Buffalo, NY – Mayor Byron W. Brown today announced the City of Buffalo has received a New York State “Trail Blazer Award” for its Open Data Initiative. The awards, given out by New York State Secretary of Rossana Rosado, recognize local government pioneers of innovative practices, leading the way and serving as models for other municipalities.
“My Administration is proud to be recognized by Secretary of State Rosado as a Trail Blazer Award recipient for our commitment to informing and engaging the residents of the City of Buffalo through our Open Data Buffalo portal. Our goal is to make Buffalo a data-smart City of Opportunity,” Mayor Byron W. Brown said. “Since launching Open Data Buffalo in February, we held our inaugural Mayor’s Civic Innovation Challenge, which saw Buffalo’s tech community develop apps using City data. This week, a group of Buffalo neighborhood leaders and civic activists, started our inaugural Data 101 course, which will empower our residents with the skills they need to gather and use data from our portal for community projects that will make our City stronger.”
The City of Buffalo was recognized for its work over the past two years to develop an open data policy through collaboration with its residents, establishing a data governance committee to manage citywide participation, it’s launch of the Open Data Buffalo portal, and the inaugural Mayor’s Civic Innovation Challenge, which to encouraged the public to help with problem-solving, receiving submissions from across Western New York.
Buffalo was one of six municipal or county governments to be honored with a 2018 Trail Blazer Award. Kirk McLean, Program Manager, Open Data Buffalo, received the award on behalf of the City at the annual Local Government Innovation Conference, which was held in Albany earlier this month.
“I applaud these local governments for taking the extra step to marry technology and data to best serve their constituents,” said Secretary of State Rosado. “The Local Government Innovation Conference highlights the best our counties, cities, towns and villages have to offer, and we are proud to host the annual event where we share ideas and work together to make a more responsive government for all.”
The City’s free Open Data Buffalo portal can be found at: data.buffalony.gov.