Smart Chicago created a service layer to plenar.io, a spatio-temporal open data platform, to support the City of Chicago in their launch of OpenGrid, a citywide situational awareness tool using open data.
In 2012, the City of Chicago’s Department of Innovation & Technology (DoIT) developed WindyGrid, an enterprise geographic information system.
In January 2015, the City published OpenGrid, an open source version of WindyGrid to encourage adoption and further development of this code by other cities. In order to support this launch, and help accelerate impact for residents of Chicago and the cities that adopt OpenGrid, Smart Chicago creted a service layer for OpenGrid that allows Plenario to serve as a data feed for any city looking to implement OpenGrid.
By investing in these platforms in Chicago by Chicago developers, we encourage Chicago’s central place in the delivery of map-based websites that help residents understand their neighborhoods. There is rich existing ecosystem of organizations, companies, and service providers that are organized under the banner of “civic tech”. Smart Chicago is helping them build on this— and the technologies they’ve created— to advance the work.
TEAM
This project was initiated by the City of Chicago Department of Innovation & Technology, led by Commissioner and Chief Information Officer Brenna Berman. Chief Data Officer Tom Schenk Jr. was the main architect of that system and worked closely with Smart Chicago as we did our work. Danielle DuMerer was essential in conceiving the entire project, especially as it relates to the overall civic tech product ecosystem in Chicago. We worked with many people at the City as they brought OpenGrid to the public.
At Smart Chicago, Daniel X. O’Neil led the project from inception, and Denise Linn has served as project manager since Fall 2015. Uurn Data Solutions served as the technology vendor.
This project was funded by the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation through a fund administered by The Chicago Community Trust.
PARTNERS
City of Chicago
The City of Chicago is the most important policy lever in the Chicago region and they are a critical partner for having a …
Plenar.io
Plenario is a centralized hub for open datasets from around the world, ready to search and download. Smart Chicago created a …
Uturn Data Solutions
Uturn Data Solutions is a Chicago-based IT consultancy focused on the data storage and Cloud computing market. They help companies to …