Frequently Asked Questions

What is Open Data?

Open data is a set of data that is universally available for consultation and editing, and which complies with some basic principles:

  • Shared in raw form (as close as possible to the source, with no content editing),
  • Are unbundled (with the highest possible level of disaggregation, to perform a variety of queries)
  • Are made available freely (ideally, with no restrictions on use, whether licensing, technological, or economic)..

Open data respect the principles of data protection, excluding from display sensitive data or data that may violate citizens' privacy.

In the case of local government, data sharing follows the principles of the Open Government strategy, which promotes transparency and access to information by citizens, increasing participation and scrutiny by all.

 

Who can use open data?

Any user, either personally or as part of an organization, may use open data repositories.

To find out what types of usage are authorized for the datasets you browse in our portal, you should consult the associated license.

What are data licenses, and how to distinguish between them?

Licenses guarantee copyright recognition on the producer of the content made available, who should determine the usage possibilities associated with the datasets provided.

In the case of Data Cascais, the data produced by the municipality is available by default for all uses. However, as we also provide data from external sources, the user must check, for each dataset, which license is associated with it (see screenshot).

 

Imagem Licença

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After checking the associated license, you can identify the uses it enables (sharing, editing, modifying, etc.) by clicking on it; you will be redirected to the description page.

The licenses currently in effect on the portal distinguish between:

  • Public Domain (full waiver of rights);
  • Attribution licenses (permission to use at various levels, including commercial, as long as the products derived from the original data are credited to the original work).

These licenses guarantee a legal framework for data protection, both from a human and machine-readable point of view, so we advise a careful reading of the legal description.

 

Which formats can be found?

We try to provide several formats for each set of data, given the different uses that may arise from the user's needs. In general, the files are:

  • Alphanumeric (XLSX, CSV, XML, JSON, ...)
  • Geodata (Shapefile, GeoJSON, KML, KMZ, DXF, ...)

Whenever possible, the resources provided will have at least one format of each associated.

How to collect data from Data Cascais via API?

If you are a data analyst or work on IT projects that require direct access to our data, you can collect it via API through the hosting platform CKAN.

Please check the required documentation for instructions. 

 

 

How to report datasets with issues or unavailable?

We try to ensure that all the information provided is up-to-date and functional. However, temporary suspensions may occur due to source failure or some technical abnormality.

Please report these situations whenever you find them, in order to improve our portal.

To do so, you can communicate these anomalies through the link provided next to the description of each dataset.

Can't find what you are looking for?

You may request for a Tailored Data, with the indicators you need.

If the information requested is produced by the city council, in the conditions set for placement on the portal, we will do our best to make it available as soon as possible in the Open Data catalog.

 

How to contribute?

Data Cascais aims to be a collaborative platform.

You can help us by answering the user satisfaction survey and giving feedback on the quality and usefulness of the open datasets.

You can also share the results of your analysis with us, as we will happily publish them in the reuse area.  

Acess the form.