Data & System Inventory Introduction

A step-by-step guide to the annual data and system inventory process

Background

Open Data -- sharing internal data with the public -- is an important product of any modern government. It increases transparency, accountability, streamlines process, and can drive innovation. For these reasons, the San Francisco Open Data Policy was created in 2009 to drive the publication of government data allowing the public and city employees to access to valuable information.

Part of this policy was the requirement to create an inventory of all datasets and enterprise data systems across the city and assess which should be shared with the public. The Data Inventory is really two separate but related things:

1. The annual process of inventorying each department's data and systems ("the inventory process")

2. The end result of that annual process -- A catalog of all datasets and systems ("the inventory")

In the next sections we will cover:

• What is an Enterprise Data System?

• What data we collect for the data inventory

• Starting your data inventory

• Updating your existing data inventory

Happy Inventorying!