Un-PDFing Legislation
Example pdf and current output can be found in the example directory.
- Requires ghostscript
apt-get install ghostscript
Un-PDFing Legislation
License: MIT License
Un-PDFing Legislation
Example pdf and current output can be found in the example directory.
apt-get install ghostscript
The original PDF: http://montgomerycountymd.gov/open/Resources/Files/SignedOpenDataBill_23-12.pdf
The converted .txt file is as follows...
�[0mBill No. 23-12
Concerning: Administration Open
[[Government]]
セdセ。エD。⦅MMZMMMZM__
Revised: 12/412012 Draft NO.6
Introduced: July 31.2012
Enacted: December 4.2012
Executive: December
17. 2012
Effective: March
18. 2013
Sunset Date: --'-"No>:<!n.1.:::,e'-----c::---,--::--
Ch. セLLaws of Mont. Co. 2012
COUNTY COUNCIL
FOR MONTGOMERY COUNTY, MARYLAND
By: Councilmembers Riemer and Andrews, Council President Berliner, and Councilmembers �
Leventhal, Floreen, Navarro, and Ervin �
AN ACT to:
(1) require the County to make certain public data sets available on a single web portal
on the internet;
(2) require the ([Department
of Technology Services]] County to develop a technical
standards manual for publishing public data sets;
(3) require the County to develop ([a Compliance]] an Open Data Implementation Plan;
(4) require the County
to include on the single web portal, a website that includes
certain information on requests submitted to the County under the Maryland Public
Information Act and the County's response to that request;
(5) require the Chief Administrative Officer to report to the Council on the Executive
Branch's [[compliance with]] responses to the Maryland Public Information Act;
and
(6) generally amend County law regarding administration.
By adding
Montgomery County Code
Chapter 2, Administration
Article XIV,
Open [[Government]] Data
Sections 2-152, 2-152, 2-153, 2-154,2-155,2-156,2-157, [[and]] 2-158, and 2-159
Boldface Heading or defined term.
Underlining
Addedto existing law by original bill.
[Single boldface brackets]
Deletedfrom existing law by original bill.
Double underlining
Addedby amendment.
[[Double boldface brackets]]
Deletedfrom existing law or the bill by amendment.
4 5
7 8
18 19
27 BILL
No. 23-12
Sec. 1. Article XIV (Sections 2-152, 2-152, 2-153, 2-154, 2-155, 2-156,
2-157, [[and]] 2-158,
and 2-159) is added to Chapter 2 as follows:
Article XIV.
Open [[Government]] Data.
2-152. Title.
This Article is known as the "Montgomery County
セ[[Government]] Data
Act."
2-153. Definitions.
In this Article, the following words and phrases have the following meanings: �
Agency means any department or ッヲヲゥ」・{{セ@department, division, board, �
committee, commission]]
ofthe County government. �
Data means the final version
of digital information: �
Uti ill in セ@structured, statistical, or alphanumeric form (Le., list,
table, graph, chart, or other non-narrative form) that can
be digitally transmitted or processed; or
ill.} in an unstructured, factual, or content form .G.b fact
sheet, memorandum, press release, compliance guidance,
manual, or other narrative form) that can be digitally
transmitted or processed; and
lhl �regularly created or maintained Qy or on behalf of and owned
Qy an agency that records セ@file, measurement, transaction, or
[[determination]] final decision related to the mission of an
agency.
Data does not include any information provided to an agency
Qy another
government entity; or any image file, such as
セ@design, drawing, map. photo,
or scanned
£QPY
of an original document. [[Data includes statistical or
factual information about the image file and geographic information system
data.]]
-2 BILL No. 23-12
28 [[Department means the Department of Technology Services.]]
29 [[Determination means any agency's final decision about a person,
30 including:
31 ill eligibility for services or benefits;
32 (hl issuing セ@permit;
33 (£} registration, certification and licensing; and
34 @ liability for civil and criminal penalties.]]
35 Maryland Public Information Act or Act means the Maryland Public
36 Information Act, codified at Sections 10-611 through 10-630 of the State
37 Government Article
ofthe Maryland Code.
38 Measurement means to guantify any characteristic of an observable event,
39 occurrence, or object
.Qy comparison to セ@reference standard.
40 Qpen Data Implementation Plan means a plan developed by the Chief
41 Administrative Officer to implement this Article and as further described in
42 Section 2-158.
43 Open standard means セ@technical standard developed and maintained .Qy セ@
44 voluntary consensus standards body that is available to the public without
45 royalty or
fee.
46 Public data set means {{セ@comprehensive collection of interrelated data that
47 is available for inspection
.Qy the public under any provision of law and is
48 maintained on セ@computer system セor on behalf of, an agency.]] data
49 idsmtified as eligible for publication by the Open Data Implementation Plan.
50 Public data set does not include any portion of セ@data set that is not subject
51 to disclosure under any Federal or State law, including the Maryland Public
52 Information Act.
53 Technical standard means:
-3 BILL No. 23-12
54 W the common and repeated use
of セ@rule, condition, guideline, or
55 characteristic for any product or related process and production
56 method, and related management systems practice; and
57 {hl ill the definition of セ@term;
ill classification of セ@component;
ill delineation ofセ@procedure;
60 ill specification of dimension, material, performance,
61 design, or operation;
ill measurement of quality and quantity in describing any
63 material, process, product, system, service, or practice;
64 ® test method and sampling procedure; or
ill description of fit and measurement of size or strength.
66 Transaction means any interaction between
an agency and any person
67 related to the mission
of an agency.
68 Voluntary consensus standards body means
セ@domestic or international
69 organization that develops and maintains
セ@technical standard that uses セ@
70 transparent deliberative process, permits the participation of any party, and
71 achieves general consensus, although not necessarily unanimity, of the
72 participating parties, including セ@process to attempt to resolve any difference
73 in viewpoint.
74 2-154. Public
data set availability.
75 W [[An agency]] The County must make {{セ}}@some public data sets
76 available on
セ@single web portal on the Internet within 1 year after this
77 Article takes effect. Every agency must make at least one public data
78 set available
to .. be published on a single web portal within the
79 timeframe prescribed by the Open Data Implementation Plan. The
4 BILL No. 23-12
81 subcategories the order in which public data sets should be published. �
82 To prioritize public data sets in the Open Data Implementation Plan, �
83 the Chief Administrative Officer must consider whether information �
84 tilllbodied in the public data set: �
85 ill can be used to Increase agency accountability and �
86 responslveness; �
87 aJ improves public knowledge ofthe agency and its operations; �
88 Lll furthers the mission ofthe agency; �
ill creates economic opportunity; or �
90 (2) responds t9 a need or demand identified by public consultation. �
91 [[If an agency cannot make !! public data set available, the agency �
92 must report to Executive and Council: �
93 ill which public data set it is unable to make available; �
94 ill the reasons why the agency cannot make the public data set �
95 available; and �
96 ill the date Qy: which the agency expects the public data set to be �
97 available on the single web portal.]] �
98 (Q) Any published public data set that an agency makes available on the �
99 Internet must be accessible through !! single web portal that is linked �
100 to www.montgomerycountymd.gov or any successor website �
101 maintained by" or on behalf Q£. the County. �
102 W A public data set must be made available as specified in technical �
103 standards [[identified Qy: Method セ@イ・ァオャ。エゥッョ}}セ@ �
104 @ A public data set must be published in !! format that permits �
105 automated processing and must make use of appropriate technology to �
106 notify
the public
5� BILL No. 23-12
107 ill Once published, a [[A]] public data set must be updated as often as is
108 [[necessary to preserve the integrity and usefulness of the data set to
109 the extent that the agency regularly maintains or updates the public
110 data set]] required by the Open Data Implementation Plan.
111 ill A published public data set must be made available without any
112 registration or license requirement or restriction on use. However, the
113 [[Department]] County may require
セ@third nmY providing to the
114 public any public data set, or application utilizing that data set, to
115 explicitly identify the source and version
of the public data set and
116 describe any modification made to that data set. In this Section,
117 registration or license requirement or restriction does not include any
118 measure required to:
119 ill assure access to セpublic data set;
120
ill protect the single web site housing セ@public data set from
121 unlawful abuse or an attempt to damage or impair use of the
122 web site; or
123
ill analyze the セof data being used to improve service delivery.
124
(g} A published public data set must be accessible to external search
125 capabilities.
126
(hl Nothing in this Article prohibits an agency from: ill voluntarily
127 disclosing information not otherwise defined as data; or
ill making
128 voluntarily disclosed information accessible through the single web
129 portal.
130
ill [[After セ@public data set has been available on the web portal for §
131 months, an agency must not change or terminate collection of data or
132 remove the data set from public access without the approval
of the
133 Chief Administrative Officer or the Chief Administrative Officer's
-6 BILL No. 23-12
134 designee.]] The Open Data Implementation Plan must address when
135 and how an agency may change or terminate collection
of data or
136 remove the public data set from public access.
137
ill [[The Chief Administrative Officer must assign appropriate staff to
138 manage the public data sets.]] The Open Data Implementation Plan
139 must address appropriate staffing to manage the published public data
140
141 2-155. Web portal administration.
