Checklists for creating open data

The city has created checklists that will be used internally when creating open data and we want to share them with you all. Feel free to reuse them as you see fit (CC0-licensed). They are based in the generic process for open data that the Naturvårdsverket (The Swedish Environmental protection agency) created during 2016 (Swedish only). If you develop the the checklists please feel free to let us know. It may be apropriate to update our checklists accordingly.

Checklist for operations

This checklist should be used by the part of the organisation that owns data and want to publish it as open data. It guides them thru the different issues that need to be resolved in order to publish open data. The questions asked are:

  1. Ownership and security classification (including secrecy and personal information)
  2. Copyright
  3. Can the information be opened up?
  4. Look at user needs
  5. Resources needed to create open data
  6. Standards/specifications for the information
  7. Create metadata (this is done in collaboration with IT)
  8. Wait for publication of open data (The checklist assumes that the technical work with release if open data will be done by another part of the organisation and they have their own checklist for this. See the next checklist below)
  9. Test open data to make sure it meets the expectations concerning, among other things, quality and usability
  10. A decision by the information owner to publish open data
  11. Await the publishing of data
  12. Publish and spread open data (spreading knowledge about the publication is very important when trying to get reuse)
  13. Governance

Checklist for technology

This checklist help the party publishing the information in the way the business area has detailed to do so in a structured way. This party can be the same as the business area using the checklist above, an internal it-organisation or an external supplier managing an information system för the city. This checklist addresses the following issues:

  1. Information about the data that should be opened up
  2. How should the information be opened up? (From where, standards and formats used and how it will be kept updated)
  3. Create metadata (this is done in collaboration with the business area)
  4. Governance
  5. Await a decision from the information owner concerning publication
  6. Publish and maintain open data

Checklist for metadata

Helps us to ensure that the metadata is complete, correct and useful. A big problem för open data today is that metadata is not good and/or comprehensive enough. This checklist will be published shortly as it is being finalized right now.