Introduction

This handbook is for Connecticut state employees who want to publish open data on the CT Open Data Portal and the CT Geodata Portal. It is maintained by the Data and Policy Analytics team at the CT Office of Policy and Management.

What is open data?

Open data is data that is:

  • Freely available for download, indexing, and searching;
  • Accessible in a machine-readable format;
  • Not limited by restrictions of use;
  • Published at the finest level of detail permitted by law; and
  • Described clearly in metadata so users can understand the context of the data, any limitations of use, and how to process the data (CGS Sec 4-67p).

Open data roles

In Connecticut state government, agencies make their data available as open data on various platforms, including the CT Open Data Portal and the CT Geodata Portal. These platforms are administered by the Data and Policy Analytics unit in the Office of Policy and Management, in collaboration with data publishers across state agencies.

Some key roles associated with publishing data on the CT Open Data Portal and the CT Geodata Portal are:

  • Data steward. The data steward is the person at the agency with the most knowledge about the data who has the authority to make decisions about the data in their domain. They lead the preparation of the data and metadata for publication.
  • Data custodian. The data custodian is the person at the agency with the technical knowledge about how the data is stored and how it can be extracted. They support the access, extraction, and automation of the data.
  • Open data coordinator. The open data coordinator is part of the Data and Policy Analytics team in the Office of Policy and Management. They work with data stewards and data custodians at state agencies to coordinate the publication of data to the CT Open Data Portal.
  • GIS coordinator. The GIS coordinator is part of the GIS Office in the Office of Policy and Management. They work with data stewards and data custodians at state agencies to coordinate the publication of data to the CT Geodata Portal.

How to use this handbook

This handbook walks through the steps for publishing data to the CT Open Data Portal and the CT Geodata Portal. Data publishers can use these steps as a reference when publishing open data. The steps for publishing open data include:

  1. Identify data to publish
  2. Prepare data for publication
  3. Create metadata
  4. Upload data
  5. Update and maintain

This handbook also includes detailed guidance on several topics relating to open data including:

  1. Preparing and formatting data
  2. Aggregating data
  3. Automating data updates
  4. Writing clear metadata
  5. Developing data stories
  6. Measuring open data use
  7. Retiring old data that are no longer being maintained

Get in touch!

This handbook is maintained by the Data and Policy Analytics team in the Office of Policy and Management. We will continue to develop the Open Data Handbook as a resource for publishers of open data in Connecticut state agencies.

Let us know what other information you’d like to see included in this handbook by emailing dapa@ct.gov or writing a message in the Open Data channel in Microsoft Teams.

Connecticut state employees can request to join the Open Data channel using this form.