142 !ill The [[Department may take reasonable measures]] Open Data
143 Implementation Plan must address measures to maintain bandwidth
144 availability
ofthe web portal.
145
(Q} The [[Department]] County must conspicuously publish the open data
146 [[legalH policy in Section 2156 on the web portal.
147 W The [[Department]] County must implement [[an online forum]]
セ@
148 mechanism to solicit public feedback and encourage public discussion
149 on open data policies and public data set availability on the web
150 portal.
151 @ An agency must consider any request that it receives through the [[on
152 line
fOI1l1l!]] public feedback mechanism to include セ@particular public
153 data set when making any determination as to priority for public data
154 set inclusion on the single web portal.
An agency's consideration of
155 such a request must defer to the priority assigned to publication by the
156 Open Data Implementation Plan.
157 2-156. Open data [[legal)) policy.
158 !ill A public data set made available on the web portal is provided for
159 informational purposes. The County [[does not]] makes no express or
160 implied warranty
the completeness, accuracy, content,
-7 BILL No. 23-12
161 merchantability, or fitness for any particular purpose or use of any
162 public data set made available on the web portaU[,. and no warranty
is
163 implied with respect to any public data set on the web portaUL
164
(Q) The County is not liable for any deficiency in the completeness,
165 accuracy, content, or fitness for any particular purpose or use of any
166 public data set, or application utilizing the data set, provided Qy any
167 third party.
168 {£} This Article and the Open Data Implementation Plan [[does]] do not
169 create
セ@private right of action to enforce [[its]] their provisions.
170 Failure to comply with this Article
01" the Open Data Implementation
171 Plan must not result in liability to [[an agency]] the County.
172 2-157. Internet data set policy and technical standards.
173 ill} Within 180 days after this Article takes effect, the [[Department]]
174 County must prepare and publish セ@technical standards manual for the
175 publishing
of セ@public data set in raw or unprocessed form through セ@
176 single web portal Qy an agency to make public data available to the
177 greatest number
of users and for the greatest number of applications.
178 The manual:
179 ill must use open standards for web publishing and egovemment,
180 whenever practicable;
181 ill must identify the reason why each technical standard was
182 selected and to which セof data it applies;
183
ill may recommend or require that data be published in more than
184 one technical standard; and
185 ill must include セ@plan to adopt or utilize セ@web application
186 programmmg interface that permits application programs to
8 � BILL No. 23-12
187 request and receive public data sets directly from the web
188 portal.
189
(Q) The [[Department]] County must update the manual as necessary.
190 (fl The [[Department]] County must consult with appropriate voluntary
191 consensus standards bodies and, when participation is feasible, in the
192 public interest, and
is compatible with agency and departmental
193 missions, authorities, and priorities, participate with such bodies in the
194 development
of technical and open standards.
195 2-158. [[Agency]] Open Data [[Compliance]] Implementation Plan.
196
.ill.} Within .lli months after this Article takes effect, the [[Department]]
197 Chief Administrative Officer must [[submit]] issue. via Method (2)
] 98 regulation. an Open Data
{{セ@Compliance]] Implementation Plan [[to
199 the Executive and Council and must make the Plan available to the
200 public on the web portal. Each agency must cooperate with the
201 Department in its preparation
ofthe Plan]]!. The Plan must:
202
ill include セ@summary description of セ@public data set under the
203 control
of each agency on or after this Article takes effect;
204
ill prioritize the public data sets for inclusion on the single web
205 portal on or before December
lL 2018, under the standards
206 adopted
Qy the [[Department]] County under Section 2157;
207 and
208
ill create セ@timeline for their inclusion on the single web portal
209
(Q) If セ@public data set cannot be made available on the single web portal
210 on or before December
lL 2018, the Open Data Implementation Plan
211 must state the reason why the set cannot be made available, and, to the
212 extent practicable, the date
Qy which the agency in possession of the
-9 BILL NO. 23-12
213 public data set believes that it will be available on the single web
214 portal.
215
ill [[To prioritize public data sets, an agency must consider whether
216 information embodied in the public data set:
217
ill can be used to increase agency accountability and
218 responsIveness;
219
ill improves public knowledge of the agency and its operations;
220
ill furthers the mission ofthe agency;
221 ill creates economic opportunity; or
222
ill responds to f! need or demand identified Qy public consultation.
223
@]] No later than July li,. [[2014]] 2015, and every July lithereafter, the
224 [[Department]] Chief A<iministrative Officer must submit to the
225 Executive and Council, and post on the web portal, [[an update ofl]
f!
226 report on the Open Data [[Compliance]] Implementation Plan [[to the
227 Executive and Council]] until all public data sets to be published have
228 been made available through
f! single web portal as required Qy this
229 Article. The [[update]] report must [[include]] explain:
230
ill the specific measures taken to make f! public data set available
231 on the single web portal since the previous [[update]] report;
232
ill any specific measure that will be taken before the next
233
[[update]] report;
234
ill [[an update to]] the list of public data sets, [[if
235 necessruyl1 outlined
In the Open Data [[Compliancel1
236 Implementation Plan should be updated;
237
ill [[any change to]] whether the prioritization of public data sets
238 in the Open Data [[Compliance]] Implementation Plan should
239 be changed; and
10 BILL No. 23-12
240
ill [[an update to]] whether the timeline outlined in the Open Data
241 [[Compliance]] Implementation Plan for the inclusion of セ@
242 public data set on the single web portal, [[if necessaryl] should
243 be changed.
244
[[W]] £ill If セ@previously unidentified public data set cannot be made
245 available on the single web portal on or before December lL. 2018,
246 the [[update]] report must explain why it cannot and, to the extent
247 practicable, specify the date
hy which the agency in possession of the
248 public data set believes that the public data set will be available on the
249 single web portal.
250 215[0012: Public Information Act Responses.
251 tru Definitions. In this Section, the following words and phrases have the
252 following meanings:
253 County means Montgomery County and includes any Executive Branch
254 department or office and any Legislative Branch [[department or))
255 office.
256 Legislative Bra.nch office means any office identified in Section lA203
257 (b), the Board
ofAppeals. and the Merit System Protection Board.
258 InfOrmation request means
セ@request for documents submitted to the
259 County under the Maryland Public Information Act.
260
!.hl The Chief Administrative Officer must identifY in the Open Data
261 Implementation Plan what data elements and a schedule to make
262 available on the web portal for [[each]] information [[request submitted
263
to the County under]] relating to the implementation of the Maryland
264 Public Information Act
セ@[[and]] the County [[County's response to
265 that request]]:.
11 BILL No. 23-12
266
{£} The Legislative Branch must post alldaULelements. as identified by the
267 Open Data Implementation Plan. on the same single web portal used by
268 the Executive Branch.
269 [[Except as provided in subsection
@1 the web portal must include:
270
ill each information request submitted to the County;
271
ill the date when the County received the information request;
272
ill the status ofthe information request;
273
ill if the information request was not answered within 30 days after
274 the County received.ih the reason for the delay; and
275
ill the final response to the information request.]]
276
[[@ The Chief Administrative Officer must not include on the web portal
277 any electronic mail address, home address,
or telephone number ofany
278 individual who submitted
セ@responsive document.]]
279 [[W]] @ The Chief Administrative [[Officer]] Officer's report required by
280 Section
2:158 must [[report quarterly to the Council on the Executive
281 Branch's compliance with the Maryland Public Information Act The
282 report must cite the statutory exception that supports each denial
or
283 partial denial of an information request]] include an update on
284 implementation
of this Section.
285
12 BILL No. 23-12
286 Approved:
287 288
Approved:
289 J--
290 This is a correct copy o/Council action.
291 セQョL@セ@;2/7,/re-
13
Check for lines ending with -
and fix the line wraps
Here's the original PDF: http://montgomerycountymd.gov/open/Resources/Files/OpenDataOperationsManual_FY14.pdf
Here is the content of the .txt file generated (it's closer, but not there yet)...
