The City of Pittsburgh uses its data to better understand the needs of its residents, track the services it delivers, and provide improvements in the way it serves Pittsburghers. When residents interact with City Departments to apply for a permit, visit a community center, or buy a city-owned property, they produce data that is recorded which enables City workers to track work or follow up to resolve residents’ needs.

The City makes data open via the Western Pennsylvania Regional Data Center (WPRDC), a partnership between the City, Allegheny County, and the University of Pittsburgh which works to publish local data making it usable to the public. The City maintains open data so the community members who rely on this data can use access it to make the city a better place to live. It also establishes transparency between city departments and data users to ensure departments are working in their best interests.

The City’s Open Data Ordinance was passed in 2014. This is the first Open Data Report published since 2017. This ordinance establishes a precedent to make city data public and open to the public. This and future reports will describe the activities of the City of Pittsburgh’s Data Governance Committee to demonstrate the City's efforts to make their data assets open.

This Open Data Report highlights the work that the City of Pittsburgh has taken to make data more open and usable for everyone. It identifies innovative uses of data in partnership with community organizations and informs residents on the latest information available from the city and previews upcoming changes to the data we provide.