City of Brandon Ranks 12th In Open Cities Index For Open Data in North America

City of Brandon has ranked first in under-50,000 population and 12^th overall in North America according to a study released by Public Sector Digest (PSD), a research consulting software company. The City ranked 13^th in PSD’s 2019 study. 

PSD launched the Open Cities Index (OCI) – Canada’s first benchmarking study for municipal open data programs in 2015 and has expanded to invite organizations from all over North America. This tool provides a way for local governments to measure the maturity and performance of their open data initiatives while providing insight on how they can improve. More info on their report can be found at psdrcs.com/open-cities-index-oci2020. 

OpenGov.brandon.ca was first launched in 2012 and provides a centralized online home for the City’s open data catalogue, existing web and mobile applications, with an emphasis on presenting information in a user-friendly, easy to navigate way. Users can directly access various ESRI-based maps, Brandon’s property assessment search, information on river levels, road closures, transit routes, and sanitation collection, and dozens of datasets relating to City governance, finance, infrastructure, and greenspace management. 

“It is great to see us move up a position in our ranking in the Open Cities Index for Open Data,” says Todd Burton, Director of Innovation, Technology & Communications for the City of Brandon. “Being ranked 12^th place for a city of our size is gratifying. Our team is always looking at what we can do to further enhance our focus on our Open Data Catalog and enabling citizen access to useful information.” 

(City of Brandon PSA)