Gov. Markell is signing an open data executive order

Delaware’s open data community is thrilled: Gov. Jack Markell is signing an executive order Wednesday establishing an open data portal for executive branch agencies. That is, tentatively thrilled.
Few details have been released about data the portal will actually have, or the governor’s reasoning for signing the order now. (We’ll be writing about this more.) The executive order, No. 57, has not yet been posted online.
Delaware open data guy David Ginzberg has a hunch that the state’s chief information officer, James Collins, had something to do with it. In a release from Gov. Markell’s office, Collins is slated to be at the signing in Dover, as well as Ginzberg’s open data meetup partner, Ryan Harrington.
Ginzberg said he’s excited about the possibilities the portal might bring. “It’s a great step towards having a more useful, comprehensive open data policy in the state,” he said. “I’m very glad this is happening and hope it’s only the first of many improvements we can make in Delaware the way we handle data and the way we make it available to the public.”
Patrick Callahan, another local open data enthusiast, felt similarly and said he’s glad Markell is making open data more of a priority.
“I am looking forward to seeing the actual data that comes out of it,” he said via the OpenDataDE Slack channel. “Having data from the state (and cities) has the potential to have more of an impact than most people realize, open data from the government is literally life changing. I am hoping this is a spark to a commitment with real resources behind it from our leaders.”