OpenGrid

Smart Chicago created a service layer to plenar.io, a spatio-temporal open data platform, to support the City of Chicago in their launch of OpenGrid, a citywide situational awareness tool using open data.

In 2012, the City of Chicago’s Department of Innovation & Technology (DoIT) developed WindyGrid, an enterprise geographic information system.

 In January 2015, the City published OpenGrid, an open source version of WindyGrid to encourage adoption and further development of this code by other cities. In order to support this launch, and help accelerate impact for residents of Chicago and the cities that adopt OpenGrid, Smart Chicago creted a service layer for OpenGrid that allows Plenario to serve as a data feed for any city looking to implement OpenGrid.

By investing in these platforms in Chicago by Chicago developers, we encourage Chicago’s central place in the delivery of map-based websites that help residents understand their neighborhoods. There is rich existing ecosystem of organizations, companies, and service providers that are organized under the banner of “civic tech”. Smart Chicago is helping them build on this— and the technologies they’ve created— to advance the work.