In 2014/2015 my colleague Frank and I worked with the Province of North-Holland and 9 municipalities in that province to position open data as a policy instrument: around specific local issues we would publish data, and reach out to potential re-users. Part of this process was to make open data a normal part of every day work on public tasks. Hollands Kroon, a rural municipality in the very north of the Province was one of the participants that succeeded in bringing open data into line management.
Now they have launched a new municipal website, following the so-called ‘top tasks’ model. In this model the most prominent information shown is the information citizens most need or want. I have interacted with many municipalities that because of moving to a ‘top-tasks’ website refused to publish data or the answers to the FOIA requests they received. They said “we’re in the process of limiting the information in our sites to the most sought after, so we’re not going to publish any data etc, that would be confusing.”
Not so in Hollands Kroon. This is how their new site looks, with open data a very prominent menu option.
With this step, Hollands Kroon shows how they have embraced open data. Already after the program with the Province, called North-Holland Smarter, they had formed a data team, working to raise internal awareness for open data and data driven work, and working to raise interest in re-use. Now they’ve gone a step further in making open data a significant part of their external communications.
To me this is all the more remarkable, as when we started in 2014 Hollands Kroon as a small rural municipality doubted whether open data could be a useful tool to them, and assumed it would only make sense in urban environments, such as in Amsterdam, the biggest city in the Province of North-Holland. They then quickly realized there is potential for their own local context and policy issues as well, especially if you work together with neighbouring municipalities in the region, in collaboration with the Province.