Region of Waterloo launches its Open Data portal to the community

Waterloo Region - The Region of Waterloo has officially launched its Open Data portal releasing a preliminary group of data sets to the public through www.regionofwaterloo.ca/opendata. The release of data with very few restrictions encourages community innovation and collaboration through the creation of web or mobile-based applications that solve unique problems or help the public access services.

 “Greater access to information makes government more transparent and accessible,” said Regional Chair Ken Seiling. “Machine-readable formats will make more data available to those who wish to access the information held by local government.”

Data sets released with the launch of the site include:

• Regional Cycling Routes
• Regional Boundary
• Garbage Collection, Recycling, Yard Waste and Green Bin Schedule Zones
• Grand River Transit Routes and Stops

The Region plans to expand its data catalogue over the coming months, as well as adding visualization tools for viewing the data. To provide feedback on the site, members of the public are invited to email opendata@regionofwaterloo.ca.

-30-

For more information, please contact Oriana Sharp, 519-575-4006 or osharp@regionofwaterloo.ca