(20 ILCS 45/15)

Sec. 15. Function; protocol and compliance.

(a) Public data sets that are made available on the Internet by agencies shall be accessible through a single web portal that is linked to data.illinois.gov or any successor website maintained by, or on behalf of, the State of Illinois. If an agency cannot make all such public data sets available on the single web portal, the agency shall report to the Office of the Governor the public data set or sets it is unable to make available, the reasons why it cannot do so, and the date by which the agency expects those data sets to be available on the single web portal.

(b) Public data sets shall be made available in accordance with technical standards published by the Office of the Governor. The technical standards shall be determined by the Office of the Governor, in consultation with the subject matter experts from all State agencies and representatives of units of local government, not-for-profit organizations specializing in technology and innovation, the academic community, and other interested groups as designated by the Office of the Governor.

(1) Public data sets shall be provided in a format that permits public notification of all updates whenever possible. The Office of the Governor shall, by rule, in consultation with subject matter experts from interested State agencies, establish appropriate policies, procedures, and protocols for the coordinated management of the State's information technology resources.

(2) Public data sets shall be updated as often as is necessary to preserve the integrity and usefulness of the data sets, to the extent that the agency regularly maintains or updates the public data set.

(3) Public data sets shall be made available without any registration requirement, license requirement, or restrictions on their use provided that the agency may require a third party providing to the public any public data set, or application utilizing such data set, to explicitly identify the source and version of the public data set and a description of any modifications made to such public data set. Registration requirements, license requirements, or restrictions as used in this Section shall not include measures designed or required to ensure access to public data sets, to protect the single website housing public data sets from unlawful abuse or attempts to damage or impair use of the website, or to analyze the types of data being used to improve service delivery.

(4) Public data sets shall be accessible to external search capabilities.

(c) Within 60 days of the effective date of this Act, the Office of the Governor shall prepare and publish: (1) a technical standards manual for the publishing of public data sets in raw or unprocessed form through a single web portal by State agencies for the purpose of making public data available to the greatest number of users and for the greatest number of applications and shall, whenever practicable, use open standards for web publishing and e-government.

The manual shall identify the reasons why each technical standard was selected and for which types of data it is applicable, and may recommend or require that data be published in more than one technical standard. The manual shall include a plan to adopt or utilize a web application programming interface that permits application programs to request and receive public data sets directly from the web portal. The manual and related policies may be updated as necessary.

(d) The Office of the Governor shall consult with units of local government, not-for-profit organizations with a specialization in technology and innovation, agencies of other states, academic institutions, and voluntary consensus standards bodies, and, when such participation is feasible, in the public interest, and compatible with agency and departmental missions, authorities, and priorities, participate with such bodies in the development of technical and open standards.

(e) Within 120 days of the effective date of this Act, each State agency shall submit a compliance plan, together with a draft long-term strategic enterprise application plan consistent with this Act, to the Office of the Governor and shall make such plan available to the public on the data.illinois.gov web portal. Each State agency shall collaborate with the Governor's Office in formulating its plan. The plan shall include:

(1) a summary description of public data sets under the control of each State agency on or after the effective date of this Act; and

(2) a summary explanation of how its plans, charters, budgets, capital expenditures, contracts, and other related documents and information for each information technology and telecommunications project it proposes to undertake can be utilized to support Illinois Open Data and related savings and efficiencies. The plan shall prioritize public data sets for inclusion on the single web portal on or before December 31, 2014, in accordance with the standards provided for in subsections (b) and (c) of this Section.

(f) For purposes of prioritizing public data sets, State agencies shall consider whether information embodied in the public data set: (1) can be used to increase agency accountability and responsiveness; (2) improves public knowledge of the agency and its operations; (3) furthers the mission of the agency; (4) creates economic opportunity; (5) is received via the on-line forum for inclusion of particular public data sets; or (6) responds to a need or demand identified by public consultation.

(g) Consistent with both the Executive Order 10 (2010) directive requiring State agencies to limit information technology expenditures by increasing the use of cloud computing where appropriate, and with the initiatives and standards announced in the United States Department of Homeland Security publication "Federal Cloud Computing Strategy" dated February 8, 2011, all State agencies are required to evaluate safe, secure cloud computing options, before making any new information technology or telecommunications investments, and, if feasible, adopt appropriate cloud computing solutions. Each State agency shall re-evaluate its technology sourcing strategy to include consideration and use of cloud computing solutions as part of the budget process.

(Source: P.A. 98-627, eff. 3-7-14.)