(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont today is marking International Open Data Day – which this year is celebrated on Saturday, March 2, 2024 – by highlighting the availability of data for the public through the Connecticut Open Data Portal, data.ct.gov. This year marks the tenth anniversary of the creation of the portal, which makes data collected by state government more easily accessible to the public and promotes greater government transparency.
“The Connecticut Open Data Portal is helpful to our state’s residents, businesses, and governments as we can make data instantly available and customizable to the user,” Governor Lamont said. “By providing data online, we have been able to accurately report spending and share data about economic development, public health, sustainability, and address historical inequities. These efforts continue to receive national recognition, and I look forward to seeing the continuation of these open data efforts going forward.”
The Connecticut Open Data Portal was launched in 2014 and it is overseen by the Connecticut Open Data Advisory Council. It currently hosts more than 550 datasets submitted by various state agencies and more than 30 data stories that highlight trends in data. Over the last year, the portal has served more than 175,000 users.
Some of the newer datasets launched on the portal over the past year include:
- An American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Funding and Project Inventory Dashboard that provides detail on ARPA investments, including details on ARPA-funded projects, the status of allocated funds, and spending progress;
- A State of Connecticut Executive Branch Workforce Dashboard that provides data on trends in state workforce, including the number of executive branch employees and filled vacancies;
- A Municipal Fiscal Indicators Dashboard that contains data on the fiscal health of Connecticut’s 169 towns and cities; and
- A Housing Data Hub that contains data on housing trends in Connecticut.
Other recent open data initiatives in Connecticut include:
- Supporting state agency capacity by publishing the Connecticut Open Data Handbook for editors and publishers on the Connecticut Open Data Portal and providing training and screencasts on topics including data wrangling and storytelling, and developing accessible data visualizations;
- Increasing access to spatial data by integrating the Connecticut Geodata Portal with the Connecticut Open Data Portal to make maps and spatial data accessible through its catalog;
- Gathering feedback from our users through a user survey to guide the development of the Open Data Portal and improve the user experience.
- Working with data owners to clearly document the data on the Open Data Portal, reducing the percent of datasets missing metadata from 94% in August 2023 to under 20% today.
- Making data more accessible through the development of new data stories including:
- The Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection Prescription Monitoring Program
- Connecticut Business Registrations
- State of Connecticut Executive Branch Workforce
- Municipal Fiscal Indicators
- Census Tracts Identified for PA 23-205
- Disproportionately-Impact Areas for Cannabis Adult-Use Legalization
- Juvenile Justice Equity Indicators
- ARPA Funding and Project Inventory
International Open Data Day is an annual celebration of open data all over the world. Groups from around the world create local events on the day where they will use open data in their communities. It is an opportunity to show the benefits of open data and encourage the adoption of open data policies in government, business, and civil society.
