Video of Open Data Hearing

Below is video of the NYC Council Committee on Technology’s hearing on Jun 29 2009 regarding proposed Int. 991, Open Data Standards.

This was a public hearing of New York City Council Committee on Technology in Government to discuss open data standards for city agencies, a new bill #991-2009 having been introduced to establish same in an effort to increase government transparency and access to public data. Beyond the ‘good government’ benefits of the legislation, the bill is intended to unlock City data to enable web developers and entrepreneurs to interact with City government in new and unforeseen ways.

However, on the morning of the hearing Mayor Bloomberg pre-empted the bill by announcing that the City would make available 80 data sets and run a competition ‘Big Apps’ for the best application. While welcoming the Mayor’s initiative, it was apparent that the Committee Chair Gale Brewer, and just about every witness, considered it ultimately insufficient.

Educators, librarians, and other interested parties can obtain a free DVD of this hearing by emailing dvd@isoc-ny.org – ask for DVD1615.


Part 1:

Introduction: Gale Brewer

Sami Naim – Asst. Counsel, Office of the Mayor

ipod | stills | youtube | mp3


Part 2:

Andrew Hoppin – CIO NY State Senate
Benjamin Kallos – Open Government Foundation
Ian Jacobs – W3C

ipod | stills | youtube | mp3


Part 3:

Morgan Reed – Assoc. For Competitive Tech.
James Vasile – Software Freedom Law Center
Philip Ashlock – Open Planning Project

ipod | stills | youtube | mp3


Part 4:

Chris Keeley – Common Cause NY
Rachael Fauss – Citizens Union NY
Denora Getachew – Citizens Union NY
Joshua Breitbart – People’s Production House

ipod | stills | youtube | mp3


Part 5:

Tom Lowenhaupt – Connecting .NYC Inc.
Silona Bonewald – League of Technical Voters
Frank Hebbert – Regional Plan Assn.

ipod | stills | youtube |mp3


Part 6:

Andrew Brust – Twenty Six New York
Jay Sulzberger
Kayza Kleinman – Non-Profit Helpdesk

Conclusion – Gale Brewer

ipod | stills | youtube | mp3


NYC Council Committee on Technology in Government
Text of the bill
Status of the bill
Briefing on the bill

Bloomberg announcement Press Release
Mayor’s Office NYCStat homepage

7/1/09 Ian Jacobs blog of the hearing

6/25/09 NY-FI Open-Government Techies Get Giddy About a Council Bill; But Will Bloomberg Care?
6/29/09 NY Times City Invites Software Developers to Crunch Big Data Sets
6/29/09 Politicker Bloomberg Administration Resists Online Mandate, Citing User-Friendliness
6/29/09 NY-FI review of the hearing.

About joly

isoc member since 1995

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