Open Data’s White Slate

The NY Senate CIO Team is working to revamp the Open Data page to make finding, accessing and using government data downright pleasurable. The online whiteboard screen capture above is a first look at how we’re thinking about implementing this including:

• Clear demarkation of posting vs. fiscal dates
• Robust tagging system
• Color coded tags to make navigation fast and easy
• Multiple file types
• Plain Language support to help explain what the data means and important terminology

We’re also working on other ways to present data so it’s easy to get and use such as:

• Issue iconogrphay to save your weary eyes by making pages less text heavy and help speed navigation
• Embeddable charts and tables - “Try it before you buy it” (of course the data’s all free to the public)
• Re-posting to networks like scrib, slideshare and swivel so that people can access the Senate easily. In fact, we’ve already started testing out these outlets. Check the links above to see what we’ve been up to!
• More data! Including automoatic feeds from parts of the Senate so that you’re kept up to date! (Also, RSS feeds for issues and tags you’re interested in so you’re never out of the loop).

We’re still building this, though. If you have any good ideas @nysenatecio and our tumblr blog want to hear from you. Not to mention, you can reach us by our facebook page too: Fan us and let us know what data you want posted and what would make it most useful to YOU.