�[0mMontgomery County Government Open Data
Operations Manual
Department of Technology Services
Montgomery County Government, MD
© 2014 by Montgomery County Government, MD all rights reserved Page: 2
VERSION DATE DESCRIPTION AUTHOR
1.0 9/18/2014 Initial Release Department of Technology Services,
Montgomery County
Government
Page: 3
Table of Contents
Message from the County Executive ............................................................................................ 4
1.0 Introduction .............................................................................................................. ......... 5
1.1 About dataMontgomery ................................................................................................. 5
1.2 Scope ..................................................................................................................... ....... 5
2.0 Policy Requirements ....................................................................................................... .. 6
2.1 The Montgomery County Open Data Act ...................................................................... 6
2.2 County Executive Policy ................................................................................................ 6
3.0 Governance and Business Process .................................................................................. 8
3.1 Open Data Program Governance and Staffing ............................................................. 8
3.2 Dataset Inventory Process ............................................................................................ 8
3.3 Establishing the Publishing Priority for Datasets ......................................................... 10
3.4 Revisions to Datasets and Priority Groupings ............................................................. 11
3.5 Policy for Dataset Changes or Removal ..................................................................... 12 3.6 Data Privacy ............................................................................................................... . 13
3.7 dataMontgomery Website Availability and Bandwidth................................................. 13
4.0 Dataset Inventory and Publishing Schedule ................................................................... 14
4.1 dataMontgomery Current State (through FY14) .......................................................... 14 4.1.1 Published Datasets ............................................................................................. 14
4.2 dataMontgomery FY15 Work Plan .............................................................................. 16 4.2.1 Datasets Scheduled for Publication in FY15 ....................................................... 17
4.2.2 Open Data Initiative – dataMontgomery Taxonomy ............................................ 19
4.2.3 Open Data Initiative – Budget Book Electronic Publication ................................. 20
4.2.4 Open Data Initiative – Financial Transparency.................................................... 21
4.2.5 Open Data Initiative – CountyStat Performance Dashboard ............................... 21
4.3 dataMontgomery Inventory for FY16 and Beyond....................................................... 22
5.0 Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA) Requests ......................................................... 39
Appendix A – openMontgomery Memorandum from CAO ......................................................... 40
Appendix B – Dataset Scoring Methodology and Outreach........................................................ 42
Appendix C – Dataset Prioritization Count (by Department)....................................................... 44
Appendix D – MPIA Response Publishing .................................................................................. 45 Page: 4
Message from the County Executive
As County Executive I have made transparency one of my priorities and continually sought
ways to keep residents better informed. In response to the
Montgomery County Open Data Act,
we have laid the groundwork for implementing a successful open data program by: creating an
open data website called dataMontgomery, which launched in December 2012; and leading a
collaborative effort across county government and with residents to determine our open data
priorities. All of these efforts have resulted in an inventory and plan that puts Montgomery
County on the forefront of the open data movement.
Our plan utilizes a precedent-setting method to inventory, prioritize and responsibly publish
datasets that is already becoming a model fo r other jurisdictions. This Operations Manual
includes annual updates, a taxonomy project, providing a user-friendly framework to assist with
easily finding datasets, and an outlook for future years. Our open data program also includes
groundbreaking initiatives such as:
• An electronic budget book application
• An interactive, data-driven dashboard of the County’s performance metrics
• A financial transparency suite, which will provide resident driven view of our finances
and budget
• A website that publishes Maryland Public Information Act responses
These initiatives are only the beginning. We’ve taken the lead as a transparent and responsive
government and have not let up. From local civic groups to national policy organizations like the
Sunlight Foundation, we are setting the tone for transparency not only in Maryland but across the country.
Ike Leggett, County Executive
Page: 5
1.0 Introduction
1.1 About dataMontgomery
A responsive and accountable County Government has long been among the County’s highest
priorities. On December 5, 2012, County Executive Isiah Leggett announced the
“openMontgomery” initiative. This announcement was in concert with the Open Data Bill 23-12
introduced by Councilmember Hans Riemer. Th e full Council approved Bill 23-12 on December
4, 2012, and thereby enacted what is now the Montgomery County Open Data Act (see
Montgomery County Code §§ 2-152 – 159), with an effective date of March 18, 2013. Together
these actions launched the dataMontgomery website as the County’s comprehensive single
source of data supporting a path to even greater transparency, accessibility and efficiency in the future.
The dataMontgomery program seeks to provide resident s and constituents with direct access to
County datasets in consumable formats, so they may be viewed, sorted and used in various
ways, including being potentially leveraged in the development of new applications and services
by interested parties. Providing this information offers the public an opportunity to review and
analyze raw data, and the opportunity to use it for a variety of purposes.
Link to the openMontgomery web portal: http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/open/
Link to the dataMontgomery website: https://data.montgomerycountymd.gov/
1.2 Scope
Montgomery County has already made avail able many high value datasets though the
dataMontgomery website (https://data.montgomerycountymd.gov/). The Montgomery County
Government Open Data Operations Manual will document the additional County datasets that
are not yet available on the dataMontgomery website, but which will be published in the future.
This Operations Manual is available on Montgomery County’s openMontgomery web portal
(http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/open/) and will be updated no later than July 15, 2015,
and every July 15th
thereafter.
This Operations Manual has been prepared in compliance with the Open Data Act. The
Operations Manual is intended to be a comprehensive inventory of the public datasets
maintained by the Montgomery County Government as well as a commitment to make these
datasets publicly available by the publication date s specified in this document. This Operations
Manual is a living document and will be updated annually as additional datasets are identified
and released in compliance with the Open Data Act.
The scope of this document covers the implementation process for publishing datasets. The
implementation process is the governance, business processes around indentifying the datasets
in each department that are planned for publication and the list of candidate datasets for
publication. For information on technical publishing standards, please refer to the Montgomery
County Government Technical Standards Manual for Publishing a Public Data Set (
http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/DTS/Res ources/Files/dataMontgomeryDataPublishingTe
chnicalStandards.pdf). Page: 6
2.0 Policy Requirements
2.1 The Montgomery County Open Data Act
The Montgomery County Open Data Act, codified in
Sections 2-152 – 2-159 of the Montgomery
County Code, sets a number of requirements for an Open Data Implementation Plan. As
detailed in Montgomery County Code Section 2-158(a), the plan must:
• Include a summary description of a public data set under the control of each agency on
or after the bill took effect;
• Prioritize the public data sets for inclusion on the single web portal on or before
December 31, 2018, under the standards adopted by the County; and
• Create a timeline for the inclusion on the single web portal.
If a public data set cannot be made available on the single web portal on or before December
31, 2018, this Plan must state the reason why the data set cannot be made available, and, to
the extent practicable, the date by which the agency in possession of the public data set
believes that it will be available on the single web portal. See Montgomery County Code § 2-
158(b).
Within 18 months after the Open Data Act took effect on March 13, 2013, the Chief
Administrative Officer must issue to the Executive and Council, via Method (2) regulation, an
Open Data Implementation Plan. See Montgomery County Code § 2-158(a). Subsequently, the
Open Data Implementation Plan must be updated annually by July 15, 2015 and every July 15
thereafter until all public data sets to be published have been made available through a single web portal. See Montgomery County Code § 2-158(c).
Additionally, the Open Data Act also has a prov ision that covers Public Information Act
Responses. See Montgomery County Code § 2-159. The provision requires this Open Data
Implementation Plan to document which data elements are to be made available on the web
portal for each Maryland Public Information Act request and a schedule for implementation.
In accordance with the Open Data Act, the Open Data Implementation Plan specifes:
• “The list of public datasets will be described and maintained in the Operations Manual.”
See COMCOR 2.152.01.04(b).
• “A dataset publication timeline will be published in the Operations Manual, based on
Budgeted resources.” See COMCOR 2.152.01.04(d).
• “The Director will publish and maintain policy and process details for MPIA Publishing in
the Operations Manual.” See COMCOR 2.152.01.08(c).
• “On July 15, 2015, and every July 15 thereafter, the Director will publish an update to
the Open Data Operations Manual on the Open Data web portal.” See COMCOR
2.152.01.09(a).
2.2 County Executive Policy
One of the key initiatives of the current administration is to support an open government. This is
embodied in one of the provisions of the County Executive’s Mission Statement - “A Responsive Page: 7
and Accountable County Government”. The dataMontgomery program is a continuation of that
policy that is fully supported by the administration. On December 4, 2012, the Chief
Administrative Officer officially kicked off the in
itial survey of government datasets for all County
departments (see Appendix A) in conjunction with the initial rollout of the dataMontgomery
website. Finally, the ongoing governance and pr oject implementation has the support and
guidance of the Chief Administrative Officer with an Assistant CAO chairing the
dataMontgomery Steering Committee. Page: 8
3.0 Governance and Business Process
3.1 Open Data Program
Governance and Staffing
Montgomery County’s Department of Technology Services (DTS) has established a multi-
layered governance process for the Open Data project. The governance process used for this
project leverages the governance processes as defined in the County’s Enterprise Technology
IT Strategic Plan, Section 6: Governance, which can be viewed on-line on the Montgomery
County Government website under the Department of Technology – Strategic Plan
(http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/dts/resources/files/ETSP6.pdf
).
The Open Data Steering Committee is chaired by an Assistant Chief Administrative Officer and
consists of the Director of the Department of Technology Services, the Director of the Public
Information Office; the County’s Chief Innovation Officer (CInO); the CountyStat Manager; and a
liaison from the Office of the County Attorney. Generally, the Steering Committee meets on a
quarterly basis to review overall policy objectives and issues related to the County’s Open Data program.
The Open Data Workgroup is chaired by the DTS’s Open Data Project Manager and consists of
representatives from the Department of Technology Services, the Public Information Office, the
Montgomery County Police Department, the C ounty’s Innovation Program and CountyStat.
Generally, the Workgroup meets on a bi-monthly bas is to review tactical issues with the
County’s Open Data program, including dataset identification, prioritization and publication.
