End-of-term (July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2016)
Completed
Continue to unlock the potential of open data through a series of innovative and forward-looking projects that drive government-wide progress on open data and prioritize easy access to high-value federal data.
| Deliverables | Status / Final Results | Lessons Learned | Completion Level |
|---|---|---|---|
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Continue to prioritize and expand the release of high-quality open data from federal departments and agencies under a single Open Government Licence. |
Since , more than 500 new datasets have been added to the Government of Canada’s open data portal from 56 federal institutions under the Open Government Licence – Canada. |
Governance and resources are a challenge for releasing datasets within departments. Sharing governance models, and improved guidance, including dataset quality guidelines have been helpful to releasing higher quality data. |
Substantial Rolled over in 2016-18 Plan |
|
Complete public consultations with Canadians and civil society organizations in support of the prioritization of open data releases. |
To support implementation of the Directive on Open Government, a prioritization guide has been developed that has been informed by the results of a session held at the International Open Data Conference in . |
Public and business input is highly valuable in guiding government departments and agencies in releasing in-demand data, ensuring a positive return on investment. |
Complete |
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Launch a new government-wide open government portal (Open.Canada.ca) with expanded open data services
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On , Open.Canada.ca was officially launched as the Government of Canada’s new open government portal. In addition to revised navigation and search capabilities that align with overall Canada.ca renewal activities, new features of the site include:
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Releasing datasets is only the first step in developing a mature open data program. The releases need to be accompanied by tools, services and complementary information that assist Canadians in understanding and using the released data. It is important to work with and learn from other governments with open data services in order to promote alignment and interoperability. |
Complete |
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Expand and deliver the Canadian Open Data Experience (CODE) by:
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The CODE 2015 hackathon was held - , with approximately 1,300 participants and 125 total submissions (respectively 40% and 15% increases over CODE 2014).
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CODE participants were interested in expanding beyond the focus on commercialization. Future appathon events could do a better job at embracing those who want to solve problems and be civic hackers and not necessarily entrepreneurs. |
Complete |
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Consolidate the management of federal geospatial data across the Government of Canada to make this information more accessible and reusable via federal open government websites |
The Federal Geospatial Platform (FGP)) was launched on . The FGP is an initiative of the Federal Committee on Geomatics and Earth Observations (FCGEO), a committee of senior executives from 21 departments and agencies that are producers and/or consumers of geospatial data. The FGP:
Foundational work completed in support of the FGP initiative includes a harmonized metadata standard and a data inventory for Release 1 of the FGP portal. |
Creating a common configuration of a geospatial metadata standard provides the ability for users to have access to a single geospatial data search that is collected from over 30 departments. This allows the ability for Canadians to discover data through a mapping interface, as well as combine and compare related content. |
Complete |
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Broaden adoption of the International Aid Transparency Initiative (IATI) standard in the Government of Canada, and encourage other Canadian actors to publish their own data, in particular, civil society organizations. |
The IATI standard has been adopted by federal departments implicated in the delivery of international development aid. A new, whole-of-government IATI Implementation Schedule has been published, including a specific schedule for Global Affairs Canada. Three federal departments representing over 90% of Canada’s official development assistance are now publishing data in accordance with the IATI Standard - see links below to departments’ IATI data from:
Various outreach activities to encourage the participation of Canadian civil society organizations in IATI took place over 2014-2016, including:
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The use of the IATI standard by non-government actors in Canada remains low and more promotion and encouragement is needed by the IATI community to expand the implementation of the standard. |
Complete |
Additional Deliverables Beyond the Action Plan
In , new consultation tools were developed using open source resources to host and manage online open government consultations. Given the tools are based on open source code, scaling them for use by other departments and agencies to host their consultations is possible.
In , Canada further increased its engagement toward aid transparency by becoming the Chair of IATI’s Governing Board. The first IATI Members’ Assembly under Canada’s chairmanship, which took place - , agreed to important steps towards the sustainability of the initiative.
Relevance
Supports all four OGP principles: transparency, civic participation, accountability, and access to new technologies for openness. This commitment is targeted at helping address the OGP Grand Challenges of improving public services, increasing public integrity, and effectively managing public resources by making more high-value, standardized data available from federal institutions and engaging Canadians in reusing that data.
Ambition
Accelerates the proactive release of high-value data promoting government transparency, supporting international standards, furthering innovation, maximizing reuse, and continuing to enhance and improve government-wide open data platforms and services.