City of Brampton employee wins Open City Champion award

The City of Brampton’s Matt Pietryszyn, Team Lead, GIS and Open Data, was announced a winner of the Open City Champion Awards. Hosted by Public Sector Digest as part of International Open Government Week, the Open City Champion Awards recognize commitment to more open, transparent, and accountable local government.

Public Sector Digest recognized three categories of Open City Champions: Community Leader, City Council Leader and City Administrative Leader. Matt won under the City Administrative Leader category.
“The City of Brampton is working to build a future ready city, and is committed to excellence in government services. Through the GeoHub, staff not only provide transparent service, but also aim to foster innovation in how we interact with Bramptonians. I am proud of the work Matt and the GIS and Open Data team are doing, and look forward to seeing how staff’s ongoing efforts will further enhance the public’s understanding of and engagement with their community,” said Joseph Pittari, Commissioner of Corporate Services.

In his position as Team Lead, GIS and Open Data, Matt is responsible for overseeing an innovative and dedicated team whose work on Brampton’s open data platform GeoHub, makes it easier for people to access public information such as property maps, bike maps and zoning by-laws. It features initiative-driven tools that help increase transparency and foster innovation. The GeoHub can be used to combine datasets and perform analysis through the use of maps and charts, or to download data to tell a story.

Members of the GIS and Open Data team work as Ambassadors and visit local high school classes to share with them how they can leverage the City’s authoritative data and analysis tools found on the GeoHub.

This is not the first time the City and its staff have been recognized for ongoing efforts in open data. In October, 2017, the City received Esri Canada’s Award for Innovation in the field of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) for using GIS technology to support the Open Government initiative. In June, 2017, the City received the Open Data Rising Star award for the GeoHub at the Canadian Open Data Summit in Edmonton.