DTS has formed a matrixed Open Data Project Team tasked with overseeing the execution of
the Open Data Implementation Plan. The DTS team consists of an Open Data Program
Manager, an Open Data Project Manager, proj ect management staff from DTS Project
Management Office and technical staff from the DTS Enterprise Service Bus Team. The Project
Manager and project management staff generally work with the County’s Departments and
Agencies to identify and prepare datasets for publication. The technical staff works with
Departments to develop the programs to automate, wherever possible, the publication of the
Departmental datasets onto dataMontgomery. The O pen Data Project Team is staffed at a level
to support the publication of new datasets and development of new Open Data Initiatives, as
detailed in Section 4 of this document, as well as the ongoing operations of the dataMontgomery website.
Additionally, each County department has a Point of Contact (POC) who represents their
department in the process of indentifying, documenting and eventually publishing the data from
their department. All of the POCs have access to training and education on open data topics
and have become the leaders in their departments for this open data initiative. Please refer to
the next section of this document for more information on the data inventory process and the
POC’s vital role in support of this effort.
3.2 Dataset Inventory Process
Montgomery County has 28 Executive Branch departments, offices and agencies, which
collectively employ more than 600 applications , databases, and spreadsheets from which “data”
may be derived. Early efforts to collect datasets for inclusion on the open data platform Page: 9
included surveying departments on what they considered to be high value data, and researching
what information was requested most often by residents and the press via formal Maryland
Public Information Act (MPIA) requests.
However, in order to comply with the Open Data Act’s requirement for a full inventory of
government data, Montgomery County needed to
develop a systematic approach to identify,
inventory, prioritize and queue up datasets for publication.
Each County Department was asked to identify a Point of Contact (POC) with whom the
dataMontgomery Workgroup would interface. One POC was identified per Department, and
assigned the responsibility of compiling the dataset inventory for their Department. The team
invested in each POC, educating them on open data concepts, joint data sharing and
sensitive/confidential data awareness through webinars and office hours. POCs could be either
technical or business people who own the data being proposed for publication. Monthly
meetings were held with all POCs to review expectations, answer questions, demonstrate the
value of open data, and educate them on different aspects of confidential and sensitive data.
Once the POCs were established, a team was put together to assist them with their inventorying
efforts. This team was comprised of CountyStat performance experts, the dataMontgomery
project manager, a dataMontgomery project lead and the Chief Innovation Officer.
CountyStat hosted individual brainstorming sessions with each department, and sometimes
individual divisions within larger departments, to draw out a list of dataset candidates. POCs
were encouraged to bring others from their department (if technical, bring a business person,
and vice versa). These brainstorming sessions used the following as jump-off points for
discussion: the department’s website (the core mission of the department plus any reports or
information posted there); the department’s annual performance plan document that lists its Headline Performance Measures and other dat a; any existing inventory of systems,
applications, databases, etc.; the existing dataMontgomery web portal; and the open data web
portals of other governments. The outputs of th ese brainstorming sessions were captured and
fed back to departments to stimulate further data exploration within their department.
To facilitate the collection of dataset candidates, DTS created an online intake form for
departments to submit the dataset candidates developed based on the brainstorming sessions
and subsequent internal work. Initially, this fo rm yielded over 300 dataset submissions. A Gap
Analysis was performed comparing submissions with department core function, systems, and
performance measures. After being notified of the Gap Analysis and follow-up meetings with
team members, departments submitted additional datasets. To date, over 500 datasets were submitted for consideration.
At the same time as this internal view of data inventory was occurring, Montgomery County also
looked externally to our residents. Community outreach events were conducted where
residents could engage in conversations with County staff regarding the datasets that interested
them and the potential ways they could put the data to use. In promoting these Town Hall
events, presentations were made at many hi gh schools to help engage youth in the process.
The feedback from these town halls was captured and reported out in the County’s Innovation
Program blog as well as Twitter. Also, some subject matter-specific workshops were held on
topics such as public safety and transit. For example, multiple Neighborhood Watch groups and
representatives from the Montgomery County Po lice Department (MCPD) met to discuss crime
data priorities. This feedback was captured and made part of the prioritization process.
The Dataset Inventory Process and timeline is summarized in the table below. Page: 10
3.3 Establishing the Publis hing Priority for Datasets
Once all of the dataset candidates were collected and the outreach events were held, the
datasets were subjected to a quantitative prioritization process. The goal of the prioritization
process was to assign each dataset a “score” representing their value relative to each other.
Every dataset’s value was independently rated on twelve criteria, six “internal” and six
“external,” by CountyStat and the Chief Innovation Officer. Those criteria were:
Internal:
• Is the dataset aligned with the department’s core function / Degree to which publishing
this data furthers the core mission of the department?
• Is the dataset a direct or indirect source of a department’s Headline Performance
Measure(s) and/or Supporting Measure(s)?
• Will posting the data result in administrative time saved for a department(s)? (i.e. will
they be able to stop spending time responding to requests for this particular
information?)
• Is the data already collected and readily accessible so as not to require new or additional
business processes?
• Is the data used across departments and does its publication facilitate collaboration?
• Will publishing this dataset enable the retirement of a legacy system or database?
Page: 11
External:
• Is the data typically used when deciding policies that impact residents’ quality of life?
• Will publishing this dataset allow a business or resident to perform a process more
efficiently and/or effectively?
• Is Montgomery County the only source of the data?
• Does the data contribute to civic engagement?
• Does the data create economic opportunity?
• Will publishing this dataset make the department more accountable and/or responsive
by improving/increasing the public's knowledge of its operation?
For additional information on the scoring values for prioritizing the datasets, the scoring
methodology used and outreach efforts related to prioritizing the datasets, please refer to
Appendix B of this document.
The result is a list that ranks the datasets in a manner that allows the CAO to manage the
inventory pipeline and get the highest value datasets published first. After scoring and ranking
the data sets, Montgomery County feels that this approach was effective in creating a well-
balanced pipeline that reflects the priorities of the government and the community.
Please note that there are number of factors that affect the priority ranking of a dataset. While
the value to residents is certainly a very significant factor in forming the priority ranking of a
dataset, there are other internal factors which also affect the ranking. For example, datasets
that improve the internal efficiency and communication within the government may rank higher.
Each dataset has been assigned a numerical score ranging from 0 to 100. Based on this
numerical score, the County has established the following 5 priority groupings:
• Group P1: Datasets ranked 80 and above
• Group P2: Datasets ranked 70 – 79
• Group P3: Datasets ranked 60 – 69
• Group P4: Datasets ranked 50 – 59
• Group P5: Datasets ranked 49 or lower
The priority groups will be used as a guideline in scheduling datasets for publication. As a
general rule, the datasets with higher rankings will be scheduled for publication before datasets
with lower rankings. However, there are certain factors which may lead to slight deviations in
scheduling by priority groups. For example, if a highly ranked dataset resides on a source
system scheduled for imminent replacement, publication of that dataset would likely be delayed
until the new system comes online to avoid “rework” in developing interfaces for publication. In
another example, if in the process of publishing of a highly ranked dataset it is discovered that
the required interfaces could also be easily leveraged to publish a companion lower ranked
dataset, then the decision will like be made to publish both datasets at the same time for
efficiency.
3.4 Revisions to Datasets and Priority Groupings
The list of datasets scheduled for publication on dataMontgomery is not a static list. As new IT
systems come online, the data contained in thes e systems will be inventoried and prioritized for
publication on dataMontgomery. Page: 12
The priority rankings for a dataset may also change over time. A dataset with a certain priority
ranking today may be repriotized with a new priority ranking based on changes to any of the
internal or external factors identified in Section 3.3, such as:
• A department may define a new headline measure that includes the dataset
• A department identifies cost savings or impr oved efficiency gained from publication of
the dataset
• A dataset used by only one department becomes valuable to multiple departments
• Citizens identify that publication of the dataset will make a positive impact on the
community
• Citizens or local businesses identify the dataset a creating an economic opportunity
Montgomery County will continue to solicit input from our citizens in a variety of ways, including:
• Public outreach events such as Town Halls, Hack-A-Thons, etc.
• Online feedback, including engageMontgomery
(link:
http://engage.montgomerycountymd.gov/)
• Feedback solicited from the dataMontgomery website. At the bottom of the main page, users are asked to “Suggest a Dataset” if they did not find they are looking for. These
requests are sent directly to the dataMontgomery project team.
3.5 Policy for Dataset Changes or Removal
Every dataset published on dataMontgomery must be reviewed and authorized by the
Department Head of the department owning the data prior to publication via a signed Dataset
Publication Agreement. Datasets with data impacting multiple departments must also be
authorized by the County’s Open Data Workgroup. As part of this agreement, the department
agrees to update and maintain the source data in order to keep it as accurate and useful as possible.
For any structural changes required for a published dataset (adding or deleting data elements),
the owning department must complete a formal Change Order which modifies the original
Dataset Publication Agreement. This Change Order requires the same signature level authority
as the original agreement to publish the dataset.
In the event that a department can no longer maintain a published dataset, the department must
complete a formal Change Order to remove the dataset from dataMontgomery. This Change
Order requires the same signature level authority as the original agreement to publish the dataset.
