The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved an initiative to create a one-stop-shop for county data ranging from crime statistics to election data.
Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, who recommended development of a single portal for county information, said it would usher in a new era of transparency and information accessibility.
“This initiative is simply a historic shift,” Ridley-Thomas said. “Our vast trove of data and public records will be readily available in a user- friendly form for the first time.”
The website — www.data.lacounty.gov — is expected to combine information from 37 departments on a single dashboard where data can be easily searched and downloaded in machine-readable format. The data will also be available in application programming interface (API) form to encourage entrepreneurs to develop related mobile apps.
Ridley-Thomas cited President Barack Obama’s 2013 executive order requiring federal government data to be made publicly available in open, machine-readable format.
“County departments have already been publishing hundreds of open data reports and sets on their respective websites,” Ridley-Thomas said. “However, it is not published in a user-friendly or machine-readable format.”
San Francisco, New York and Chicago have created open data portals, but Los Angeles County would be the largest municipal government to do so, Ridley- Thomas said.
A report is expected back in 90 days.
— City News Service