Strathcona County - open by design
Strathcona County's Open Data Policy, supports the municipality being open by design, and is subject to financial, legal, legislative and privacy constraints. This means that whenever possible, Strathcona County will make data available to the public in a machine-readable format that can be freely used, modified, and shared by anyone.
By making this data open, the public can access, interpret and create value from the data for the benefit of all members of the County. Data published to the open data catalog will be provided by Strathcona County or trusted partners.Â
What is Open Data?
Open Data means providing convenient, free and open access to government information. Open data is equally accessible by all citizens, with no fees or restrictions attached to its use.
The data is offered in machine-readable formats for everyone to use, reuse and redistribute.
Open data is used by a wide variety of people and organizations ranging from citizens to software developers to researchers, in all sectors.
The data can be transformed into useful products and services such as web and mobile applications, customized research and analysis, or repurposed for new solutions and improvements. Apps for transit services, interactive maps of walking or art tours, market research or operational analysis are some examples.
Our Open Data catalogue shares over 150 County datasets. Over time we hope to add new datasets.
We look forward to your feedback and involvement as we build Open Data in Strathcona County.
Benefits of Open Data
Governments around the world have begun to make their data available through Open Data, and it has shown these benefits:
- creation of new products and services to serve citizens, businesses and community such as useful software applications
- richer information shared and more personalized services to the public
- reduced costs for government and citizens to find, distribute and use government data efficiently
- spurred innovation and economic development opportunities such as start-up digital companies that leverage the data
- and above all, more open, accountable government …  and more informed and engaged citizens
Privacy and Licence
Open data does not mean that a government releases all of its data to the public. Within the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIP), we respect an individual’s privacy and are committed to protect personal information. No personal or private information is released in Open Data. Â
All information distributed via the Open Data Portal is shared under the Open Government License - Strathcona.
More information:
Chris Kershaw,
Manager – Enterprise Information Management,
Information Technology Services
Phone: 780-400-2016
Email: opendata@strathcona.ca