The goal of any successful open data program is to provide limitless access to all published
data. However, circumstances may dictate that a dataset should be removed from
dataMontgomery, such as data is found to be inaccurate or loses applicability/usability over
time. Any decision to remove a dataset from dataMontgomery will not be untaken lightly.
However, the County maintain the Right to Discontinue, as detailed in the Terms of Use, Section 6. (link:
https://data.montgomerycountymd.gov/page/terms-of-use)
Page: 13
3.6 Data Privacy
In the interest of government transparency and accountability, Montgomery County’s open data
program establishes the goal of publishing as mu
ch government data as can be published. But
what criterion are used to determine if a dataset is publishable and what safeguards are in place
to ensure that inappropriate information is not published?
First and foremost, any data that is protected by any personal privacy legislation (HIPAA, MPIA
etc.) will not be published on dataMontgomery. Additionally, any data collected by Montgomery
County where publication of the data might pose a public safety threat will not be published on
dataMontgomery. Please refer to Sections 7 & 8 of Appendix D – MPIA Response Publishing,
contained in this document, for a detailed listing of the types of information that must not be made public.
The dataMontgomery team has implemented a number of safeguards designed to ensure that
this type of protected information is not published on the dataMontgomery website, including: 1. Every dataset containing data that has not been previously published on some other
platform must be reviewed by the Office of the County Attorney staff assigned to support
dataMontgomery. The legality of publishing the data in each dataset is part of this review.
2. The dataMontgomery Steering Committee includes a member of the Office of the County Attorney staff.
3. The dataMontgomery Workgroup includes a member of the Police Department staff.
4. Prior to publication, every new dataset must first be released onto a private development area of dataMontgomery, where is must be reviewed and approved in writing by the
Director of the department owning the data, certifying that the dataset is ready for
publication.
3.7 dataMontgomery Website Availability and Bandwidth
The County has selected a leading cloud provider to host our single-source open data portal as
a cloud service. The vendor is responsible for maintiaining 24 x 7 website availability, with
minimal scheduled interruptions for internal maintenance. The vendor also is required to
provide sufficient bandwidth robust response times to dataMontgomery users. Page: 14
4.0 Dataset Inventory and Publishing Schedule
4.1 dataMontgomery Current State (through FY14)
In the 18 months since the Open Data act was enacted, Montgomery County’s dataMontgomery
team has led numerous activities supporting the County’s open data program, including:
• Public launch of the dataMontgomery website;
• Maintaining published datasets and keeping them current by refreshing the data
according to the published data update frequency period;
• Publishing over 20 additional datasets since the initial launch of the website in
December 2012;
• Conducting a comprehensive inventory of County datasets and prioritizing datasets for
future publication (please refer back to Section 3.2 of this document for more
information on the dataset inventory process and Section 3.3 of this document for more
information on the prioritization of datasets);
• Launching numerous Open Data Initiatives which rely initially on publishing data in raw
form; then extending the presentation of that data in ways that are easier to understand
and/or add to the goal of transparency and efficiency in government;
• Conducting outreach sessions to the general public to solicit feedback on what data is
valuable to residents. These outreach sessions include Town Hall sessions, data-
centric focus groups (e.g. neighborhood crime, financial data, etc.) and a Hackathon on National Hacking Day;
• Conducting webinars promoting Montgomery County’s open data program and progress
to date; and
• Developing a Public Information Act Responses publishing tool.
Section 4.1.1 of this document details all datasets currently published on the dataMontgomery
website. Section 4.1.2 of this document describes an Open Data Initiative – Budget Book
Electronic Publication which will be launched at the end of FY14.
4.1.1 Published Datasets
Through the end of Fiscal Year 2014 (FY14), Montgomery County Government has made
available 39 datasets, representing 13 County Departments, on the dataMontgomery website
(https://data.montgomerycountymd.gov/). The County’s Fiscal Year runs from July 1 – June 30.
FY14 ended on June 30, 2014. These datasets, available today, are detailed in the table below.
1 Board of Elections 2014 Early Voting Centers
Map Map of 2014 early voting locations in
Montgomery County as selected October 21,
2013, subject to approval by the Maryland State Board of Elections. One time submission
Environmental Protection Reported Sanitary Sewer
Overflows Sanitary sewer overflows reported to the
Department of Environmental Protection by the
Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission or
individuals in the County. Daily Page: 15
3 Finance Real Property Tax Rates Real property tax rate for 2012 Annually
Finance Spending Disclosure – Fiscal
Year 2014 Summary information on payments made to
recipients (suppliers) that received $25,000 or
more in FY2014 One time submission
Finance Spending Disclosure – Fiscal
Year 2013 Summary information on payments made to
recipients (suppliers) that received $25,000 or
more in FY2013 One time submission
Finance Spending Disclosure – Fiscal
Year 2012 Summary information on payments made to
recipients (suppliers) that received $25,000 or
more in FY2012 One time submission
Finance Spending Disclosure – Fiscal
Year 2011 Summary information on payments made to
recipients (suppliers) that received $25,000 or
more in FY2011 One time submission
General Services Contracts Listing of all active County contracts Daily
Health & Human Services Food Inspection This dataset includes food inspection results for
non-mobile food establishments in Montgomery
County that have an active license. Daily
Human Resources Tuition Assistance This
dataset includes a list of classes approved
and paid through the County tuition assistance
program, including the title and description of
the course, the school the course will be taken
at, the degree this class curriculum is a part of,
the Department and title of the requestor, the
dollar amount reimbursed to the employee. Twice Annually
Human Resources Employee Salaries Salary information for all active, permanent
employees of Montgomery County, MD as of
January 15, 2013. Annually
Intergovernmental Relations Bills tracked by Montgomery
County during the legislative session This list only includes bills introduced in the
Senate or the House of Delegates during
regular session of the General Assembly. The
Office also tracks all local and bi-county bills
considered by the Montgomery County
Delegation, all bi-county bills considered by the
Prince George's County Delegation, and all bills
introduced during special sessions Weekly (during legislative
session)
Liquor Control Alcoholic beverage license
violations This dataset includes al
ocohol violations as a
result fo sale to minor compliance checks,
routine inspections and enformacement efforts. Monthly
Management & Budget Fiscal Year 2015 County Executive Recommended
Operating Budget Detailed line-item information for the County
Executive recommended FY2015 Operating Budget One time submission
Management & Budget Fiscal Year 2015 County Executive Recommended
Operating Budget – Internal Service Funds Internal Service Fund line-item budget data
included in the CE recommended operating
budget for FY2015. Internal Service Funds (ISF)
are proprietary funds used to record activity
(primarily goods and se
rvices) provided by one
department to other departments of the County
government on a cost-reimbursable basis. One time submission
Management & Budget Fiscal Year 2014 Approved
Operating Budget Detailed line-item information for the Council
approved FY2014 Operating Budget One time submission
Management & Budget Fiscal Year 2014 Approved
Budget - Internal Service Funds Internal Service Fund line-item budget data
included in the approved operating budget for
FY2014. Internal Service Funds (ISF) are
proprietary funds used to record activity
(primarily goods and se
rvices) provided by one
department to other departments of the County
government on a cost-reimbursable basis. One time submission
Management & Budget Fiscal Year 2013 Approved
Operating Budget Detailed line-item information for the Council
approved FY2014 Operating Budget One time submission
Management & Budget Fiscal Year 2013 Approved
Budget - Internal Service Funds Internal Service Fund line-item budget data
included in the approved operating budget for
FY2013. Internal Service Funds (ISF) are
proprietary funds used to record activity
(primarily goods and se
rvices) provided by one
department to other departments of the County
government on a cost-reimbursable basis. One time submission
Permitting Services Public Right Of Way Permit
s Data for all Public Right of Way Permit
applications, including status and work
performed. Daily Page: 16
21 Permitting Services Electrical Bu
siness Licenses Data for all Elec trical Business License Permit
applications. Daily
Permitting Services Residential Permits Data
for all Residential Building Permits issued
since 2000, including status and work
performed. Daily
Permitting Services Mechanical Permits Data for all Mechanical Permit applications,
including status and work performed Daily
Permitting Services Electrical
Building Permits Data for all Electrical Permit applications,
including status and work performed. Daily
Permitting Services Commercial Permits Data for all Commercial Building Permits issued
since 2000, including status and work
performed. Daily
Permitting Services Demolition Permits Data for all Demolition Permit applications,
including status and work performed. Daily
Public Information Office 311 Requests All MC311 Service R
equests received (via email
or phone) since July 1, 2012. Daily
Technology Services Geographic Data: Health &
Human Services (HHS) Facilities Address and locations for Health & Human
Services (HHS) Facilities in Montgomery
County, MD. Annually
Technology Services G
eographic Data: Library
Locations Locations of all Montgomery County, MD Public Libraries. Annually
Technology Services Geographic Data: Post Offices
Locations Address and Locations for Post Offices in
Montgomery County, MD. Annually
Technology Services Cabl
e Inspections This data se t provides information on
inspections performed by the Montgomery
County Cable Office since September 1, 2010. Quarterly
Technology Services Cable Complaints Th
is data set provides information on cable
complaints reported to Montgomery County, MD Cable Office Quarterly
Technology Services Public Sc
hools Locations Address and Locati ons of all Public Schools in
Montgomery County, MD. Annually
Technology Services Fire Stat
ions Locations Address and Locati ons for all Fire Stations in
Montgomery County, MD. Annually
Technology Services Hospital Locations
Address and Locations for Hospitals in
Montgomery County, MD and the immediate
vicinity. Annually
Technology Services Transmission Facilities
Application Status & Location Information on all transmission facility
applications (new tower or attachments) filed
with the Montgomery County Cable Office for
telecommunications and radio & TV
transmission sites, including the location of the
tower and the disposition of the application. Quarterly
Technology Services Election Po
lling Places - 2012 Geographic data: locations of election polling
places for the 2012 election One time submission
Transportation Parking Garage and Lot Locations
Parking space inventory information for
Montgomery County Public Parking Facilities Monthly
Transportation Parking
Garage Space Availability "Real-time" parking space availability for
Montgomery County Public Parking Facilities.
