Getting Started

Here's what new organizations need to know before sharing data on the Regional Data Center's open data portal.

Eligibility

Government, Academic, and Nonprofit organizations are eligible to share data on the Western Pennsylvania Regional Data Center's open data portal.
The service is provided at no cost to eligible organizations.
Once an organization becomes a publisher with the Data Center, the organization will have their own "organization" page created on the Data Center Website.

Before a new publisher can share information through the Regional Data Center, the following steps must be completed.
1. Return an executed Data Deposit Agreement
2. Complete New Publisher Training
3. Share a copy of the organization's logo and description for use on the Website
4. (Optional) Develop a department listing for use with metadata documentation.

In order to share data with the Data Center, a Data Deposit Agreement will need to be completed and returned. A copy of the agreement can be found on the Regional Data Center Website.
Electronic submissions of the agreement are encouraged. A scanned version of the document can be emailed to the Data Center <mailto: www.wprdc.org>. The completed agreement can be included as an email attachment.
The person signing the Data Deposit Agreement must have the authority to commit the publishing organization into an agreement with the University of Pittsburgh.

The Regional Data Center will train publishers as they're added.
Organizations interested in publishing data should contact the Regional Data Center.
Organizations will need to complete the training program before publishing, and work with Regional Data Center project staff to create accounts and configure the Website.
In training, new organizations will learn how to:
- determine publishing priorities
- protect sensitive information, ensuring it is not shared through the open data portal
- prepare data for publication
- load data to the Regional Data Center Website
- create metadata documentation
Training will be held in-person or virtually, and typically are 1 on 1 sessions. Please contact us for more information

The Regional Data Center will include a logo from all publishing organizations on each publisher's "organization" page on the Website.
Publishers should share a 189x189 pixel logo with the Regional Data Center for use on the Website. Most common graphic file formats (e.g., GIF, JPG, etc.) are acceptable.
A brief description of each organization should also be provided for inclusion on the Website. Two to three sentences should be sufficient. For examples, please see the Regional Data Center Website.
Show how to add to the site directly.