A number of North American cities are looking at ways to make data management systems more open.
According to Gartner analyst Andrea Di Maio, many cities want to introduce the concepts of open data and open governance, but the major challenge is how to combine these principles with organizational culture.
The cities of Edmonton, Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa have decided that partnership is the way forward, forming the Open Data Framework.
Meanwhile, New York and Chicago have decided to use open data both for external and for internal purposes, to support performance management and transformation.
Mr Di Maio says whatever approach cities take, they all need to make an effort to achieve a more "employee-centric approach".
He says that this should be the key issue with open data, adding: "While there is a lot of talking about what's in it for citizens, I'd love to see somebody planning from the outset according to the question: what's in it for our staff?"
Posted by Rachel Wheeler