Data includes only facilities equipped with
automated vehicle counting systems. Every few minutes
4.2 dataMontgomery FY15 Work Plan
Fiscal Year 2015 (FY15) runs from July 1, 2014 – June 30, 2015. Section 4.2.1 of this
document will detail the datasets scheduled for publication on the dataMontgomery website
during FY15. Sections 4.2.2 and 4.2.3 of this document describe several additional Open Data
Initiatives also scheduled for completion in FY15. Page: 17
4.2.1 Datasets Scheduled fo
r Publication in FY15
The FY15 workplan for the dataMontgomery team includes publishing 57 datasets. Datasets are
from the highest priority group, additional datas ets for which preparations had been started, and
some datasets that are associated with the highest priority datasets scheduled to be published.
Please refer back to Section 3.2 of this document for more information on the dataset inventory
process and Section 3.3 of this document for more information on the prioritization of datasets,
including priority grouping.
The number of datasets scheduled to be published in FY15 is derived from the estimated
relative complexity (effort to publish) for each dataset, balanced with other dataMontgomery
initiatives, such as financial transparency, and the approved budgeted resources for dataMontgomery.
The list of datasets scheduled for publication in FY15 is detailed in the table below. The table is
sorted by Department, then by priority (highest to lowest). The complete inventory of datasets is
published as a dataset on the dataMontgomery website. (link:
https://data.montgomerycountymd.gov/Comm unity/dataMontgomery-Dataset-Publishing-
Plan/c3dr-fnib).
41 Finance Spending Disclosure –
Fiscal Year 2015 The purpose of this Spending Disclosure dataset is to allow
the public to search and view summary information on
payments made to recipients (referred to as suppliers) that
received $25,000 or more in a fiscal year. Note that salary
and benefit payments to employees, pension payments to
retirees, and any information that is confidential under State
or Federal law is excluded from disclosure. P1
42 Health & Human
Services Births characteristics Bi
rth characteristics by age, race, ethnicity, education,
prenatal care and birth outcomes P3
43 Health & Human
Services Mortality Rates/Population
Health Measures PHS Planning and Epidemiology receives an annual data file
of Montgomery County resident deaths registered with
Maryland Vital Statistics Admi
nistration. Using SAS analytic
software, HHS staff apply programs that standardize,
aggregate, and calculate rates for each cause of death
category consistent with state and national categories and by
subgroups based on age, gender, race and ethnicity combinations. P3
44 Housing &
Community Affairs Housing Code Enforcement Housing Code Enforcement case information, including
violations identified P1
45 Liquor Control Liquor Store Locations County reta
il stores with location, hours, inventory P1 46 Management &
Budget CIP Project Status Capital Improvement
Project listing and current status P1
47 Management &
Budget Fiscal Year 2015
Approved Budget- Internal Service Funds This dataset includes the Internal Service Fund data included
in the annual operating budget.
P1
48 Management &
Budget Fiscal Year 2015
Approved CIP Budget Capital Improvement Project Budget P1
49 Management &
Budget Fiscal Year 2015
Approved Operating Budget This dataset includes the Fiscal Year 2015 operating budget
for Montgomery County.
P1
50 Management &
Budget Fiscal Year 2015 County Executive Recommended CIP Budget Capital Improvement Project Recommended Budget P1 Page: 18
Recommended Operating Budget This dataset includes the Fiscal Year 2016 County Executive
Recommended operating budget for Montgomery County.
P1
52 Permitting
Services Agency Service Requests Complaints submi
tted to DPS for investigation and possible
enforcement P1
53 Permitting
Services Commercial Fast Track Permits Commercial alteration permits issued through DPS' Fast Track process P1
54 Permitting
Services Inspections Inspections
performed for issued permits. P1
55 Permitting
Services Plan reviews Plan reviews completed by permit P1
56 Permitting
Services Special Protection Area
Review Data A Special Protection Area (SPA) is a geographic area
designated by the County Council which has high quality or
unusually sensitive water resources and environmental
features that would be threatened by proposed land
development if special water
quality protection measures
were not applied. This dataset tracks reviews for development in all SPAs P1
57 Permitting
Services Stormwater Management
Concept Information Data A stormwater management concept is a statement or
drawing, or both, describing the manner in which stormwater
runoff from a pro
posed development will be controlled to
minimize damage to neighbori ng properties and receiving
streams and to also prevent the discharge of pollutants into
surface waters. P1
58 Police Department Crime data Information would include crime data including type,
date/time, location, race, gender, and arrest information. It
would not include victim, suspect or investigative report information. P1
59 Police Department Traffic Violati
ons This dataset contains traffi c violation information from all
electronic traffic violations issued in the County. any
information that can be used to uniquely identify the vehicle,
the vehicle owner or the office r issuing the violation will not
be published. P2
60 Public Information
Office Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA)
Request Responses A dataset containing responses that fulfill MPIA requests. In
addition to the responses, the dat
aset contains information
about who made the request and the department(s) fulfilling the request. P3
61 Technology
Services dataMontgomery Dataset Publishing Plan Complete listing of County datasets, including the owning
department and fiscal year schedule. P1
62 Technology
Services Geographic data:
Business Parks A business park is a number of businesses operating in
multiple buildings planned and developed as a group. P1
63 Technology
Services Geographic data: Bus
Stops, Metro Bus WMATA Metro Bus Stops
P1
64 Technology
Services Geographic data: Cemeteries All known cemetery locations P1
65 Technology
Services Geographic data: Census Block Group The groupings of two or more Census Blocks P1
66 Technology
Services Geographic data: Census Blocks The most basic population tabulation unit, typically
corresponding to a city block P1
67 Technology
Services Geographic data: Census
Tracts US Census Bureau defined
population tabulation unit,
roughly 6000 residents to a Tract P1
68 Technology
Services Geographic data: Colleges & Universities Locations of Colleges & Universities P1
69 Technology
Services Geographic data: Congressional Districts in
Montgomery County Districts for electing representatives to the US House of Representatives
P1
70 Technology
Services Geographic data: Councilmember Districts The 5 Councilmember Districts of the County P1
71 Technology
Services Geographic data: County
Boundary The borders of Montgomery County P1
72 Technology
Services Geographic data:
Election Precincts Election Precincts Shape file P1
73 Technology
Services Geographic data: Federal
Government Facilities Locations of federal government facilities P1
74 Technology
Services Geographic data: Fire
Hydrants Sources: WSSC, City of Rockville
. Extensive Quality Control
by MCFRS P1
75 Technology
Services Geographic data: Fire Station Areas The regions that each fire station serves P1 Page: 19
Montgomery County State Legislative Districts falling inside Montgomery County P1
77 Technology
Services Geographic data: Metro Stations METRO rail stations in the County P1
78 Technology
Services Geographic data:
Neighborhoods County Technology Services
and Police are developing a set
of boundaries to delineate about 60 neighborhoods for the
County. P1
79 Technology
Services Geographic data: Parking
Districts Parking Districts in the County. P1
80 Technology
Services Geographic data: Parking Lots Location of parking lots
P1
81 Technology
Services Geographic data: Police Beats Map of Montgomery County Police Beats. This is the second
level Police service areas geographical units. P1
82 Technology
Services Geographic data: Police
Districts The 6 Police Districts
P1
83 Technology
Services Geographic data: Police
Reporting Area (PRA) Map of Montgomery County Police Reporting Areas. This is the third level Police service
areas geographical units. This
dataset provides information on police reporting area data for
the Montgomery County Police Department personnel to
quickly identify police reporting areas for unit deployment and
reporting purposes. P1
84 Technology
Services Geographic data: Police Stations The 6 Police Stations
P1
85 Technology
Services Geographic data: Private Schools K-12 schools not run by MCPS. P1
86 Technology
Services Geographic data:
Recreation Service Regions Department of Recreation divides the County into service Regions.
