Cook County Partners with Smart Chicago Collaborative to Expand Open Data
The Cook County Board today approved a partnership between the Bureau of Technology and Smart Chicago Collaborative that will expand the open data the County provides and make it easier for the public to access.
Collaborating with Smart Chicago will increase the County’s ability to find, clean and link data, such as crime and health statistics, to the County’s website.
“Entering into this partnership with Smart Chicago, will help the County find ways to improve the lives of residents through technology,” Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle said. “It is part of my administration’s commitment to provide accessible and up-to-date information.”
The two year, $170,000 agreement with Smart Chicago starts February 1. Smart Chicago will work with County bureaus, departments, and agencies to develop and identify new datasets to publish, prepare the county’s data, and post it on a public website. Smart Chicago also will help create visuals, infographics and other web-based content to make it easier for residents to understand how the County is performing.
Smart Chicago is devoted to improving the amount and utility of open government data,” said Daniel O’Neil, the Executive Director of the Smart Chicago Collaborative. “We see working with the County as a concrete way to build solid open data practices and make the cast data already available more relevant to the lives of County residents every day.”
Smart Chicago was founded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The City of Chicago, and The Chicago Community Trust to develop the public, social, and economic opportunities that arise from the use of digital technology. One of the Cook County-based organization’s core missions is to develop open data sets and applications that benefit the public.
“Partnering with Smart Chicago lets us to tap into its hands-on expertise as the County expands its data catalog,” said Interim Chief Information Officer of the Bureau of Technology, Mary Jo Horace.