City of Boston Principal Data Scientist Curt Savoie discusses the City's open data portal, the state of open data, and the ways that citizens can help him make Boston a better place.

1. City of Boston, city of data

2. Who I am and what I do
● City of Boston - Principal Data Scientist
– Work at the intersection of technology, data, policy,
and mathematics
– Data isn't always work, it's also play
● One must experiment!
– Accountable to the public as owner of the city data
portal data.cityofboston.gov

3. What am I doing these days?
A: No idea, but it requires a lot of monitors
(and coffee)

4. Organizational Structure:
In other words, why Don deserves a raise.

5. Is there serious financial fraud?
Not systemically according to Benford's Law

6. But this looks interesting...
Some areas(IT) might be worth exploring

8. Top 25 EMS Dispatch(Per Capita by
neighborhood)

9. Bad Behavior: 911 (loud music,
drunkenness, parties, noise,
disturbance)

10. Kids These Days!!!

11. The Public Sector Data Challenges
● Data trapped in silos
– Bureaucratic
– Technological
– Legal
● Lack of standards
● Lack of resources
● Lack of clear goals

12. DATA.CITYOFBOSTON.GOV

13. Data Portal Facts
● Launched October 2012
● Data is in machine readable form and
accessible through API
● Currently 331 datasets, charts, maps available
● Goal is 400 by the end of 2013

14. Coming Soon:
Financial Transparency!
$

15. Your opinion matters!
● What can I do better?
● What data do you need?
● What is important to you as citizens?
● What do you want to learn about your city?

16. Thank you for making Boston better!
Get in touch...
– Curt.savoie@cityofboston.gov
– @CurtSavoie