Democratizing Open Data

About the Program

Category: County Administration and Management (Best in Category)

Year: 2017

The benefits of open data to government, businesses and citizens are significant – including self-empowerment, transparency, better insights into difficult problems, and more effective planning and public policy making. However, not everyone has the skills and expertise needed to utilize large, complex data offered through open data portals. The purpose of the Democratizing Open Data program is to make some of this open data universally accessible through the use of interactive data visualizations that allow viewers to explore data through intuitive but powerful interfaces. Fairfax County is creating interactive data visualizations that allow users to explore data by various geographies and characteristics. By putting open data into interactive data visualizations, it is easier for users to see patterns and exceptions that might be overlooked in other formats. “Big Data is a powerful discovery tool for… [those] seeking to glean new insights. But without the right framework for understanding it, much of that knowledge may go unrecognized. Oftentimes, it’s data visualization that allows Big Data to unleash its true impact (Dorie Clark, Forbes 3/10/2014).” Fairfax County’s interactive data visualizations hosted on the county’s website help to bridge the gap between data, accessibility and understanding. In addition to enabling viewers to explore data, these web-hosted interactive data visualizations are very resource efficient because they are easy to update when new data become available. In the past, creating and updating data visualizations was a staff-intensive manual process. The interactive applications dramatically reduce the staff time required for updating because much of the updating process can be automated.