Boston Launches New Open Data Platform Powered by OpenGov

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., March 2, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- OpenGov, the world's first integrated cloud solution for public sector budgeting, reporting, and open data, announced today that the City of Boston, Massachusetts has launched the beta version of the "Analyze Boston" open data platform, powered by OpenGov Open Data^TM. A leader in applying smart technology, Boston is partnering with OpenGov to improve both internal and public access to key information, such as public safety and transportation data. Access to such rich, meaningful data empowers internal stakeholders to undertake better analysis, spurs innovation among private sector and nonprofit technology developers who are building critical solutions, and facilitates civic engagement.

"Our goal in creating the Analyze Boston platform is to better fulfill the promise of open data and open government, by seeing open data not just as a collection of datasets but as a platform for sharing knowledge," said Boston's Chief Data Officer Andrew Therriault. "Our collaboration with OpenGov enabled us to develop and deploy this new portal more easily than if we tried to do it by ourselves. That let us focus on what we're good at — finding and cataloguing high-quality datasets — rather than trying to deploy and manage software on our own."

Boston joins a growing number of government agencies nationwide, including Arizona's Maricopa County and the California National Resource Association, that rely on OpenGov's open source open data portal. OpenGov Open Data^™ is designed to bring greater collaboration, transparency, and innovation to governance, and it works for governments and agencies of all types and sizes.

The new site allows anyone to search through Boston's open datasets and interact with that data through preview, filter, and visualization tools. Developers can access and integrate datasets using robust APIs, and the site allows city officials and the general public to create charts and graphs online and embed the visualizations on other websites.

"Boston is a trendsetter for modernizing government, and its new easy-to-use open source open data platform is yet another instance of the city embracing the power of technology to better serve residents," said OpenGov CEO Zac Bookman. "Leveraging OpenGov's Open Data platform, Boston's elected officials and residents will be able to more effectively understand key trends, make informed decisions, and build trust that is essential to the city's health and wellness. This puts the city in the driver's seat for using data as an asset to be leveraged internally and externally on a single platform."

While Analyze Boston is in beta mode, the City will continue to curate high-quality, up-to-date datasets while continuing to work with OpenGov to develop a platform that is widely accessible. Analyze Boston will be the default technology platform to support the publication of the City's public data, which will let citizens easily find facts, figures, and maps related to life in Boston.

"Increasingly, we're seeing cities do more than just put the data out there, but to take a new more expansive approach to it," said Stephen Larrick, open data project lead for the Sunlight Foundation in an interview with StateScoop. "This is on the cutting-edge of what we're seeing cities do."

OpenGov Open Data^™ is a hosted CKAN solution. CKAN is the open source standard for open data used by the U.S. federal government, the European Union, and hundreds of other agencies around the world. OpenGov Open Data^™ allows governments to create portals for citizen engagement, and to connect budget and performance data with census data, FBI crime data, and financial data from over 3,000 counties and 36,000 cities.

About OpenGov
OpenGov is the leader in government performance solutions: easy-to-use cloud software for better budgeting, improved reporting and operational intelligence, and comprehensive transparency and open data. OpenGov solutions give governments the right tools and relevant data for more informed decision-making and better outcomes for the public.

Over 1,400 public agencies in 48 states are part of the growing OpenGov network. . Founded in 2012, OpenGov customers include the State Treasurer of Ohio, the city of Minneapolis, MN; Maricopa County, AZ; and Washington, DC. OpenGov is backed by top investors Andreessen Horowitz, 8VC, and Thrive Capital and has headquarters in Redwood City, CA.

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