to real estate property - Board of Revision of Taxes, Water, Licenses and Inspections, Postal Service, Philadelphia Gas Works, Fire Department and others - and assembled the various data sets into a single, searchable web database.
• 9/19/2003: Philadelphia Signs Open Data MOU to Release Data to the Public. The City of Philadelphia signs a memorandum of understanding with Penn State University to release its GIS data sets through the Pennsylvania state data clearinghouse.  Approximately 20 data sets are released and updated annually thereafter.
• 7/24/2004: Penn Cartographic Modeling Lab Releases CrimeBase. The online application has geographically aggregated crime data for Part 1 and Part 2 crimes.
• 7/28/2008: Commissioner Ramsey releases Crime Data, a mapping application that enables mapping and limited downloads of Part 1 crime data from 1/1/2007.
• Open Access Philly started.
• SEPTA releases GTFS data. Download: GTFS Developer Download.
• 1/3/2011: 2011 Code for America Fellowship.
• 4/25/2011: Open Data Philly launched, a catalog of regional data, apps and APIs launched by team outside municipal government. News article: OpenDataPhilly.org: City data catalog to launch April 25 during Philly Tech Week.
• 6/1/2011: SEPTA Releases Real-time Data APIs. News article: TransitView: SEPTA unveils real-time bus and trolley app, also SMS and smartphone schedules
• 8/3-8/28/2011: Fix Philly Districts launched. Open source DistrictBuider software used to run public competition to crowdsource better City Council district boundaries. News articles:
  • Voters flock to chance to fix Philly's election map
  • FixPhillyDistricts: Voters offer winning visions for Council map
  • FixPhillyDistricts.com: local redistricting contest kicks off with cash prizes.
• 9/1-10/28/2011: Open Data Race Held to Lobby for Data Releases. Community holds contest to prioritize data releases by City of Philadelphia that will support non-profit organizations in the region.
• 1/2/2012: 2012 Code for America Fellowship.
• 4/26/2012: Mayor Nutter signs Open Data executive order. News article: 10 takeaways from new City of Philadelphia Open Data Policy.
• 8/9/2012: Chief Data Officer appointed. News article: Meet Mark Headd, Philadelphia's first Chief Data Officer.
• Code for Philly Brigade started.
• 1/23/2013: City Budget Data Released by Philadelphia candidate for City Controller. News article: Use the coolest, most comprehensive City of Philadelphia budget visualization you’ve ever seen.
• 10/30/2014: Open Data Strategic Plan (PDF) released by the City. News article: Here’s Chief Data Officer Tim Wisniewski’s plan to make open data stick.

See Also

• Azavea
• Open Data Philly
• Executive Order: Open Data and Government Transparency