[open-government] Fwd: [Sunlight International] Updated: Sunlight Foundation's Open Data Policy Guidelines, Version 2.0

Mon Aug 12 20:05:05 UTC 2013

(Sorry for the cross-posts.)

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Laurenellen McCann <lmccann at sunlightfoundation.com>
Date: Mon, Aug 12, 2013 at 2:02 PM
Subject: [Sunlight International] Updated: Sunlight Foundation's Open Data
Policy Guidelines, Version 2.0
To: sunlight-international at googlegroups.com

Hi all,

Sorry for the onslaught of Sunlight articles today, but we just announced
the revamp (and redesign) of Sunlight's Open Data Policy Guidelines and
wanted to share with you. You can find the Guidelines here:

http://sunlightfoundation.com/opendataguidelines

The intro post below details what's new. Before sharing that, however, I
want to highlight that we're eager to update this document (and our
accompanying research docs) to capture best practices and trends from open
data policies outside the US as well. Feel free to email Julia or myself
directly if you're interested in helping out, otherwise, keep your eyes
peeled for more emails on this subject soon.

All the best,
Laurenellen

http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2013/08/12/announcing-the-open-data-policy-guidelines-version-2-0/

Announcing the Open Data Policy Guidelines, Version
2.0<http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2013/08/12/announcing-the-open-data-policy-guidelines-version-2-0/>
by Laurenellen McCann <http://sunlightfoundation.com/people/lmccann/>Aug.
12, 2013, 1:49 p.m.

As more communities recognize the power and possibilities of sharing public
data online, there is an increasing need to articulate what it means to
open data -- and how to create policies that can not only support these
efforts, but do so in a sustainable and ambitious way.

*To this end, we are releasing the second version of Sunlight’s Open Data
Policy Guidelines <http://sunlightfoundation.com/opendataguidelines/>*.
Originally authored last
summer<http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2012/06/29/open-data-policy-guidelines/>
and informed<http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2012/06/29/open-data-policy-guidelines/>
by
the great work of our peers and allies, the
Guidelines<http://sunlightfoundation.com/opendataguidelines/> are
a living document created to help define the landscape of what open data
policies can and should do. For this latest version, we’ve reordered and
slightly rephrased the Guidelines’ 32 provisions for clarity. We’ve also
grouped them into 3 categories as a way of demonstrating that open data
policies can define What Data Should Be
Public<http://sunlightfoundation.com/opendataguidelines/#section-what-data-should-be-public>
, How to Make Data
Public<http://sunlightfoundation.com/opendataguidelines/#section-how-to-make-data-public>,
and How to Implement
Policy<http://sunlightfoundation.com/opendataguidelines/#section-how-to-implement-policy>
.

Long-time Guidelines fans will note some additional, slight changes to the
provisions. We’ve subtracted two provisions: one dealing with contests
(really a detailed element of a public/private
partnership<http://sunlightfoundation.com/opendataguidelines/#partnerships>;
contests can be a great platform for public engagement, but don’t qualify
as a distinct best practice for policy) and another about publishing
analytics from data portals. (Again, too specific. Public analytics can be
an asset of a data
portal<http://sunlightfoundation.com/opendataguidelines/#data-portals-and-websites>,
but is probably best addressed as part of technical guidance or part of an
implementation plan.) We’ve also added a new provision about *setting the
default to open<http://sunlightfoundation.com/opendataguidelines/#open-by-default>
*, a critical provision for helping to define public information and
support its release.

The goal of the Guidelines is to be just that -- a guide to what is
possible. In this latest version, we’ve tried to make the possible more
actionable, too, by adding additional use cases of where you can find
provisions around the country (and increasingly, the world) and by
including some sample policy language. Rather than crafting a single piece
of model legislation, we’ve structured the provisions so that they can be
versatile for a variety of political needs and contexts. We hope that the
Guidelines are of help not just to those crafting an official “Open Data
Policy,” but also to those seeking to include open data language in a range
of policies, referendums, legislation, and executive orders about issues
outside the traditional scope of technology policy.

