Philadelphia has hired its first-ever Chief Data Officer. Inside, we look at how the position is linked to the Open Data movement, and provide details on the position, its pay, its functionWhat Happened?
The city of Philadelphia has hired its first-ever Chief Data Officer, who will be responsible for improving public access to information that the city collects.
Who Cares?
The move is part of a trend toward “liberating” data, wherein cities maximize transparency by making database available to the public. Often, this term is known as “Open Data.”
The Hire
The job belongs to Mark Headd, who was most recently with Code For America, which uses technology to help government collaborate with citizens and civic groups. He has held both technology and public policy positions, including Director at the Delaware Government Information Center, and Policy Advisor for former Delaware Governor Thomas Carper (now a U.S. Senator).
The position was the brainchild of Philly’s new Chief Innovation Officer, Adel Ebeid, who recently joined the city after holding the chief IT post at the state of New Jersey. Headd will report to Ebeid; according to reports, the Chief Data Officer pays $138,000.
His Efforts
According to reports, Headd is already making an impact; Philly recently unveiled new mapping technology that overlays myriad city databases, from permits and violations, to zoning and transportation.
Other Cities
Philadelphia was not the first city to hire a chief data officer, but it may be one of the only cities with person currently in the position. Chicago, for example, recently promoted its chief data officer to CIO, and Colorado’s chief data officer stepped down last year. At the federal level, many agencies and departments have their own CDO positions. At the FCC, for example, every bureau has it own Chief Data Officer.
Action Items
As Gov1 covered extensively last month, many cities are working hard to liberate their data. In doing so, cities are able to offload development of interactive tools to citizens. Often, entrepreneurs—whether through “hackathons” or challenges—find innovative ways to leverage the city’s data by developing creative mobile apps or other digital offerings that cities have neither the expertise or capital to build on their own.
A detailed list of other initiatives in cities around the country—including Chicago, Baltimore, San Francisco, and Boston—is available, as is a list of cools apps developed using Open Data.
Information on getting started is also available.