Research and Innovative Technology AdministrationU.S. Department of Transportation

August 6, 2012

Safety.Data.Gov Initiative

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Safety.Data.Gov

• It is an Administration-wide effort to increase awareness of and

deepen insights into our Nation’s public safety activities by bringing

together data around public safety issues

• This single resource will enable innovators to extract and correlate

data in ways that will help the public and industry to make well-

informed data-driven decisions

• It was launched in May 2012 with a “Back of the Napkin” Data Dive –

results available in September

• The latest “community” of the Data.Gov series

Vision

Safety.Data.Gov empowers people to make informed decisions about their safety and the safety of others.

Who is it for?

• Federal Agencies• Developers• Entrepreneurs• First responders• Private citizens• Safety associations• State and local governments

Who else could be involved?

• Data journalists• Researchers• State and local Chief Information Officers

Who is involved?

Implementation

Safety.Data.Gov empowers people to make informed decisions about their safety and the safety of others.

How will we do it?

• Blog when we release new data to the community

• Feature data sets and problems that need solving through the community

• Include more than data – list applications, software and tools

• Highlight research and news items that makes use of the data

• Partner with organizations to promote the site and encourage its use

How can people get involved?

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• Brings together data around public safety issues, from crime statistics to food safety to product recalls

– 8 departments and independent agencies participating, led by DOT

• Department of Transportation• Consumer Product Safety Commission• Department of Health and Human

Services (Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control)

• Department of Homeland Security (U.S. Coast Guard & Federal Emergency Management Agency)

• Department of Justice (National Institute of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Federal Bureau of Investigation)

• National Transportation Safety Board• Department of Labor (Occupational

Safety and Health Administration, Mine Safety and Health Administration)

• Department of Education

Safety.Data.Gov

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Safety.Data.Gov (cont’d.)• Includes

– 713 datasets

– 4 mobile apps

– 14 resources and public

domain software tools

• 3 ongoing challenges– Motorcoach Safety Data

Student Challenge

– Worker Safety and Health App

Challenge

– Patient Safety Events

Challenge

What data categories do we have?Compliance, Violations & Enforcement

Law Enforcement Data

Locations & Characteristics

Consumer Complaints

Corrections Data Product Safety

Incidents & Crashes

Fatalities, Casualties &

Injuries

Court Data & Crime Data

Environmental Consequences

Recalls

Exposure Data

Continuing to Engage Non-Government Stakeholders

• What is the potential value to your organization? (Ref. Center for Technology in Government)

– Economic– Political– Social– Strategic– Quality of Life– Ideological– Stewardship

• What data would you find most useful?• What applications would you find most useful?

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http://www.data.gov/communities/safety

An example of the metadata

14U.S. Department of TransportationResearch and Innovative Technology Administration

BTS - Safety Provisions in MAP-21

Establishes a new Safety Data Program … on behalf of the Secretary a program—(I) to effectively

integrate safety data across modes; and (II) to address gaps in existing safety data programs of the Department

Safety components of other BTS programs The Intermodal Transportation Database provides exposure data

for accident rates The National Transportation Atlas Database can serve as a

repository for state highway safety base maps The National Transportation Library is a repository of data and

research and a platform for dissemination of information to the public

15U.S. Department of TransportationResearch and Innovative Technology Administration

Role of Safety.Data.GovEstablishes the safety data universe

Identifies the variety of data to be integrated for the Safety Data Program A portal to transportation safety data for the National Transportation

Library

A platform for data integration A place where inconsistent definitions of variables and other comparability

issues can be highlighted A venue for developing common definitions and applications that bridge

across data sets to improve comparability A place to inspire participation by the broad community in solving safety

data problems

A platform for addressing data gaps A forum for feedback on data needs and for strategies to meet those

needs