Toulouse Métropole launches the new version of its Open Data portal with Opendatasoft

Toulouse Métropole, the urban community of Greater Toulouse, launches today the new version of its Open Data portal powered by OpenDataSoft: data.toulouse-metropole.fr.

More than 200 datasets are now available as data visualizations (maps, charts, tables, pictures) and APIs. Data can also be exported in different formats: CSV, JSON, Excel, GeoJSON and Shapefile.

Toulouse Métropole has launched its first Open Data portal in 2011, when the French Prime Minister introduced France’s Open Data initiative with the creation of data.gouv.fr. Back then, Toulouse’s portal was mainly a GIS (Geographic Information System) datastore for local government.

The new platform is now synced up with Toulouse Métropole’s IT systems and provides citizens with relevant information in real time.

A few examples of the latest datasets uploaded on the platform: election data from 2001, street numbers and census data.

The data visualizations can be embedded in any web page thanks to iframes that can easily be copy-pasted. For instance, you will find below an interactive map of Toulouse Métropole’s cultural facilities (directly sourced from the Open Data portal)

Toulouse Métropole’s Open Data team has tested the platform during the 2015 departmental elections. The results coming from the 256 polling stations have all been published on the portal between 9.30 and 11.30 pm. Thanks to automatically-generated visualizations, data were then easy to understand by anyone in a very short time.

Sandrine Mathon, Head of Toulouse Métropole Open Data, explains why OpenDataSoft has been chosen to develop the new portal :

“The OpenDataSoft platform is incredibly easy to use. Moreover, the SaaS technology enables a kind of responsiveness we were not used to as a local authority in which processes usually are very slow. We expect a lot from the map and chart features that will help us measure the impact of public policies.”

Jean-Marc Lazard, OpenDataSoft’s CEO, also commented the portal’s launch :

“OpenDataSoft is excited to work with local government such as Toulouse Métropole that has been pushing Open Data on a larger scale for years. Regional authorities are becoming more aware of the fact that making territory Open Data understandable and easily-reusable is key.”