Minneapolis makes city data available without a request

The city of Minneapolis has launched a new open-data portal, allowing the public to access raw government data online.

That means online visitors will have public access to information on city liquor and rental licenses, crime statistics and 311 calls — without having to request it.

The data is raw, so the site won't appeal to everyone.

But Otto Doll, the city's chief information officer, hopes tech-savvy citizens create smartphone apps that will help residents quickly glean information about city services.

"By making the data open to folks, there's probably going to be a fair amount of creative sorts of uses of the information," he said. "Even if it would just cut down on the number of data requests that we continually get from folks for certain types of information, then that obviously saves us time and effort.

Doll said more data will be added to the portal early next year.

City residents currently can report things like potholes and broken streetlights using the city's 311 app. But the information flows just one way, said Bill Bushey of the group Open Twin Cities, who pushed for the new data trove.

"You can send it, but up until now, you haven't been able to get back all the information that has been sent," Bushey said. "Now it is possible for someone to create some site or application that can show you in real-time where these reports are."

City Council member Elizabeth Glidden said the portal is part of a city effort to make local government more transparent.

"Cities and states all over the country are doing this," Glidden said. "We're a state that has valued sunshine. I'm concerned that we're getting behind the eight-ball. This is the next realm in terms of how we engage with the public. We're sharing public data in an accessible way."