The last day to submit feedback on the city’s proposed new open-data policy is Tuesday, Oct. 31.
Late last month, Mayor Jim Strickland announced a new data policy he said would further the transparency and accountability of his administration.
“When I ran for mayor, I promised to measure results, hold city government accountable, and share those results with you,” Strickland said in a September Facebook post. “We’ve been doing the by that by sharing our monthly data reviews, but with a new open data policy, we can do more.”
Drafted by the mayor’s Office of Performance Management, along with What Works Cities and the Sunlight Foundation, the new policy aims to use technology to prompt a more open city government, while improving the public’s ability to track the city’s goals and progress.
The new policy is also meant to increase the amount of data and the tools to interpret it that is available to the public, according to the draft.
Specifically, the policy will provide the basic principles of the Memphis Open Data Program, as well as authorize the mayor to create the Data Government Committee, who will develop the procedures and standards for implementing the new policy. The committee will also determine which types of data should and should not be made available to the public.
The full draft can be viewed here. The city has not announced the timeline for implementing the new policy.
