Bloomberg Philanthropies has selected the City of Laredo for a What Works Cities (WWC) initiative to establish an open data portal that will improve the City’s ability to use data as a strategic asset for economic development.
The announcement, which was made at a February 8 press conference at City Hall, formalizes the performance details of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) the City inked with Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Government Excellence (GovEx) on December 20, 2016.
The MOU set in motion a scope of work to develop policy for how the City manages its data, where it is deposited, and how it will be accessed as a tool for economic development. Representatives of all City departments who are part of the open data team meet weekly for teleconference workshops with GovEx and WWC representatives who provide technical assistance.
Laredo is one of 100 mid-size cities selected for the WWC initiative.
Assistant City Manager Horacio De Leon Jr. credits a handful of Laredo millennials for bringing the initiative to the City’s attention.
Real estate broker Julian Rotnofsky came across WWC and open data as he searched development opportunities on the City of Austin’s website. By comparison, he noticed that the City of Laredo’s website had little data in one place that an investor or developer could use to consider a project in Laredo.
Rotnofsky, Cassandra Ramirez, Krissy Gutierrez, Francis Alexander, Stephanie Barajas, and Alec Martinez met with Mayor Pete Saenz and City Manager Jesus Olivares on June 20, 2016 to discuss the benefits of readily available data centralized to one place — demographics and economic indicators, single family housing, multi family housing, the number and dollar value of building permits issued, sales tax data, international trade figures, air cargo stats, and bridge and rail crossing numbers.
Saenz and Olivares were receptive to the idea. The City contacted WWC and the matter went before City Council. The City applied for the technical assistance grant, and WWC staff traveled to Laredo for a workshop for strategic planning in late November.
“They vetted our goals, objectives, and plans to have this data portal open to the public. They liked the Mayor’s ideas about transparency in government,” De Leon said.
The MOU stipulates a 150-day timeline from the mutually agreed upon date of January 17, 2017 to follow the work plan to completion.
The City’s open data team works with GovEx and WWC toward goals set in 30-day increments for data inventory, quality, and warehousing, as well as internal access. De Leon said an agenda is set before conference calls every Tuesday morning. “We are four meetings into the scope of work. The exchanges are extremely productive. We have a question, they have a solution,” he said.
The MOU’a plan reflects an escalating depth of work each month to reach the ultimate goal of a trained data governance team, entry protocols, and training for city staff to ensure high quality data collection and usability.
According to De Leon, the technical support and resources the GovEx grant provides has a value of hundreds of thousands of dollars. The City will pay for the technology required for the initiative’s implementation and additional personnel if needed.
The City’s IT staff of 12 is part of the effort to collect data from other city departments, and to then classify it, inventory it, screen it for quality, and standardize it.
De Leon said that Laredo is the first border city to establish a WWC open data portal. “El Paso is in the process of going in this direction,” he said.
The five largest cities in the country — New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Houston — have open data portals. Boston, Sacramento, Cincinnati, Seattle, Denver, San José, San Antonio, Dallas, and Baltimore are among the 100+ cities that have established open data management systems.
De Leon noted that some cities use the Bloomberg/WWC resources to establish datasets for crime, 3-1-1, spending, transit, zoning, and code enforcement.
“This is an amazing opportunity to connect all City departments with the public. The open data portal can provide answers quickly and may reduce the number of open records requests that go through the City Attorney’s office. This is a tool for everyone. Instead of making decisions based on perceptions, you’ll be able to base them on data. Information is power,” De Leon said.
Rotnofsky called open data the new frontier of growth and investment. “Without it we will be left behind as other cities take advantage and use data to drive more business and development. Without it, we are lost in a sea of inefficiencies. Laredo is way too big not to have an open data portal,” he said.
Karen Gaytan and Roger Garcia, millennials pushing initiative forward. Photo credit: Derick Moreno.
Millennial Karen Gaytan, who with Rotnofsky and others went before City Council to present the open data initiative last fall, said, “It’s important to see my city compete with other cities — not only because we have the talent, but because we have the assets to capitalize on. What Works Cities gives Laredo the opportunity to jump to the next level with factual and reliable numbers for our city officials and citizens alike to use for social and economic development. Laredo is no longer a small town and shouldn’t operate like one.”
