3. Vancouver Open Data Motion
The Vancouver City Council agreed to a motion on May 21, 2009[212] supporting the use of open data, open standards, and open source software. It is excerpted below, focusing on the parts related to open data:
Open Data, Open Standards and Open Source
. . .
WHEREAS the total value of public data is maximized when provided for free or where necessary only a minimal cost of distribution;
WHEREAS when data is shared freely, citizens are enabled to use and repurpose it to help create a more economically vibrant and environmentally sustainable city;
WHEREAS Vancouver needs to look for opportunities for creating economic activity and partnership with the creative tech sector;
WHEREAS the adoption of open standards improves transparency, access to city information by citizens and businesses and improved coordination and efficiencies across municipal boundaries and with federal and provincial partners;
. . .
WHEREAS digital innovation can enhance citizen communications, support the brand of the city as creative and innovative, improve service delivery, support citizens to self-organize and solve their own problems, and create a stronger sense of civic engagement, community, and pride;
WHEREAS the City of Vancouver has incredible resources of data and information, and has recently been recognized as the Best City Archive of the World.
. . .
A. THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the City of Vancouver endorses the principles of:
• Open and Accessible Data - the City of Vancouver will freely share with citizens, businesses and other jurisdictions the greatest amount of data possible while respecting privacy and security concerns;
• Open Standards - the City of Vancouver will move as quickly as possible to adopt prevailing open standards for data, documents, maps, and other formats of media;
. . .
B. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT in pursuit of open data the City of Vancouver will:
1. Identify immediate opportunities to distribute more of its data;
2. Index, publish and syndicate its data to the internet using prevailing open standards, interfaces and formats;
. . .
5. Ensure that data supplied to the City by third parties (developers,contractors, consultants) are unlicensed, in a prevailing open standard format, and not copyrighted except if otherwise prevented by legal considerations;
