Typical User --  A community improvement organization is making a watch list of at-risk properties. Based on community surveys they identify housing structures of particular concern. They want to find out if there are housing code violations at those property addresses.

Access – The user enters the web site for the Center for Neighborhood Technology and types in the address for a property of interest. A popup menu asks which information the user wants for the address – the options include land use, a photo of the property, permit information, tax information, assessed valuation, and “nuisance” factors – including evictions, foreclosures, abandonment, and housing code violations. The user chooses “housing code” and an exportable table pops up with the location information and status of violations for the property. The violations records for several adjacent properties can be mapped using land parcel files provided to Center for Neighborhood Technology by the Cook County Assessor’s Office.

Data –-The data on tax information and assessed valuation reside on the web site of the Cook County Assessor’s Office. The information on land use, permit and “nuisance” factors resides on the web site of the City of Chicago. The Assessor’s Office and the City government collect and maintain this information as part of their daily operations. They went to the effort to format the data they maintained in a particular way so that it can be accessed remotely by an address lookup program operating on an outside web site.

Security and Confidentiality – Information on permits, taxes, assessed valuation, evictions, foreclosures, abandonment, and housing code violations are all public records in the public domain. The information is not considered confidential and there are no legal restraints on making it available. By making the information available through the Open Data Exchange,  the Assessor’s Office and the City government remove barriers to access to these public records by public and private decision-makers. The data are maintained behind firewalls so that they cannot be modified by unauthorized intruders.

Typical User --  A foundation wants to make program-related investments to support economic development by purchasing tax delinquent and abandoned property. There are three potential target neighborhoods. The foundation wants to find out where the opportunity for impact is the greatest by finding which neighborhood has the largest cluster of property available for purchase.

Access – The user enters the web site for the Northeast Illinois Planning Commission and requests data on the land parcels for each of the three neighborhoods. For each request a popup menu asks which information the user wants – the options include tax delinquent commercial, residential and vacant property; abandoned commercial and residential property, and recently-demolished commercial and residential property. The user chooses “tax delinquent vacant property” and an exportable map of the community pops up with a color code showing which parcels are vacant. The mapping capacity uses land parcel files provided to the Northeast Illinois Planning Commission by the Cook County Assessor’s Office.

Data –-The data on tax delinquency, abandonment, and demolition reside on the web site of the City of Chicago government. The City government collects and maintains this information as part of its daily operations. They went to the effort to format the data in a particular way so that it can be accessed remotely by an address lookup program operating on an outside web site.

Security and Confidentiality – Information on tax delinquency, abandonment, and demolition are all public records in the public domain. The information is not considered confidential and there are no legal restraints on making it available. By making the information available through the Open Data Exchange,  the City government removes barriers to access to these public records by public and private decision-makers. The data are maintained behind firewalls so that they cannot be modified by unauthorized intruders.

Typical User --  A financial literacy program wants to determine whether home foreclosures are declining faster in five neighborhood areas where they provide program services than in comparable communities where they do not provide services.

 Access – The user enters the web site for the Metro Chicago Information Center and requests data on residential foreclosures for neighborhood areas in Chicago. A popup menu asks the year for which the data are requested. The user chooses each year available, and a succession of exportable tables pop up with count of foreclosed properties in each year for the 77 Chicago neighborhoods. The user also requests the total number of occupied residential properties to provide a denominator so that foreclosure rates can be compared across communities.

 Data –-The data on occupied residential properties and foreclosure reside originally on the web site of the Cook County Assessor’s Office, which collects and maintains this information as part of their daily operations. Each year the Metro Chicago Information Center accessed the Assessor’s Office data base to tabulate the number of occupied residential properties and the number of foreclosures each year for each Chicago neighborhood. This historical data is maintained by the Metro Chicago Information Center for the purpose of enabling program tracking and evaluation. They went to the effort to format the data in a particular way so that it can be accessed remotely by an Open Data Exchange users. The ability to tabulate the foreclosure and occupancy data into community area totals uses land parcel files provided by the Cook County Assessor’s Office.

Security and Confidentiality – Information on occupied residential properties and foreclosure are public records in the public domain. The information is not considered confidential and there are no legal restraints on making it available. By making the information available through the Open Data Exchange,  the Assessor’s Office and the Metro Chicago Information Center City remove barriers to access to these public records by public and private decision-makers. The data are maintained behind firewalls so that they cannot be modified by unauthorized intruders.

