Understanding the content and features of open data portals in American cities

In this paper, we present the results of research on features and content of open data portals in American cities. Five scales are developed to categorize and describe these portals: the Open Data Portal Index (ODPI), Data Content Index (DCI), a compilation of the two (Overall Index), the Number of Datasets and Number of Datasets per 100,000. Regression models explaining variation between cities on these scales indicate city population as an important influence, along with participation in a regional consortium. More variation could be explained in the number of datasets model (79.8%) than in any other model. Overall, results indicate portals are in a very early stage of development and need a great deal of work to improve user help and analysis features as well as inclusion of features to help citizens understand the data, such as more charting and analysis.