Case Study: City of Raleigh achieves award-winning citizen engagement and an open data portal with Socrata

The Citizen Experience Takes Center Stage in Raleigh

Socrata partnered with the City of Raleigh to create an open data program that put the citizen experience front and center. Raleigh — home to a tech-savvy population and an active Code for America brigade — wanted a public data portal that would enable civic collaboration, provide built-in visualization and APIs, and avoid the cost and complexity of building and maintaining a custom open-source solution.

Using Socrata’s platform and support, Raleigh launched data.raleighnc.gov in March 2013 and drove adoption through community events like NC DataJam, CityCamp NC, and NC DataPalooza. The initiative produced practical civic apps (notably the award-winning Parking App), spurred local startups, earned a 2013 Web 2.0 Award and a Digital Cities Award, and established ongoing citizen engagement and regional data-sharing partnerships.

City of Raleigh

Gail M. Roper

Chief Information and Community Relations Officer