Over the past year, the
Guidelines<http://sunlightfoundation.com/opendataguidelines/> have
served as the foundation for our ongoing analyses and explorations of open
data initiatives, and these efforts will continue (and expand!) in the days
and weeks ahead. In particular, we’ll unpack our findings from reviewing
the current state and municipal policies on the books in the US -- an
intense and revealing project which helped inform our Guidelines update and
which you can catch an early glimpse of in this
spreadsheet<https://docs.google.com/a/sunlightfoundation.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ap0CEAgs-R_odFc0Qk1WNHdIUDE3bUNVd1U3WUlnblE#gid=0>
--
and we’ll explore more details about the policy-making process, hurdles to
data release, and continue our
coverage<http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/tag/open-data-policy-guidelines/>
of
new and existing open data initiatives.

Open data and, by proxy, open data policies have the potential to transform
communities, to change the relationship between governments and
constituents. The individual parts may seem simple -- upgrading data
formats<http://sunlightfoundation.com/opendataguidelines/#open-formats>,
mandating electronic
filing<http://sunlightfoundation.com/opendataguidelines/#electronic-filing>,
requiring data to be published
online<http://sunlightfoundation.com/opendataguidelines/#post-online>
--
but their sum is something
great<http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2012/07/06/open-data-creates-accountability/>.
As we approach the creation of new policies, even in the earliest stages,
we must keep in mind the ends we seek -- and we must create goals worth
working on together.

We hope that the Guidelines will be of help in this journey and will
continue to refine the them as we explore and promote best practices.

We welcome your input.

The Guidelines are accessible online at
http://sunlightfoundation.com/opendataguidelines and can also be downloaded
in PDF<http://assets.sunlightfoundation.com.s3.amazonaws.com/policy/Open%20Data%20Policy%20Guidelines/OpenDataPolicyGuidelines_V2.pdf>
 and ODT<http://assets.sunlightfoundation.com.s3.amazonaws.com/policy/Open%20Data%20Policy%20Guidelines/OpenDataPolicyGuidelines_V2.odt>
.

  *Photo by Flickr user (and open data friend)
OKFN<http://www.flickr.com/photos/okfn/6419794587/sizes/o/>
*

-- 
Laurenellen McCann
National Policy Manager | Sunlight
Foundation<http://www.sunlightfoundation.com/>
(w) 202-742-1520 x282 | @elle_mccann <http://twitter.com/elle_mccann>
[image: Sunlight Foundation] <http://sunlightfoundation.com/> [image:
Sunlight Foundation on
Facebook]<http://www.facebook.com/sunlightfoundation>[image:
Sunlight Foundation on Twitter] <http://twitter.com/sunfoundation>[image:
OpenGov on Reddit] <http://www.reddit.com/r/sunlight>

-- 
Laurenellen McCann
National Policy Manager | Sunlight
Foundation<http://www.sunlightfoundation.com/>
(w) 202-742-1520 x282 | @elle_mccann <http://twitter.com/elle_mccann>
[image: Sunlight Foundation] <http://sunlightfoundation.com/> [image:
Sunlight Foundation on
Facebook]<http://www.facebook.com/sunlightfoundation>[image:
Sunlight Foundation on Twitter] <http://twitter.com/sunfoundation>[image:
OpenGov on Reddit] <http://www.reddit.com/r/sunlight>

-- 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"Sunlight International" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
email to sunlight-international+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com.
To post to this group, send email to sunlight-international at googlegroups.com
.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.

-- 
Júlia Keserű
International Program Coordinator

1818 N Street NW, Suite 300
Washington, DC 20036
(1) 202-742-1520 *280

[image: Sunlight Foundation] <http://sunlightfoundation.com/> [image:
Sunlight Foundation on
Facebook]<http://www.facebook.com/sunlightfoundation>[image:
Sunlight Foundation on Twitter] <http://twitter.com/sunfoundation>[image:
OpenGov on Reddit] <http://www.reddit.com/r/sunlight> [image: Sunlight
Foundation on YouTube] <http://www.youtube.com/sunlightfoundation>
<http://sunlightfoundation.com/feeds/latest/>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.okfn.org/pipermail/open-government/attachments/20130812/bd62e27a/attachment.html>