On November 6, the State of New York released its Open Data Handbook, which provides guidelines for identifying, reviewing, and prioritizing publishable state data for publication. We asked Dr. Nirav Shah, NY State Health Commissioner, and Tania Allard, Director of Intergovernmental Affairs and Special Projects and Health Data NY Director of the New York State Department of Health, to tell us more about what the Open Data Handbook means for health data in the State of New York and beyond.
1) Do you know if New York’s Open Data Handbook is the first of its kind in the country by a state?
To our knowledge, New York State is unique as it pertains to its OPEN NY initiative – as the initiative is based on the Governor Cuomo’s Executive Order 95 – which requires NYS agencies’ participation to publish data on OPEN NY (data.ny.gov) and the publishing of an Open Data Handbook. Also, New York State is the only state to have a dedicated open data site solely dedicated to state health data – which is Health Data NY (health.data.ny.gov).
2) What kind of impact do you expect the NY Open Data Handbook to have?
Emerging and innovative technologies has dramatically changed the way government conducts business, as well as the public’s expectations regarding information access. OPEN NY (data.ny.gov ) harnesses this to create opportunity for the public to explore, discover, analyze, and utilize data in ways never before possible: to spark innovation, research, and economic opportunities; to promote citizen engagement, increase transparency, and inform decision-making.
From New York State’s perspective, the goal is to “bring government to the people” and to be more accountable. Through OPEN NY and Health Data NY, New York is improving access to valuable data to help citizens become more informed and to give them the information they need to make better decisions – whether they use our health data to make a decision about what hospital they want to have their hip replacement surgery performed at based on the hospital-acquired infection information we made available to them on Health Data NY, or perhaps a businessman wants to explore economic development data within New York State via OPEN NY to see trends and/or analyze potential investment opportunities.
3) Were there entrepreneurs, universities, etc. clamoring for something like this?
Yes, there were many groups of interested parties ranging from innovative open data leaders to good government groups to legislators to those in academia, as well as other government entities. (To view interested parties, please visit: http://www.governor.ny.gov/press/03112013open-data)
4) How do you think about data quality in this context?
It’s all about quality. Per the open data handbook, every dataset that gets released on OPEN NY and Health Data NY goes through a vigorous review and approval process. (We are especially stringent in DOH – as we need to ensure we comply with HIPPA). One thing that OPEN NY and Health Data NY do that other open data sites don’t is provide metadata with all datasets released. So, not only do we put out high-quality datasets, but we also go the extra step to ensure that those using the datasets understand how the data is collected and with what tools, its limitations and how frequently it is updated. We also make sure to provide data dictionaries, supplemental documentation as necessary, and links to program areas specific to that data for more information, if needed.
5) How would you like other states and groups to use your handbook?
The Open Data Handbook was created based on hundreds of hours of open data research; input received from data experts from a variety of State Agencies who comprised the State’s Open Data Workgroup, as well as public comments. So, many insights were woven into it. Other states should feel free to use it as a guide for their own purposes – they can adopt it, or adapt it as they see fit. The real intent is to explain how we are moving forward with open data in New York and if other states can learn from our practices, then we welcome that!
6) Is there a second version planned? How will you get feedback and continue to evolve? What is on the horizon?
The Provisional Open Data Handbook was released on June 6, 2013. The final Open Data handbook was issued on November 6, 2013 after research and input as previously mentioned. Executive Order 95 inherently provides for an iterative and evolving environment as it provides that the State’s Office of Information Technology Services, may from time to time, amend the Open Data Handbook.
As we move forward with our open data efforts, we certainly expect that it will be modified and enhanced. We anticipate that we will continue to get feedback about it via the comment section on the OPEN NY site. Our state’s Chief Data Officer, Barbara Cohn, will continue to convene the Open Data Workgroup and feedback will be provided there, as well.
More data will continue to be added to both OPEN NY and Health Data NY. In December, New York State will be hosting its first ever New York State Health Data Code-a-thon. The Code-a-thon will utilize data on both the Health Data NY and OPEN NY sites, as well as federal open data sites, to develop novel ideas/apps to help New Yorkers become more physically active to help stem obesity and diabetes. More information about this event can be found by clicking here: http://nys-its.github.io/ny-innovates/
In 2014, New York State will also be hosting a Health Innovation Challenge, and Health Data NY will be moving towards the publication of public health dashboards. These dashboards will help New Yorkers understand the “health status” of communities across the State.