Page 137 - Are You Future Ready?

Chapter Two - Right Timing

in 2014. As a result, software developers were able to
re-identify all 173 million entries of taxi drivers’ licence

numbers in less than two hours, revealing which driver
drove each trip in the dataset.

The data also contains trade secrets which make rideshare

companies reluctant to release it - how these companies
build their competitive edges in the endlessly-honed
algorithms that connect their drivers to the closest riders,
then route them to their destinations and onto the next trip

in the most efficient manner. 135

Data to serve every citizen

To resolve the controversy, a formal hearing was held

for citizens to engage with public officials on their
concerns. As a result, instead of getting the exact location
of drop-off and pickup times in the open data portal, the
location is now substituted with a neighbourhood code.

As Dr Mashariki said, policy development and the
implementation of Open Data in NYC was a partnership