TESTIMONY
Martha Norrick, Chief Analytics Officer and Deputy Commissioner for Data and Analytics, NYC Office of Technology and Innovation (OTI) on Enhancements and Operations of New York City's Open Data Program
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5 min
Martha Norrick outlines the advancements and daily functions of the New York City Open Data Program, highlighting its role in improving data accessibility and public engagement.
- Norrick details the program's reorganization under Mayor Adams's executive order, which consolidated technology agencies and unified technical and public engagement teams under OTI.
- The testimony includes an explanation of the program's three primary functions: assisting Open Data Coordinators across city agencies, managing the technical infrastructure, and enhancing public data accessibility.
- Initiatives such as the simplified data dictionary template, data quality standards checklist, and automated data transfers to the open data portal are emphasized.
- Public engagement efforts like the Open Data Week Festival and Open Data Ambassador program showcase the program's dedication to making data understandable and useful for New Yorkers.
- Norrick expresses gratitude for the City Council's support of the Open Data Program and is ready to answer council members' questions.
UNKNOWN
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You you can begin your testimony.
Martha Norrick
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Okay.
0:04:42
Oh, yep.
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That is different I'm I have done one before, but it was on Zoom.
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And I muted and unmuted myself successfully.
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So Yes.
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This is my first time with a live mic.
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Very exciting.
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Okay.
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I can try it again.
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Good morning, everyone.
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Good morning, chair.
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Good morning, soon to be members of the technology committee.
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My name is Martha Norich, and I am the New York City's chief analytics officer and the deputy commissioner for data and analytics at the office of technology and innovation or OTI for short.
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I'm joined today by Zachary Fader, the city's open data program manager.
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And I'm excited to be here today to discuss our important ongoing work to fulfill the requirements of New York City's open data law and our Congress connecting New Yorkers with the data that runs their city.
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And I'd like to thank this committee for its interest and and support of the open data program.
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New York City open data is the city's most important public data resource with billions of rows of data viewed by more than 1,000,000 people each year.
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Prior to this administration, New York City Open Data was jointly managed by the Legacy Mayor's Office of Data Analytics or Moda, in the legacy department of information technology and telecommunications, or do it.
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Staff from each of these process worked in tandem as the New York City Open Data team.
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Technical work, like building the automated processes that move data from agencies to the Open Data form was led by the DeWitt staff, while agency and public facing engagement work was led by the Moda staff.
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When Mayor Adams's executive order 3 consolidated of the city's technology agencies under OTI in January of 2022, the open data team was also united within a single this.
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This new arrangement strengthens the virtuous cycle of rigorous data analysis and high quality data.
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The same necessary work to make data sets accessible to the city's data analysts and scientists ensuring that they're structured properly and documented thoroughly.
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Is also vital for making that same data accessible to the New Yorkers who use open data.
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New York City open data functions as a collaborate between our team and every city agency in office, shout out to any open data coordinators in the room.
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Agencies share their data and their subject matter expert fees.
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We provide governance, help with data, and technical knowledge, and lead broader public engagement.
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The open data team has 3 main functions, We support open data coordinators and agencies.
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We manage the technical platform and pipelines that under underpin New York City open data.
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And we work on making public data more accessible for New Yorkers.
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Each each agency in office has its own ODC, approximately 100 in total, who are responsible for identifying, structuring, documenting, managing, and communicating about their agency's public datasets.
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Nearly all ODCs have other responsibilities in addition to their work on open data and regularly work with agency colleagues across information technology, data analytics, legal, and communications roles to fulfill their duties.
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It is also important to note that given the breadth of information, the most agencies share on open data.
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ODCs serve primarily as facilitators between their agencies and the open data team.
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They rely on experts across different divisions and teams to contextualize the data their agency publishes.
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They then use that same context to create data documentation and respond to public inquiries about this data.
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Supporting agencies and ODCs is critical giving the number of agencies control reading to open data and the variety of forms the data can take.
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To start, we create and promote open data standards and best practices.
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Derived from our own experience, conversations with city colleagues, and learning from other municipalities.
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For example, in 2022, we released a simplified data dictionary template more comprehensive and easier to use data documentation.
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We updated the technical standards manual to refocus the document on open data coordinators and the dataset life cycle.
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And published a data quality standards checklist used to vet data sets before publication.
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Our technical work is focused on keeping datasets up to date.
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In recent years, our team has employed new tools to build automations more quickly.
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These automations transfer data from its source city database to the open data portal at a specified frequency.
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We have also piloted an initiative to empower some agencies to create and manage their own updates and automations.
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Accessibility is a hallmark of our open data initiatives.
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Our thinking around accessibility is directly informed by what we've learned from New Yorkers best practices across the country and around the world, and New York City's open data law.
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We remain focused on helping more New Yorkers understand and make meaningful use of this data through public programs such as the Open Data Week Festival, which we're celebrating this year from March 16th to March 24th, and Open Data ambassador which has brought introductory classes to academic institutions, library branches, local elected officials, including members of this committee.
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These initiatives are products of our longstanding partnerships with the civic technology nonprofit Beta NYC, and the art collective data through by design, as well as the enthusiasm of many New Yorkers who have volunteered to share their skills and knowledge.
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I thank the committee on technology for the opportunity to testify today and will now take counsel member's questions.