P1
87 Technology
Services Geographic data: Regional Services The 5 Regional Services areas of the County P1
88 Technology
Services Geographic data: State & Municipal Facilities Buildings and facilities of the State or the cities. P1
89 Technology
Services Geographic data: Street Centerlines Single-line representation of County roadways with hundred-
blocks & various service area ID's P1
90 Technology
Services Geographic data:
Swimming Pools, Public Swimming pools maintained and managed by Recreation and Parks. P1
91 Technology
Services Geographic data:
Transportation Centers Major bus stops with bus bays and waiting areas P1
92 Technology
Services Geographic data: Urban
Districts Economic Development defines three urban areas --
Bethesda, Silver Spring and Wheaton in the County. P1
93 Technology
Services Geographic data: WSSC Map Grids A base-map tiling system developed by WSSC for the two
county (PGC and MC) area that the bi-county public utility
serves. There are 678 tiles
(each measures 6000' by 4000'
in Montgomery County. P1
94 Transportation Leafing Schedule
Leafing Schedule: Posting Log P1 95 Transportation Parking Permit Rates Rates and statistics data P1 96 Transportation Ride On Service
Delays/Issues Ride on delays, service interruptions, etc P1
Note
: The number and order of datasets published in FY15 may increase or decrease based on
the complexities and other factors encountered as detailed in Section 3.3 of this document.
4.2.2 Open Data Initiative – dataMontgomery Taxonomy
When publishing a dataset on the dataMontgomery website, each dataset may be assigned a
Category and a set of keywords (referred to as Topics) in order to facilitate logical search results
for users. Examples of Categories include: Community, Education, Financial, Geographic,
Government, etc. The keywords for Topic can be any free-form word or phrase to describe the
dataset. With over 500 datasets in the County’s dataset inventory, it is important to have a well Page: 20
defined structure of Categories and consistency in the use of keywords associated with the datasets.
Montgomery County’s Department of Public Libraries has volunteered librarian staff with digital
content and taxonomy experience to partner with the dataMontgomery team, review the
County’s dataset inventory and propose a system of logical Categories and keywords that will
best enable our residents to search and find datasets on the dataMontgomery website. This
initiative is scheduled to be completed and deployed to the dataMontgomery website in Fiscal Year 2015.
4.2.3 Open Data Initia
tive – Budget Book Elec tronic Publication
Montgomery County’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) produces 4 major publications
in a full Capital Budget Fiscal Year. These are: • County Executive Recommended Operating Budget
• County Council Approved Operating Budget
• County Executive Recommended Capital Budget
• County Council Approved Capital Budget
Each of these is a large, bound paperback book detailed every aspect of the County budget.
Every year, OMB produced these books in paper copy and PDF formats (for display on the
County website). The process of preparing budget information was extremely time-consuming,
including activities such as aligning headers and footers, page numbering, fitting spreadsheets
and maps to a fixed paper size and maintaining legacy IT systems to support production and
publication. There was a lot of printing and reprinting, wasted paper and staff overtime.
Using the budget information already published on the dataMontgomery website, the County
worked with our open data vendor to develop a presentation format for the data that would
provide an enhanced view of the County budget and eliminate the need to publish the
paperback books. The first release of the Budget Book Electronic Publication is scheduled for
the summer 2014.
The goals established by OMB for the Budget Book Electronic Publication:
• Improved content – Additional maps, charts, spreadsheets and videos can be used to
aid the presentation of budget information. Unlike a book or a PDF file, the Electronic
Budget Book allows for improved context and an interactive experience with residents.
• Enhanced accessibility – Residents with disabilities (ADA compliance) and mobile
device users can easily access the informat ion. Moreover, the information will be
searchable and user friendly.
• Reduced Overhead – OMB staff no longer need to use legacy processes and systems to
prepare for publication of a book, print shop time is no longer necessary, paper usage
will be greatly reduced
• Printable – All of the information in the Electronic Budget Book will be printable for those
who prefer their own paper copies. Most people will likely print out the section they are
interested, rather than the whole book.
Page: 21
4.2.4 Open Data Initiative
– Financial Transparency
Many datasets published in their “raw form ” can be easily displayed and understood by the
general public in a spreadsheet format or on a map. However, there are some more complex
datasets where a more sophisticated method of presentation would promote better
understanding of the data. Complex financial data, such as the raw data supporting the
County’s budgeting, spending and contracts would greatly benefit from an enhanced
presentation layer.
Montgomery County’s goal is to leverage the ope n data platform to provide data-driven, guided
views to government financial data. A development partnership was formed with our open data
vendor to create custom presentation layers with a guided view of budget, spending and
contracts data. More sophisticated users and application developers will still be able to access
this data in its “raw form” on dataMontgomery, as desired.
Three modules will be developed to create a guided, holistic view with downloadable data:
• Budget: showcasing multi-year views of our operating and capital improvement project
budgets, including recommended vs. approved budget comparisons, funding source
breakdowns and maps of currently funded projects with their current status.
• Spending: showing county payments on a granular level, in multi-faceted views such as
by department and expense type, with interactive trending graphs
• Contracts: highlighting payments to county vendors
This Open Data Initiative is an example that Montgomery County is progressing from just
showing our financial data to providing ways to:
• Promoting greater understanding of our data by educating users on how our data is
structured and how we budget and spend money
• Improving access to our data by providing a guided pictorial view of how the County is
budgeting and spending money
• Increasing interaction with residents and data users by providing multiple ways to access
data, including the tools required for data analysis and collaboration
The initial release of the Financial Transparency modules is scheduled for Fiscal Year 2015.
4.2.5 Open Data Initiative – Co untyStat Performance Dashboard
CountyStat is a component of Montgomery County ’s results-based accountability system that
promotes a culture of “managing for results”, while addressing one of the County Executive’s
priority objectives: “A Responsible and Accountable County Government”. As a component of
the County’s results-based accountability system , CountyStat requires decisions, actions, and
policies that are driven by the extensive use of data, qualitative and quantitative analysis, and
outcome-focused performance management. Page: 22
CountyStat relies on the strategic use of data and analytics to monitor and improve the
performance, effectiveness, and efficiency of County services. All of the County’s executive
branch departments have developed performance plans, containing data-supported “headline
performance measures” that reflect each department’s core mission and strategies for how to
improve and optimize performance. These “headline performance measures” are documented
on the CountyStat website (http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/countystat/) in the annual
performance reports (PDF format) and a performance dashboard based on data reported by
departments.
As Montgomery County moves more data online using the dataMontgomery website, it
becomes more critical to represent performanc e metrics using this published data rather than
quarterly summaries. Montgomery County has partnered with our open data vendor to replace
CountyStat’s current Performance Dashboard with a more interactive, data-driven
representation. The initial release of the CountyStat Performance Dashboard replacement is
scheduled for Fiscal Year 2015.
4.3 dataMontgomery Invento ry for FY16 and Beyond
The prior sections of this document detailed the datasets already available on the
dataMontgomery website and the datasets scheduled for publication in the coming fiscal year.
The remaining datasets identified in the dataset inventory process are detailed in the table
below. These datasets are scheduled for publication in FY16 or later, based on their priority
rankings.
Datasets in the lowest priority categories will be evaluated to ensure resources expended to
publish the dataset are justified before they are scheduled for publication. It is expected that not
all datasets will be published.
The table is sorted by Department, then by priority (highest to lowest). The complete inventory
of datasets is published as a dataset on the dataMontgomery website. (link:
https://data.montgomerycountymd.gov/Comm unity/dataMontgomery-Dataset-Publishing-
Plan/c3dr-fnib).
For a count of the total number of datasets in each priority grouping, by department, please
refer to Appendix C of this document.
98 Board of Elections General Ballot Question
Early, Election Day and Absentee Results Complete election results as certified, including early and absentee
votes as well as Election Day.
P3
99 Board of Elections General Ballot Question
Results by Precinct Ballot Question Results by Precinct P3
100 Board of Elections BOE-EMS (Election
Management System) Polling Place and Poll worker Management System P4
101 Board of Elections G
eneral Election Early,
Election Day and Absentee Results This file contains complete electi
on results as certified, including
early and absentee votes as well as Election Day. P4
102 Board of Elections General Election
Results by Precinct General Election Results by Precinct P4
103 Board of Elections BOE-Interactive Voice
Response (IVR) activity logs Activities logged in Interactiv
e Voice Response System P5 Page: 23
105 Board of Elections
Election Judge training classes Election Judge training class information P5
106 Board of Elections Election
Judges Information about Elec tion Judges such as demographic
information, number assigned and languages spoken. P5
107 Board of Elections Election records (polling
place and call center data) Election activity records (polli
ng place and call center data) P5
108 Board of Elections Election Technical
Support Volunteer List Election Technical Support Vol
unteer Registration System
(ETSVRS) P5
109 Board of Elections
Polling Place Lookup
Data Copy of street address file maintained for polling place lookup purposes P5
110 Board of Elections Precinct Voter Counts Precinct Voter Counts
P5 111 Board of Elections Provisional ballots Acceptance and rejection reasons for provisional ballots. P5 112 Board of Elections Voter Registration Da ta Data from state MDVOTERS system P5 113 Board of Elections Voter registration
transaction data Voter registration transaction data as generated from MDVOTERS
Monthly Statistical Reports P5
114 Board of Elections Voting equipment and
materials inventory Voting equipment and materials data P5
115 Community
Engagement Cluster Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services
Center - Calendar Calendar of Events
P2
116 Community
Engagement Cluster East County Regional Service Center
Location, hours of operation, services provided P2
117 Community
Engagement Cluster Office of Community
Partnerships - Gilchrist Center
Gilchrist Center's Locations, Hours of Operation, Programs and Services.
