Zürich’s open government data strategy

In 2015, the Zurich City Council approved and declared binding a data strategy plan known as Statistics Strategy and Open Administration Data for the City of Zürich 2025. In the context of establishing OGD, the ZSO became aware of the need for an overarching OGD strategy. The strategy shall represent a vision for the city and its administrative departments, define guidelines and goals and establish a clear framework for the achievement of the goals.

EBP supports ZSO in two phases: In the completed first phase, we examined the federal, cantonal and municipal framework requirements and reviewed both domestic and international best practices. Using our findings as a basis and working in close consultation with our client, we then drafted the basic structure of the future OGD strategy. We also drafted a comprehensive list of city-based and external stakeholders in the strategy process.

In the context of workshops, we went on to work together with the ZSO to look in greater detail at the goals of the OGD strategy and to use creativity techniques to identify and prioritize important substantive and formal requirements. Using this as a basis, we drafted a more refined sketch of the strategy and formulated and evaluated two possible approaches to its development. We then implemented the approach favored by the ZSO in the context of a detailed execution plan, which had been fleshed out with time and resource allocation details and finalized in consultation with important stakeholders.

In the second phase, we are working together with the ZSO to implement the selected procedure for formulating the OGD strategy. We are also updating and adapting the existing instrument, the city of Zurich’s OGD Policy, for greater alignment with the strategic goals and specifications.

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