 Typical User --  A suburban community is engaged in long-range planning for housing and economic development. The City Manager’s office is preparing a report on the community and would like to make use of social indicators that summarize the competitive position of the community relative to other nearby suburban locations..

 Access – A user enters the web site for the Northeast Illinois Planning Commission and searches for data on community conditions. A popup menu asks which information the user wants – the options include a number of social indicators that summarize local community conditions: (a) an index of Housing/Jobs Mismatch that examines where new jobs are being created as compared to where new housing is being built; (b) an index of Location Efficiency that examines the income level needed to qualify or mortgage finance taking into account the savings in household transportation costs due to nearby availability of public transportation; and, (c) a Community Vitality Index that compares communities in the Chicago region on their level of social capital, economic development potential and community amenities. The user requests all three, and for each request a downloadable map appears showing the score on each social indicator for the community of interest and the surrounding suburban areas.

 Data –- The three indicators were developed by Chicago area organizations as part of their mission to enhance the quality of life of the region and/or pursue their advocacy agenda. The index of Housing/Jobs Mismatch was developed by Chicago Metropolis 2020; the index of Location Efficiency that was developed by the Center for Neighborhood Technology; the Community Vitality Index that was developed by the Metro Chicago Information Center. The indicator data resides on the web site of the respective organizations. Each went to the effort to format the data they maintain in a particular way so that it can be accessed from other web sites by Open Data Exchange users.

Security and Confidentiality – Information in the indexes are all public records in the public domain. The information is not considered confidential and there are no legal restraints on making it available. By making the information available through the Open Data Exchange,  the three organizations remove barriers to access by public and private decision-makers and increase the range of information that can be easily presented and discussed in local strategic planning efforts. The data are maintained behind firewalls so that they cannot be modified by unauthorized intruders.

 Typical User --  A home buyer wants to know the public school test scores in an inlying suburban community, compared to the area just over the border in the city of Chicago.

 Access – The user enters the web site for Chicago Metropolis 2020 and requests data for the community of interest. A popup menu asks which information the user wants – the options include demographic data, housing data, and public school test scores. The user selects public school test scores and an exportable table pops up with the summary information for the suburban community. The user next requests test score data for the area just over the border in the city of Chicago. The actual mapping and tabulation of the test scores in this custom-defined area are done making use of the web facilities of the Metro Chicago Information Center, although the user is not aware of this. The user points and clicks to define the area in the city of Chicago that is of interest. The public school test score data for this area are aggregated and an exportable table pops up with the summary information.

 Data –-The suburban test score data are maintained by Chicago Metropolis 2020 as part of its Metropolis Index program. The data base on Chicago public school test scores is maintained by Metro Chicago Information Center as part of its program for monitoring and evaluating the causes of social change. In each case, the data originate from the web site of the Illinois State Board of Education. The data are taken from this web site, re-tabulated,  and formatted in a way to make it easier to identify local trends. Each organization went to the effort to format the data they maintain in a particular way so that it can be accessed remotely by Open Data Exchange Users.

Security and Confidentiality – Public school test score data are in the public domain. The information is not considered confidential and there are no legal restraints on making it available. By making the information available through the Open Data Exchange,  the participating organizations remove barriers to access to these public records by public and private decision-makers. The data are maintained behind firewalls so that they cannot be modified by unauthorized intruders.

 Typical User -- A community-based organization works with the city’s department of economic development to conduct an inventory of local businesses. The information will be used to guide strategies for retail retention and attraction, zoning review and workforce training.

 Access --  Carrying a web-enabled smart phone, the user approaches a commercial location and calls up a business inventory website developed by the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning (CMAP). After selecting the address from a dropdown list, a list of resident businesses is displayed on the smart phone. The user checks the web listing against the actual businesses observed on-site, and submits recommended corrections. Three businesses have recently moved out and two new businesses have moved in, leaving one vacant restaurant site and one vacant office site. These changes are noted and submitted to city and CMAP staff via the web application.

 Data -- The initial web listing of businesses at this parcel is served up by CMAP’s web  server, but originates in a database maintained by the city department of economic development. City data is fetched in real time via Illinois Data Exchange Affiliates web services. However, the information is supplemented by state licensing data regularly gathered by CMAP and stored in a CMAP database. All of the information appears on a concise single web page.

 Security and Confidentiality -- Business data is protected by Secure Sockets Layer encryption at two points: (1) the CMAP web page that provides visual display of the data, and (2) the city web service that provides base-line business license data. Therefore, only password-authorized users can access the data or submit updates.