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The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
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PRESENTED BY:
Dylan A. Fernandes
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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act to establish the Massachusetts Open Data Standard.
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PETITION OF:
NAME: DISTRICT/ADDRESS: DATE ADDED:
Dylan A. Fernandes Barnstable, Dukes and Nantucket 2/17/2021
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 HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3189 FILED ON: 2/18/2021
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[Pin Slip]
[SIMILAR MATTER FILED IN PREVIOUS SESSION
SEE SENATE, NO. 212 OF 2019-2020.]
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the One Hundred and Ninety-Second General Court
(2021-2022)
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An Act to establish the Massachusetts Open Data Standard.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. The General Laws are hereby amended by inserting after chapter 66A the
2 following chapter:-
3 CHAPTER 66B. MASSACHUSETTS OPEN DATA STANDARD
4 Section 1. As used in this chapter, the following words shall have the following
5 meanings:
6 “Municipal agency” , any department or office of a city or town government and any
7 council, division, board, bureau, commission, institution, tribunal or other instrumentality thereof
8 or thereunder.
9 “Open data”, public data or information made readily available online, utilizing best
10 practice structures and formats when possible.
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11 “Open data portal”, an Internet site established and maintained by or on behalf of the
12 commonwealth.
13 “Public data”, all data that is collected by a state agency in pursuit of that state agency’s
14 responsibilities that are otherwise subject to disclosure under section 7 of chapter 4 or chapter 66
15 of the General Laws.
16 “State agency”, an agency of the commonwealth.
17 “Strategic plan”, a state agency’s evaluation, over a period of up to five years, of its
18 strategy and direction, including, but not limited to, a framework for decision-making with
19 respect to resource allocation to achieve defined goals.
20 Section 2. (a) The chief data officer of the commonwealth, established pursuant to
21 section 4A of chapter 7D of the general laws, shall create an inventory of all available public
22 data in the state and establish an open data portal to achieve the purposes of this chapter. The
23 chief data officer may appoint at least two individuals with expertise in open data information
24 technology to serve within the Executive Office of Technology Services and Security established
25 pursuant to chapter 64 of the general laws.
26 (b) The chief data officer shall adhere to the following principles: (1) adherence to user-
27 centric design; (2) commitment to agile management; (3) support for open data platforms and
28 data standardization; and (4) commitment to the privacy of personal identifying information.
29 Section 3. (a) The chief data officer shall establish the Massachusetts Open Data Standard
30 for state and municipal agencies to make public data available on an open data portal and shall
31 consult with subject matter experts from state agencies, organizations specializing in technology
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32 and innovation, academia, and other pertinent stakeholders according to the chief data officer.
33 The goal of the Massachusetts Open Data Standard is to: (1) increase agency accountability and
34 responsiveness of state agencies; (2) improve public knowledge of state and municipal agencies
35 and their operations; (3) further the mission of state and municipal agencies; (4) create economic
36 opportunity; (5) respond to an online demand for the public data; and (6) respond to a need or
37 demand identified by public outreach.
38 (b) The Massachusetts Open Data Standard shall include, but not be limited to, the
39 following: (1) requirements to update public data on an open data portal as often as necessary to
40 preserve the integrity and usefulness of public data to the extent a state or municipal agency
41 regularly maintains or updates public data; (2) the ability for members of the public to
42 electronically search public data using external information technology; (3) the availability of
43 public data without registration or license requirements, to the extent possible; (4) a format that
44 permits public notification of update where possible; (5) a format that permits the public to
45 access data through application programming interfaces; and (6) the standardization of public
46 data in a digital format that facilitates data analysis across data sets.
47 (c) The chief data officer may establish and maintain an online forum located on the open
48 data portal to solicit feedback from the public and to encourage discussion on the Massachusetts
49 Open Data Standard and public data available.
50 (d) The chief data officer may establish guidelines in order to implement the
51 Massachusetts Open Data Standard.
52 (e) The chief data officer may work with municipal agencies in order for them to adopt
53 said standard and in order to share relevant public data.
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54 Section 4. (a) The chief data officer shall prepare and publish a technical standards
55 manual for publishing public data through the open data portal by state and municipal agencies
56 for the purpose of making public data available to the greatest number of users and for the
57 greatest number of applications and shall, whenever practicable, use open standards for open
58 data publishing in a digital format that can be easily analyzed and aggregated.. The manual and
59 related policies may be updated as necessary. The chief data officer may utilize a currently
60 existing open data portal.
61 (b) The chief data officer shall consult with organizations specializing in technology and
62 innovation, the state agencies and municipal agencies, academic institutions, and other
63 stakeholders in the development of technical and open standards.
64 (c) The chief data officer shall create standards to ensure data security.
65 Section 5. (a) A state agency that releases public data shall do so in compliance with this
66 chapter and on the designated open data portal that is maintained by, or on behalf of, the state for
67 the purposes of this chapter. If a state agency cannot make all public data available on the open
68 data portal, the state agency shall report to the chief data officer: (1) the public data it is unable to
69 be made available, (2) the reasons why it is no possible to make said public data available, and
70 (3) the date by which the state agency expects the public data to be made available on the open
71 data portal. This section shall not affect the obligation of an agency to provide notice or
72 information to the public under chapter 4 section 7 or chapter 66 of the General Laws.
73 (b) Annually on December 1, each state agency shall submit a strategic plan consistent
74 with this chapter to the chief data officer and shall make the plan available to the public on the
75 designated open data portal. Each state agency shall collaborate with the chief data officer in
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76 formulating its plans. The strategic plan shall include, but not be limited to, the following: (1) a
77 description of public data under the control of the state agency; and (2) an explanation of how
78 said state agency’s plans, budgets, capital expenditures, contracts, and other related documents
79 and information for each information technology and telecommunications project it proposes to
80 undertake can be utilized to support the Massachusetts Open Data Standard and related savings
81 and efficiencies.
82 Section 6. Public data available on the open data portal are provided for informational
83 purposes only. The commonwealth does not warrant, nor is the commonwealth liable for, the
84 completeness, accuracy, content, or fitness for any particular purpose or use of any public data
85 made available on the open data portal, nor are any warranties to be implied or inferred with
86 respect to the public data furnished pursuant to this chapter. All public data shall be entirely in
87 the public domain for purposes of applicable copyright laws.
88 SECTION 2. This act shall take effect on July 1, 2021.
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