P2
118 Community
Engagement Cluster Sidney Kramer
UpCounty Regional Center Location, hours of operation, services provided P2
119 Community
Engagement Cluster Silver Spring Regional Center
Location, hours of operation, services provided P2
120 Community
Engagement Cluster Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services
Center - Annual Reports Annual Reports
P3
121 Community
Engagement Cluster Commission for Women Events
Calendar of Events
P3
122 Community
Engagement Cluster Geographic data:East
County Regional Service Center Eastern Montgomery Regional Center Information P3
123 Community
Engagement Cluster Office of Community
Partnerships - Volunteer Center
Volunteer Center - Registered Agencies P3
124 Community
Engagement Cluster Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services
Center Location, hours
of operation, services provided Location, hours of operation, services provided P4
125 Community
Engagement Cluster Commission for Women
Annual Report of Women's Legislative Briefing Commission for Women (CFW) Annual Report P4
126 Community
Engagement Cluster East County Regional
Service Center - East
County Citizens
Advisory Board
(ECCAB) Reports East County Citizens Advisory Board (ECCAB) Reports P4
127 Community
Engagement Cluster MidCounty Regional
Center - Advisory
Boards and Committees Advisory Boards and Committees
P4
128 Community
Engagement Cluster MidCounty Regional
Center - Location, hours
of operation, services provided Location, hours of operation, services provided P4 Page: 24
UpCounty Regional
Services Center -
Upcounty Citizens
Advisory Board's Annual Report Upcounty Citizens Advisory Board's Annual Report P4
130 Community
Engagement Cluster Silver Spring Regional
Center - Citizen
Advisory Board Annual Report Citizen Advisory Board Annual Report P4
131 Community
Engagement Cluster Commission for Women
5.0 Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA) Requests
The Open Data Act specifies that Public Information Act responses and certain information
about the request will be published on a web portal.
See Montgomery County Code § 2-159.
A MPIA publishing workgroup led by an Assistant Chief Administrative Officer and including
representatives from the Public Information Offi ce, the County Attorney’s Office, the Department
of Technology Services (DTS), as well as repr esentatives from several other departments, was
established. The workgroup developed the requirements and process for publishing MPIA
responses. The published list on the dataMontgomery web site will have a link to a repository
that will contain the MPIA response. Users will be able to look at the request information and
then pull the full response from the repository.
DTS developed the specifications for and created a tool for publishing MPIA requests on the
County’s open data portal. The tool was announced to all departments and made available in
May 2014. The first set of MPIA responses are planned to be published on the portal in July
2014. Subsequent responses will be available on the portal as they are posted.
The MPIA Implementation process is documented in Appendix D of this document.
Page: 40
Appendix A – openMontgomery Memorandum from CAO
Page: 41
Page: 42
Appendix B – Dataset Scoring Methodology and Outreach
The datasets were individually scored by the Chief Innovation Officer and the manager of
CountyStat. The categories, six internally fo
cused and six externally focused, conveyed
between zero and ten points and are: Internal:
• Is the dataset aligned with the department’s core function / Degree to which publishing
this data furthers the core mission of the department? (1-10 points)
• Is the dataset a direct or indirect source of a department’s Headline Performance
Measure(s) and/or Supporting Measure(s)? (2 = No, 4 = Indirect/Supporting, 6 =
Direct/Supporting, 8 = indirect/headline, 10 = direct/headline)
• Will posting the data result in administrative time saved for a department(s)?
(i.e. will they be able to stop spending time responding to requests for this particular
information?) (No = 0, Maybe/Minimal = 5, Yes = 10)
• Is the data already collected and readily accessible so as not to require new or additional
business processes? (1 = significant effort, 5 = medium effort, 10 = minimal effort)
• Is the data used across departments and does its publication facilitate collaboration?
(No = 0, Yes = 5)
• Will publishing this dataset enable the retirement of a legacy system or database?
(No = 0, Yes = 5)
External:
• Is the data typically used when deciding policies that impact residents’ quality of life?
(Never = 0, Sometimes = 5, Always = 10)
• Will publishing this dataset allow a business or resident to perform a process more
efficiently and/or effectively? (Doubtful = 0, Possibly = 5, Certainly = 10)
• Is Montgomery County the only source of the data? (No = 0, Yes = 5)
• Does the data contribute to civic engagement?
(Doubtful = 0, Possibly = 5, Certainly = 10)
• Does the data create economic opportunity? (No = 0, Maybe = 5, Yes = 10)
• Will publishing this dataset make the department more accountable and/or responsive
by improving/increasing the public's know ledge of its operation? (No = 0, Yes = 5)
All scoring was conducted in as consistent a manner as possible. The externally focused
scoring categories relied heavily on the public input. The internally focused categories looked to
the headline measures CountyStat uses to measure departments. CountyStat facilitated
meetings with each department to identify datasets and their internal usefulness. If a dataset
demonstrated its usefulness to the public or for measuring internal performance, it invariably Page: 43
scored highly. This process was the first of its kind in the country. The scorecard has been
requested by other jurisdictions as they embark on their own open data programs.
Extensive outreach was conducted to provide all re
sidents an opportunity to inform this process.
Two Open Data Town Halls were held (one in Bethesda and one in Germantown) to give
residents an opportunity to learn about dataMontgomery, speak with knowledgeable County
staff, and provide their open data priorities. At the same time, a social media campaign was
conducted using the hashtag #opendataMC to provide feedback opportunities to residents who
could not make it to a live event. Also in the fall and spring targeted workshops were held on
several focused topics: public safety data, transit data, and financial transparency data. For
these workshops the County invited focus groups of active residents to provide feedback. For
example, the Montgomery County Police Depar tment identified active Neighborhood Watch
captains and invited them to participate in a workshop on crime data. For financial transparency,
the Montgomery County Civic Federation and the Montgomery County Taxpayers League
identified representatives to participate. Finally, representatives from the DTS, our open data
portal vendor, and the Chief Innovation Officer conducted a series of outreach presentations at
area high schools to educate them on what open data is, how they can use it, and to find out what data is important to them.
Due to the distributed nature of the scoring based on the variety of factors, if there was a
consensus that scoring should be changed in a particular category the overall ranking would
change little. The value of data stems from a multitude of factors. For a public sector entity that
must respond to internal factors as well as the needs of constituents, these criteria appropriately
reflect the value of data. Page: 44
Appendix C – Dataset Prioritization Count (by Department)
FY16 & Beyond
Department
Currently
Published
Scheduled
FY15 P1 P2 P3 P4 P5
Grand
Total
Board of Elections
1 1 2 3 12 19
Community Engagement Cluster 5 4 7 2 18
Community Use of Public Facilities 2 1 2
Consumer Protection
3 2 1 2 2 10
Correction and Rehabilitation 4 2 7 2 15
County Attorney
3 3 1 7
County Executive's Office 1 2 4 4 11
Economic Development 5 9 4 18
Emergency Management &
Homeland Security 1 3 1 2
Employee Retirement Plans
2 6 8
Environmental Protection
1 2 6 5 6 20
Ethics Commission 3 3
Finance 5 2 1 4 1 3 16
Fire & Rescue Services 1 2 2 4 9
General Services 1 8 10 9 2 1 31
Health & Human Services 1 2 2 5 1 1 12
Housing & Community Affairs 1 2 2 1 6
Human Resources 2 2 1 2 9 33 49
Human Rights 2 2 4
Intergovernmental Relations 1 1 2 4
Liquor Control
1 1 1 1 3 2 1 10
Management & Budget 6 6 1 1 14
Permitting Services 7 6 3 4 12 13 6 51
Police Department
2 2 3 3 1 1 12
Public Information Office
1 1 3 5
Public Libraries 3 44 2 49
Recreation Department
6 3 9
Technology Services 10 33 10 6 5 3 33 100
Transportation 2 3 2 8 8 5 3 31
Grand Total 39 57 49 73 92 119 124 553 Page: 45
Appendix D – MPIA Response Publishing 1. Assumptions
1.1. Purpose is to publish MPIA responses that have a high data value
1.2. County’s MPIA processing – no change, remains decentralized
1.2.1. Each department (data owner) receives and responds to requests
1.2.2. Each department follows their own internal processes for compiling, redacting and validating data
1.3. Response to MPIA request may be directing requestor to dataMontgomery
1.4. FOIA requests are treated as MPIA requests
1.5. Only responses to written requests will be posted
2. Format – data published will be in same format as provided previously (DOC, XLS, PDF, TIFF, JPG, PST, etc.)
They're breaking at the PDF wrap, not the true line wrap.
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