SR 04-25-2017 3C
Ci ty Council
Report
City Council Meeting : April 25, 2017
Agenda Item: 3.C
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Joseph Cevetello, Chief Information Officer , Information Systems
Department, Web Development
Subject: First Modification to Software License Agreement for Open Data Platform
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the C ity Council authorize the City Manager to negotiate and
execute a first modification to agreement #4006 in an amount not to exceed $111,264
with Socrata, Inc., a Delaware -based company, for licensing related to the City’s open
data platform and the sustain ability performance portal. This recommended award is
made as an exception to the competitive bidding process pursuant to Section 2.24.080
(a) and is for a total amount not to exceed $216,264 with future year funding contingent
on Council budget approval.
Executive Summary
Santa Monica maintains one of the highest ranked open data programs in the country,
providing proactive and timely data transparency to the public since 2014. At the core of
the City’s program is an open data portal/platform provided by Socrata, Inc. (Socrata).
The platform allows data to be represented in its raw form, empowering users to
conduct meaningful analysis and/or create visualizations of City data. The term of the
City’s agreement with Socrata for open data platform services e nds in May 2017. To
maintain business continuity, staff recommends modifying the agreement to extend the
term for an additional two years. In addition to extending the contract term, staff would
like to expand the scope of the contract services to incorp orate the Socrata Open
Performance product, a service currently used by the City to publicly set and track the
City’s sustainability goals. This modification would consolidate the two Socrata services
into one master agreement. At this time, staff recomm ends modifying the agreement
with Socrata to extend contract term for two additional years and expand the scope of
services for a total amount of $111,264, resulting in a new total contract amount not to
exceed $216,264.
Background
On May 8, 2014, the Cit y entered into an agreement with Socrata for use of Socrata
Open Data for an initial term of three years, at a total cost not to exceed $105,000. The
agreement has been managed by the Information Systems Department. Since that
time, other City divisions have initiated the use of additional Socrata services. The
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Community and Cultural Services Department published the Cradle to Career 2014
Youth Wellbeing Report Card (no longer online) using Socrata’s Open Performance
product in 2014. The Office of Sustai nability and the Environment currently uses the
same product to publicly set, track and publish the City’s sustainability goals The City’s
Sustainable City Plan dashboard is accessible via https://data.sustaina blesm.org .
Administrative Instruction 4 -20 (Open Data) governs the City’s open data program. The
Administrative Instruction defines protected data types which are restricted from the
data portal, and defines the process departments must go through to pl ace new
datasets into the portal.
Santa Monica maintains one of the nation’s top open data programs as reported by the
US Cities Open Data Census. The City’s open data portal, accessible via
data.smgov.net, was launched to proactively provide public acce ss to City -housed data.
Extending the Socrata services for an additional two years would allow the City to
continue to provide data to the public through the City’s open data portal, while giving
staff time to prepare for a competitive process to evaluate all options available in the
open data platform market.
Discussion
The City has a long history of proactively providing data to the public. However, prior to
the current open data portal’s launch, the City was heavily reliant on using Portable
Document F ormat (PDF) documents to share data with the public. This file format,
which provides an electronic image of text and graphics that look like a printed
document, limits the manner in which people and applications could interact with City
data to conduct me aningful analysis and/or develop software applications.
In May 2014, the City entered into an agreement with Socrata, Inc. to provide open data
hosting capabilities. At the time of selection, Socrata was the only open data provider
capable of delivering t he functionality, interoperability, and user experience deemed
acceptable by the City. In particular, Socrata was the only provider at the time that
allowed end -users to create their own data visualizations. Moreover, Socrata had then
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and still maintains today a large foothold in the open data software space. Socrata
customers include the Cities of New York, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, San
Francisco, and Seattle.
The Socrata platform presents data in its raw form, allowing users to conduct
meaningful a nalysis and/or create visualizations of City data. Moreover, the Socrata
open data platform comes ready with an Application Programming Interface (API) that
allows computer programs to automatically place data into, and retrieve data out of, the
City’s ope n data portal. Staff have used the API capability to automatically update data
within the portal from internal City systems. External users of the site have used the
Socrata API to create their own applications using City data. External (i.e. public) users
of the site are able to download and/or view data from the Socrata product; only
authorized staff have the ability to delete or modify data.
Usage of the open data portal has grown steadily over time - the portal has received
over 1.3 million views since being launched. Traffic to the page more than doubled in
2016 as compared to prior year.
Annual views count trends for data.smgov.net.
Additionally, the number of available objects on the open data portal has grown. At
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inception, the open data portal was preloaded with 69 objects (datasets, maps, charts,
graphs, etc.). Today there are 110 objects available on the site for the public and staff
to interact with. City staff have loaded in excess of 125 million rows of data into the
aforementioned 110 o bjects.
The City would like to extend the agreement with Socrata for an additional two years in
order to continue open data operations as they exist today and expand the scope of
services to include Socrata’s Open Performance product .
Alternatives
The C ity may elect to extend the current agreement by one year. During the one -
year extension, staff may gather requirements for a comprehensive open data
and public -facing performance management portal. Namely, staff may have
sufficient time to fold in perform ance management requirements as the City’s
performance management framework is currently in its infancy, and firm
requirements do not exist to allow for a competitive bidding process to take
place.
Staff believes that a two -year extension provides suffic ient flexibility for the City to
develop comprehensive open data and performance management software
requirements, while continuing to provide a sound open data platform to meet the
current needs of City staff and the public alike. In addition to providin g features and
functions sought by staff and the public, Socrata’s standing as an industry leader
creates opportunities for City staff to interact with other open data industry leaders, such
as New York and Chicago, to help strengthen the City’s program.
Staff recommends that the City extend the current agreement with Socrata for an
additional two years to continue open data operations as they exist today. Before the
new term expires, s taff will define requirements for the development of an RFP,
evaluate all options available in the market for open data platforms and public -facing
performance management suites and conduct a competitive bidding process for the
procurement of a software solution moving forward.
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Vendor/Consultant Selection
In May 2014, the City entered into an agreement with Socrata to provide robust open
data hosting capabilities. The agreement was entered into as an exception to the
competitive process because the Socrata Open Data service is copyrighted, patented,
or otherwise only avail able through Socrata. At the time, Socrata was the only open
data provider capable of delivering the functionality, interoperability, and user
experience deemed acceptable by the City. In particular, Socrata was the only provider
that would allow end -user s to create their own data visualizations. Moreover, Socrata
had then and still maintains today a large foothold in the open data software space.
Many large, complex organizations utilize Socrata to power their open data portals.
Socrata customers includ e the Cities of New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, San
Francisco, and Seattle.
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
The contract modification to be awarded to Socrata, Inc. is $111,264, for an amended
contract total not to exceed $216,264. Funds are availab le in the FY 2016 -17 and FY
2017 -18 budget in the Information Systems Department. The modification will be
charged to account 01247.533580. Future year funding is contingent on Council budget
approval.
Prepared By: Behrang Abadi, Web Development Manager
Approved
Forwarded to Council
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Attachments:
A. Attachment A - Oaks Initiative Form
Reference:
Modified Agreement No. 10452
(CCS)