E&V Process
In the 2016 E&V report, MODA found that there are many ways to interpret the term “dataset.” The same set of data records can be represented in single or multiple data tables, at multiple levels of granularity, and may be stored in different data formats in a database or in a custom data system.
To accommodate definitional differences, MODA requires agencies to examine the existing instances at their agencies where data assets are created and exchanged. This requires ODCs to complete a thorough internal audit process that ensures that they connect with other relevant information stewards at their agencies, including public communications officials, Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) officers, and database administrators.
The dataset questionnaire was presented as a workbook of spreadsheets with the following sections:
Agency Overview: Description of the agency, its data sources, and its technical systems
Current Baseline: Inventory and data quality questionnaire for datasets already on the Open Data Portal
MMR: Inventory of Mayor’s Management Report (MMR) indicators and underlying datasets
Reports: Inventory of mandated reports and underlying datasets. Similar to the MMR section, this section aims to identify whether the most granular information used to calculate metrics in public reports is available on the Open Data Portal
Shared: Inventory of datasets shared between agencies for operational purposes
FOIL: Inventory of datasets used to respond to FOIL requests
Data on Agency Websites: The Open Data Law requires all data to reside in a single web portal. This section verifies that any dataset available on an agency website is also on the Open Data Portal.
Future Releases: Datasets already on the agency Open Data Plan and newly identified datasets.
Civic Engagement: For the first time this year, the Open Data team required agencies to commit to three civic engagement activities between September 15, 2018 and September 15, 2019. Agencies that opted-out were required to list their reason with a public statement.
Organizational Chart
The organizational chart familiarizes MODA and agency ODCs with each bureau, division, and reporting relationship within the agency. The dataset questionnaire requires ODCs to work across the organizational chart, giving them an opportunity to better understand their agency’s information ecosystem while examining the business functions and personnel that have already contributed data to the Open Data Portal.
Executive Certification Letter
MODA requires agency leadership to sign a certification letter modeled after the letter all Agency commissioners signed when they submitted their first Open Data compliance plans in 2013. In this statement, an agency’s Commissioner or their designee, and the agency’s General Counsel or their designee, certifies the completeness and accuracy of the information provided in the dataset questionnaire.
NEW: Early Kick-Off and Monthly Check-In
For the first time this year, MODA provided agencies a detailed overview of the E&V process at in-person meetings at their agencies at a kickoff meeting in January 2018. This earlier start proved useful to ODCs undergoing the process. MODA also required monthly check-ins, where the Open Data team answered questions. The regular points of contact helped agencies make incremental progress on their E&V deliverables each month.
NEW: Public Review Period
Between October 3 and October 17, 2018, the public was invited to submit feedback on agencies’ draft dataset questionnaires. In past years, the E&V process has included a public comment period through the existing dataset request process on the Open Data website’s “Contact Us” page. MODA, for the first time this year, released draft workbooks for public review in advance of the publication of this report. The public was invited to:
Request a dataset believed to be maintained by the agency but not already in the Open Data Plan
Identify what is believed to be an omission from any section of the agency’s dataset inventory
Disagree with the agency’s reported rationale for why any dataset is or is not public
Ask a question about something reported in the survey, including questions on existing datasets on the Open Data Portal or datasets scheduled for future release
Debrief Interview
Following the examination process, MODA met with ODCs to discuss the challenges and opportunities they face in the ODC role, which are reflected in the “Recommendations for Better Citywide Compliance” section of this report.
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