THE TECHNOLOGY OF TRANSPARENCY

Government Finance Officers Association - 2012 Conference

Greg Wass, Chief Information Officer, Cook County, IL

Cook County, Illinois

Cook County Illinois

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¨  5.2 million population

¨  946 square miles

¨  127 overlapping municipalities ¨  25,000 employees

¨  County courts is the world’s largest unified trial court

¨  Health system is the second largest health system in the nation ¨  County’s annual operating budget is approximately $3 billion

¨  Was reduced by 16% in 2011 and another 4% in 2012 ¨  Major sources of revenue: property and sales taxes; fees

Fiscal crisis motivates transformation

Cook County Illinois

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$1,750

$1,850

$1,950

$2,050

$2,150

$2,250

$2,350

$2,450

$2,550

$2,650

FY08 FY09 FY10 FY11 FY12 FY13 FY14 FY15 FY16

Mill

ions

Revenue

Expenses

($210) ($659) ($453) ($537)

The transparency imperative

Cook County Illinois

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¨  Public trust in government at an all-time low?

¨  Fiscal crisis: most states and local governments still in a financial crisis brought on by the recession

¨  Difficulty meeting service demands with declining/stagnant revenues

¨  New capabilities available through web-based, mobile and social networking technologies

¨  New demands for open government, collaboration, and shared services

A 2010 study by the University of Illinois at Chicago called Cook County a “dark pool of political corruption,” revealing that nearly 150 contractors, employees and politicians have been convicted on corruption charges since 1957. --from an October 2011 Government Technology magazine article by Brian Heaton

The circle of public trust

Cook County Illinois

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The open government movement

Cook County Illinois

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¨  Data must be: ¤ Complete ¤ Primary ¤ Timely ¤ Accessible ¤ Machine processable ¤ Non-discriminatory access ¤ Non-proprietary formats ¤ License-free

Source: http://www.opengovdata.org/home/8principles

A 2007 working group of 30 open government advocates in Sebastopol, CA, developed the 8 Principles of Open Government Data. These principles have become the de facto starting point for evaluating openness in government records.

The open gov movement (cont’d)

Cook County Illinois

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¨  Washington, DC ¨  San Francisco ¨  Baltimore ¨  Chicago ¨  Portland ¨  New York City

Open government in Cook County

Cook County Illinois

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¨  Many residents don’t know what County government is or what it does

¨  Many residents don’t know how their tax dollars are collected or spent

¨  Historical lack of transparency means many local citizen activists are disengaged and cynical

¨  Lack of transparency breeds doubt, skepticism, inefficiency and corruption

Open government in Cook County

Cook County Illinois

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1.  Ordinance: Cook County’s open data ordinance begins making data public. Agency heads partner with Board President and Commissioners to make initial high-value data sets public.

2.  Data portal: County launches a single-site portal centralizing data in developer-friendly formats. Data offerings continuously expand.

3.  App contests and data camps: County encourages developers and activists to drive new and improved government services through mobile apps and data visualizations.

4.  Continuous improvement: County expands data offerings, provides ongoing incentives for developers and activists and opens a conversation about improving our government.

Open government in Cook County

Cook County Illinois

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March-April 2011 Summer 2011 2012 Beyond

Enact open data ordinance

Host launch party/

App contest

Continue fostering developer community through data camps, and contests and

conferences

Partner with vendor to create single-site data portal

Use resulting information to improve government efficiency, effectiveness and

fairness

Invest County data owners Expand public data offerings

Open government in Cook County

Cook County Illinois

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Open data site architecture

Cook County Illinois

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“Apps for Metro Chicago”

Cook County Illinois

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Regional open data site

Cook County Illinois

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Results and reactions

¨  “The Cook County open data website was launched on-time and it has been a reliable platform for the County to deliver information to citizens and for potential use by entrepreneurs developing applications. The shared platform with the State of Illinois and the City of Chicago keeps costs down and promotes consistent approaches for data sharing.”—TechAmerica, The Cloud Imperative: Better Collaboration, Better Service, Better Cost, Feb 2012

¨  “(Metrochicagodata.org) appears to deliver what public-sector technologists long have said could be possible—a truly regional clearinghouse where all public data is available for free in one place.”—Government Technology, May 2012

¨  “Yesterday, Cook County released an unprecedented amount of data on their website. It’s exciting to see both the City of Chicago and Cook County creating new, innovative ways to inform and engage with citizens about important local issues including public safety, economic development and especially government spending.”—Illinois PIRG, Sep 2011

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Cook County Illinois

Next steps

Cook County Illinois

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¨ Big Data

¨ More use of open data for research and analysis

¨ Expanding data.gov

(312) 603-1400

www.cookcountyil.gov 17

Cook County Illinois