Open Austin

What is OpenAustin?

Open Austin was formed by citizens interested in the City of Austin web strategy and approach. Through a series of conversations, common ground was developed between the City and Open Austin to work together in a formal and recurring way. The goal is to develop new capacities for the City of Austin website while reducing or eliminating costs.


A strategic alliance document has been created by Open Austin and the City represents the expectations and the basis for the working relationship. In order to advance this partnership relationship, the City and OpenAustin will partner, innovate and improve.

What would you like to see/use/have access to on the new City of Austin website?


 
People should be able to pay their electric bills online with city of Austin
 
should be able to see road closings for parades, festivals, etc
 
People should be able to see a map of the city-sponsored WiFi hotspots around town, including extent of coverage.
 
The new city website should be based in open source.
 
People should be able to see their current water meter usage/charges online
 
The City should have a twitter feed for road closures, school closings, etc. available to citizens
 
create a calendar where people can post local events - i'm thinking about bike events specifically - critical mass, races, etc. check out atxbs.com for what i mean.
 
Provide an open, documented API to all data contained in the site. This will allow others to include that data in applications and mashups. Ideally it should be a RESTful interface
 
The City currently provides street closure information on several web pages, linked from here:
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/roadworks/rwwork.htm

The information is an extremely difficult form to consume. This information should be provided in a more consumable form, either XML or using microformat markup. This would allow people to use this information in interesting ways, such as Google maps mashups.
 
People should be able to track applications for city contracts online
 
If you've ever filed paperwork with the city, you know it's a pain.

The city's website should include resources for people who are homeless and unemployed. This includes reading materials and contact numbers, and allows people to manage their cases online as need requires. Filing what used to be "paperwork" could be signed with a digital signature.
 
The City of Austin Web Site should have a "Just Moved Here?" section for new residents.
 
City 3-1-1 needs a better platform. More user friendly, easier to track your issues and see others on a site specific level (mapping).
 
There are 42 items listed in the City of Austin menu bar. That needs to be simplified/categorized.
 
I want machine-readable data on everything the city does: crime stats, business permit applications, restaurant inspections, and the like. In short, I desperately want EveryBlock (everyblock.com) for Austin.
 
Be it calendars, civic meetings, city council meetings, etc.. the data, the minutes, everything published as an RSS feed. Well structured so it can be used by a blog or an application
 
We should work out a system wherein bicycle riders could search for easiest / most bicycle-friendly route between two points. Google maps has both car and pedestrian option; we need map system that helps cyclists find easiest route that shuttles them to routes with bicycle-friendly features (bike lanes, LAB, etc)
 
We need something like Vancouver is doing. See this http://www.straight.com/article-220944/city-vancouver-set-back-open-source-open-standards-open-data

Here is draft language

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the City of Austin endorses the principles of:

• Open and Accessible Data - the City of Austin will freely share with citizens, businesses and other jurisdictions the greatest amount of data possible while respecting privacy and security concerns;

• Open Standards - the City of Austin will move as quickly as possible to adopt prevailing open standards for data, documents, maps, and other formats of media;

• Open Source Software - the City of Austin, when replacing existing software or considering new applications, will place open source software on an equal footing with commercial systems during procurement cycles;
 
Meeting minutes as well as audio and video of all city council meeting should be available on the city website, as well as RSS feeds of the minutes and podcasts of the audio. This would encourage more active participation in city politics from citizens who cannot make it in person to the meetings.
 
Have permanent infrastructure (e.g. dynamic signs, network, computers, ...) to give graphical real-time traffic directions to get around accidents, traffic, construction on major city roadways. This concept has been implemented in Japan.
 
Smog causes cancer, asthma, global warming and makes living in a city generally unliveable. So why not post the smog measurements on the website as well as what we are doing to stop it?

If Austinites are regularly monitoring and attempting to reduce smog levels, you'll see initiatives like lightrail, bike lanes and the cleanup of Cap Metro happen a lot faster. Let's set goals, and have big parties all over town if we meet them.
 
People should be able to find out their next bulky trash or large brush pick up day by entering their address.
 
Create explicit accessibility standards and publish them as part of any work for hire performed under city contracts.
 
Animal Services Information such as:

1. Offsite animal adoption locations and hours (for both animals at TLAC and animals rescued by TLAC-partner rescue groups)

2. Lost and found animals including sightings of animals running loose in neighborhoods as posted by community members. The intent would be to help reunite lost animals with their persons WITHOUT animal control having to be called and the lost animal having to go to the Town Lake Animal Center.
 
I think we should keep and/or enhance the City's map of local businesses and business districts. The only downside is how hard it is to find on the site!
http://www.ExploreLocalAustin.org
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