City of Ottawa - Data Dissemination Policy

[Tracey P. Lauriault-2]

Note no web references or attachments! So i guess it is a directive that
is internal and perhaps arbitrary and i am not sure if there is an
official council vote on this! My city councilor could not find this
herself anywhere!

Any, way, might be fun to gather a few more of these! For a couple other
cities!
Also, might be fun to formulate a motion and a plan.
Any ideas?

*****************************

Ms. Lauriault,

In response to your request for information, please find attached the
City of Ottawa’s Data Dissemination Policy and Cost Schedule as it
relates specifically to electronic geographic data.

The policy states, “Fees are generally based on dissemination costs only
and do not include the cost of acquiring, developing or maintenance of
the original data. In specific circumstances, the City may waive fees.”

In the context of this policy, the City recognizes four types of clients:
Category A, internal municipal clients; Category B - external municipal
clients; Category C - external groups needing data for specific
projects; and Category D- external groups wishing to commercially market
the data.

Category A clients are not charged for data and rarely require a license
agreement. Category B clients are charged a fee to reflect the staff
resources consumed in the preparation of the data and sometimes require
a license agreement. Category C clients are usually charged the same fee
as Category B clients and must also enter into a signed data license
agreement naming a specific project or use. Category D clients are
expected to pay a fair market rate for any data they want to commercialize.

For all requests it is expected that the client can demonstrate a
legitimate use of the data. Merely ‘wanting’ the data may not qualify as
legitimate. This provision ensures that staff resources are not unduly
expended on frivolous requests. Additionally, the license must refer to
a specific project or use as this helps the City track how the data is
being used and by whom.

Your interests appear to fall under Category C. This category includes
clients such as architects and engineers, developers, surveyors and
members of the general public. My interpretation of the fee schedule is
this … a request for data includes a fee for staff time ($79.95 per
hour), a nominal fee for each individual data file ($26.65) and a fee
for either a CD or email transmission ($26.65). An architect, for
example, may wish to purchase two electronic sheets of mapping to aid in
site design for a new building project. The data will cost 2 x $26.65
for the two files, 1 hour of labour at $79.95 and 1 email at $26.65 plus
any applicable taxes. They will then be expected to sign a data license
agreement entitling them usage of the data for this one specific project.

It should be said that each sheet of 1:2000 scale data costs $2000 -
$3000 to produce. The $26.65 per sheet (or electronic file) merely makes
up part of the fee schedule and is in no means any attempt at cost
recovery. The $26.65 per file has been factored into the dissemination
fee to discourage requests such as “all electronic files for the entire
city”. This type of request would be considered exorbitant and most
probably would not serve as a legitimate request. This type of request
would have to be evaluated on its own merits as a bonafide request. For
different sizes of geographic data orders, be it one electronic file,
twenty or two hundred, this fee schedule, in my opinion, calculates a
fair and reasonable rate for geographic data dissemination. It collects
a fee to compensate the City for preparing the data as per the policy
and discourages nuisance requests.

It should be noted that the City of Ottawa makes most geographic data
available on its web site through the interactive web map. It has been
my observation that 95% of geographic data requests from the general
public are well served by the site. Individuals not comfortable with
computer technology account for one half of the remaining requests. This
group can usually be assisted with an interactive telephone conversation
that may result in a hardcopy paper map sent to them through the mail.
The remaining requests are usually for digital geographic data in a
format not available on the web site. These requests are evaluated
individually based on their merits as legitimate requests and the client
can either elect to pay the fee specified or request that the fee be waived.

The fee structure can be waived for any Category C client. I fully
encouraged members of the general public, at least those that have the
ability to manipulate this type of technical data, to receive the data
that they require in order to further the work of the City within their
community. When clients do not have the ability to manipulate this type
of data themselves but can demonstrate a legitimate use for such data, I
have worked with these groups, within reason, to render as much
assistance as possible given our fiscal restraints.

In the past I have been asked why all geographic data in its ‘raw’ form
cannot be stored on the City’s web site for possible download. My
response has been “due to the tremendous cost associated with storing
data on-line”. Further more, it would only serve a very small and select
group of individuals, i.e. those with expensive software, computing
power and specialized skills to be able to manipulate the data. This
group of individuals would be well within their rights to request
digital geographic data from the City and they can expect to either pay
a nominal fee for it or receive it free of charge so long as they can
demonstrate both a legitimate reason to have the data and a reason to
expend staff resources preparing the data. I also believe the corollary
to be true, that the dissemination of raw geographic information on the
web would be detrimental and confusing to the majority of people on the
web site.

I hope I have answered your query regarding data dissemination
satisfactorily. I include my direct dial telephone number [phone]
for you to call me if you have any further questions.

Stephen Perkins
City Mapper
City of Ottawa


*------------------------------------*


            -----Original Message-----
            From: Holmes, Diane
            Sent: November 16,2006 3:28 PM
            To: Harris-Campbell, Janet
            Cc: Rey, Shirley H
            Subject: FW: Map and Data Policies for the City of Ottawa
            I received the attached query from a resident (Tracey
            Lauriault 613-234-2805) interested in the City's policies
            around our policies for residents' access to data.

            She outlines her query below, and during my discussions with
            her, I suggested that it may be best to let her and a
            staffperson in the field discuss the matter in more detail.

            Could you advise who could speak to her on this matter?
            Thank you,
            Regards,
            Laura Bergen
            Assistant to Councillor Holmes
            Somerset Ward
            [phone]
            [hidden email]
            www.dianeholmes.ca

            -----Original Message-----
            From: Tracey P. Lauriault [_<mailto:[hidden email]>_]
            Sent: November 16,2006 10:13 AM
            To: Bergen, Laura
            Subject: Map and Data Policies for the City of Ottawa
            Hi Laura;
            I am looking for the data and map access and dissemination
            policies for
            the city of Ottawa.
            Specifically, i am interested data accessible to citizens and am
            interested in the licensing, access and cost policies for
            the City of
            Ottawa collected data sets.
            For example, as a citizen in my community, can i access data
            & maps
            about my neighbourhood so that i may do my own mapping and
            statistical
            analysis?
            I navigated the site, and found some data and can view some
            maps, but i
            cannot download them, and I have not been able to find any
            license or
            policy issues.
            Cheers
            Tracey


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[Daniel Haran]

<sarcasm>
uh-oh, you just infringed by redistributing the email!
</sarcasm>

On 12/7/06, Tracey P. Lauriault <[hidden email]> wrote:

> This e-mail originates from the City of Ottawa e-mail system. Any
> distribution, use or copying of this e-mail or the information it
> contains by other than the intended recipient(s) is unauthorized.
> If you are not the intended recipient, please notify me at the
> telephone number shown above or by return e-mail and delete this
> communication and any copy immediately. Thank you.
>
> Le présent courriel a été expédié par le système de courriels de
> la Ville d'Ottawa. Toute distribution, utilisation ou reproduction
> du courriel ou des renseignements qui s'y trouvent par une
> personne autre que son destinataire prévu est interdite. Si vous
> avez reçu le message par erreur, veuillez m'en aviser par
> téléphone (au numéro précité) ou par courriel, puis supprimer sans
> délai la version originale de la communication ainsi que toutes
> ses copies. Je vous remercie de votre collaboration.
>