Gainesville now has a one-stop website for residents to access its data.
The city’s Open Data portal, which officially launched Tuesday, allows the public to access datasets of information, ranging from city budgets to Gainesville’s utility consumption.
Becky Rountree, the city’s administrative services director, said the app is meant to provide raw data to the public.
“There’s a wealth of information in (the portal), and it is meant to provide citizens with this data, and they can use the data in whatever way it meets their needs,” Rountree said.
Data will be uploaded to the portal monthly, quarterly and annually, depending on when information is made available, Rountree said.
The app is the first phase of the city’s Government 2.0 initiative, which aims to create more government transparency, said City Commissioner Lauren Poe.
The initiative is focused on opening up vast amounts of data collected by the government and making it accessible to members of the community, Poe said.
“We’re really excited about this in Gainesville. We have the perfect community to take ownership of the Open Government initiative,” Poe said, adding the city is deeming Feb. 22 “Open Data Day.”
Madalina Mottl, a 23-year-old UF telecommunication and political science senior and former intern for U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho, said she recognizes both the positives and negatives of the portal.
“I can see how this would be good for the city of Gainesville,” Mottl said. “It allows people to be really informed about government spending.”
However, she said she acknowledges a downside of transparency as well.
“The negative side of it is that people are not going to like what they see,” Mottl said. “Some people will just see the front number but not really dig into what the money and finances are going towards.”
A version of this story ran on page 4 on 1/16/2014 under the headline "City launches open data website"
