Get your local open data census here!

Local data is often the most relevant to citizens on a daily basis – from rubbish collection times to local tax rates.

At the moment it's hard to know what local open data is available.

Help change that by reporting on the state of open data in your area with a local open data census!

Get Started

We've created the Local Open Data Census to survey and compare the progress made by different cities and local areas in releasing Open Data. You can help by tracking down Open Data from a city or region where you live or that you're interested in. Here are the Censuses that are already created:

Regions

Cities

Don't see your country in the list? All you need to do is register your interest in this form and we'll get your Local Open Data Census set up and ready to use.

FAQs

How it Works

Will the Census be hosted for me?

Yes, we'll host the census for you.

Will I be able to compare cities (or regions) in my country?

Yes, you will. That's exactly what the local census will allow you to do!

Can I have separate city and region censuses for my country?

Yes. For example, for the United States you might want a census for cities and a census for the states, as both cities and states are releasing open data.

Can I customize the list of datasets that are surveyed?

Yes, you can. The list of datasets is fully customizable. If you want to add more datasets or change the list of datasets for your local census, you can, just contact us.

Can I configure basic information (e.g. site name and title)?

Yes, most of the basic census site information is configurable in an easy way.

Can I run a local Census across multiple countries?

Yes, that's possible – though we encourage people to focus on cities or regions within one country.

Where can I find the list of all local censuses?

We're working on this!

Where will the Census be located Online?

Its URL will be {census-name}.census.okfn.org. It is possible to customize this if you need the census at your URL.

Background

How did this come about?

One thing clear from last year's efforts was that people wanted to be able to customise the Census. The Local Census has been quick to set up, as it re-uses the tools we designed for the original Open Data Census. We can help you get a Topical or Local Open Data Census set up quickly and easily, and you can select what datasets you want to survey for your Census too.

Local data is often the most relevant to citizens on a daily basis – be it rubbish collection times, local tax rates or zoning information. However, at the moment it's difficult to know which key local datasets are openly available and where. You can help change that!

We know there is huge variability in how much local data is available not just across countries but within countries, with some cities and municipalities making major open data efforts, while in others there's little or no progress visible. If we can find out what open data is out there, we can encourage more cities to open up key information, helping businesses and citizens understand their cities and making life easier.

What's the Relation with the National Open Data Census?

The National Open data Census surveys the availability of key datasets at the national, country, level. It has been run annually since 2012 by Open Knowledge International. It is used to produce the Open Data Index, the global reference for the state of open data released by national governments.

The Index (and Census) answer questions like: which key datasets are being released? Is the available data legally and technically usable so that citizens, civil society and businesses can realise the full benefits of the information?

Can I do a topical Census focused on a particular topic (e.g. transport data) rather than a local census?

Yes you can! We are also supporting topical censuses – contact us if you are interested.

Who's running this?

This site and the Open Data Census platform is run by Open Knowledge International. Each individual census is run by its specific team and community who are responsible for its content and validity.

This is great! Can I make a donation?

The Open Knowledge International is a non-profit and we appreciate any and all donations. Support the running of censuses by donating now via Paypal!

Can I reuse the Census platform myself?

Yes! Because the Census is built with open source tools, you can of course help improve the Census and if you prefer to host your own version, you can do that too.

If you'd like to use these tools to run your own census, perhaps focusing on different datasets or a particular region or topic, we'd love to hear from you.