Objective

To determine the extent of implementation of the two recommendations included in our initial audit report, Compliance With Executive Order 95 (Open Data) (Report 2019-S-65).

About the Program

State government entities possess large amounts of valuable information on subjects such as health, business, public safety, parks, recreation, labor, and transportation. Executive Order 95 (EO 95), issued March 11, 2013, established an Open Data Website (Open Data) for the collection and public  dissemination of publishable State data maintained by covered State entities (generally, those headed by individuals appointed by the Executive). EO 95 implementation was phased in beginning in March 2013, with covered entities required to be in full compliance by December 2019. As of January 2022, there were over 5,300 data items on Open Data.

Open Data should provide ongoing “one-stop” access to publishable State data and make such data freely available in accessible formats for public use. Publishable State data should include comprehensive metadata and documentation to help maximize citizens’ understanding, and the public should be able to easily access the data using common software applications. Each covered State entity was required, within 180 days of the issuance of EO 95, to provide the Office of Information and Technology Services (ITS) with a catalogue of its publishable State data, along with a proposed schedule for making the data available on Open Data.

The Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (Parks) is responsible for the operation and stewardship of the parks and historic sites located in the State’s 11 park regions: Allegany, Central, Finger Lakes, Genesee, Long Island, New York City, Niagara, Palisades, Saratoga/Capital District, Taconic, and Thousand Islands. Parks published its first data item to Open Data on February 15, 2013, and, as of January 2022, had published 24 data items (10 maps, 11 data sets, two filtered views, and one chart). The last data item was published on December 31, 2021.

Our initial audit report, covering the period February 15, 2013, through June 26, 2020, was issued on September 15, 2020. The audit objective was to determine whether Parks was complying with EO 95, including providing, in a timely manner, publishable State data to ITS under EO 95, and whether data posted under EO 95 was reliable and easily usable. The audit found that Parks had taken steps to meet the requirements of EO 95; however, certain aspects of EO 95 had not been fully addressed. Parks did appoint a qualified Data Coordinator responsible for EO 95 compliance within the required time frame, and the data Parks posted to Open Data was reliable (both accurate and complete) and easily accessible, with minor formatting issues. However, Parks did not identify the total population of publishable State data that it maintains. Therefore, there was limited assurance Parks provided a complete catalogue or accompanying schedules for making the data public, as required by EO 95. Also, Parks had not incorporated compliance with EO 95 into its core business functions, and there were no processes to identify new publishable data to post on Open Data (at the time of the audit, the most recent data had been added in 2015).

Key Finding

Parks made significant progress addressing the issues identified during the initial audit, having implemented both recommendations.