Public Records in L.A. Are About to Get Easier to Request

Civic-minded Internet surfers will be able to access more than 100 sets of data about the city beginning Saturday, when Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti unveils an "open data" website during a City Hall tech conference.

Garcetti told Video News West the raw data collected by city departments can be used by "computer programmers and journalists to further our democracy" and to create apps "that can improve the quality of our lives."

The mayor will demonstrate the site, at data.lacity.org, during Saturday's #techLA conference.

"For me, public data should be public," Garcetti told VNW. "Anything the government does is something the people deserve to see -- what we're doing well and what we're not doing well."

The #techLA event will include panel discussions and a "hack-a-thon," during which programmers will develop applications using the data from Garcetti's website.

The mayor will also meet Saturday with a council of advisers from the tech field.

The tech conference will also include a job fair and a tech products expo expected to include exhibitions on Google Glass and autonomous vehicles.

Mayoral aides said in December that Garcetti's open data site will include crime statistics and lists of street improvement projects, along with recreational facilities such as parks, golf courses and tennis courts and public service facilities such as childcare centers and computer labs.

—City News Service