Syracuse Data Challenge is Now Open for Public Participation

The kickoff of the Syracuse Open Data Challenge, a month-long open data competition focused on City transportation data is now underway. Participants can work with publicly available datasets in the Office of Analytics, Performance and Innovation’s (OAPI) Open Data Portal throughout Oct. 2023.

The Challenge will culminate in the first-ever Syracuse Open Data Day on Nov. 4. Open Data Day will be held Sat., Nov. 4 from 10:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Central Library, 447 S. Salina Street 13202.

The event is free and will include presentations, breakout sessions teaching industry standard tools to access and visualize open data, and development sessions for participants to work on their datasets.

“I announced that we would prioritize the adoption of a Vision Zero program to improve traffic safety in the City of Syracuse in my 2023 State of the City address,” said Walsh. “Whether talking about bikes, public transit, or motor vehicles, it is our hope that this civic-minded challenge will bring local data-oriented minds together to provide analysis, visualizations and web projects tied to understanding citizens’ experience with our transportation system.”

Projects will be evaluated on four criteria: creativity, ‘wow’ factor, execution and informational value.

Event organizers say eligible data project submissions must use at least one dataset from Open Data Syracuse; however, contestants are welcome to use additional data sources as well. In addition to suggested city datasets, participants are welcome to find or create their own datasets as part of the challenge.

“OAPI is excited to launch our first Open Data Day to celebrate and bring awareness to our nationally recognized Open Data program, which includes 103 different datasets of civic information,” said Chief Innovation and Data Officer Nicolas Diaz.

Interested participants can go to the city’s meetup page to register – https://www.meetup.com/syrtech/events/295738378/

Submissions must be uploaded to the Open Data Syracuse DevPost site – https://syracuse-open-data-day.devpost.com/ by Sat., Nov. 4, 2023 at 1:50 p.m.