San Francisco mayor to propose open data program be made into law

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom will reportedly propose that the city’s open data initiative called DataSF that started 13 months ago be made into law.

The program has been lauded by technologists across the country as an example for other city governments to offer open data to their citizens, both for transparency as well as for the foundations of building apps that help the quality of life. Although there are many more data sets that still have not been made public by the city of San Francisco, certainly if it becomes law (it was started by executive order from Newsom) we’d imagine that the push to get more data sets to the public would quicken.

However, according to the San Francisco Chronicle,

“Board of Supervisors President David Chiu, who has made updating the city’s technology infrastructure a signature issue, said he was supportive of Newsom’s goal, but added: “We’ve only taken baby steps. I think the biggest problem is a lot of departments aren’t collecting data. DataSF will only be successful if data is being collected – and the right data is being analyzed.”

Regardless, open data is a key part of making civic apps (whether out altruistic or for-profit motives), and this move by Newsom and the city of San Francisco should be a welcome one to developers across the country.