Information wrt DBMSs (Information Technology, Rhode Island)

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the Rhode Island Access to Public Records Act, I hereby request the following records:

For all DBMSs owned, maintained, operated, contracted with/through, or supported by the Information Technology - or similar - department(s) within your city, please provide me with the following information:

-Underlying engine (eg, postgres, mysql, mariadb, cockroachdb, Mongodb, Oracle database, sybase, MSAccess, SQL Server, VoltDB, RethinkDB, Chronos, Elasticsearch, etcd, cassandra, etc)
-Names of software that connect to each DBMS
-Names of departments that use information within the DBMS
-Schema of database (preferably, with granularity down to column names)
-Contract identifier for each database, if relevant

I understand that the information respondent to this request may require the creation of new documents - if that will be the case, then please provide me with documents that may contain the information (eg, documentation, contracts, etc). I am also happy to narrow the scope of my request if necessary.

Please also let me know if any help is needed with discovering any DBMS services. My background is in distributed systems systems administration and I can offer technical tips or advice if it would be helpful in any way.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes. As I believe the information respondent to this request outweighs the costs and burden, I would like to kindly request a fee waiver.

I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 business days, as the statute requires.

With gratitude,
Matt Chapman,
Free Our Info, NFP

The Access to Public Records Act (“APRA”), R.I.Gen. Laws § 38-2-1 et seq., pertains to requests for documents. Part of your request seeks information relative to a non-document inquiry. Although the City is not obligated to provide a response, the City can inform you that the underlying engine City hosted databases is Microsoft SQL.

As to your request for: “Names of software that connect to each DBMS,” “Names of Departments that use information within the DBMS,” and “Contract identifier for each database, if relevant,” the City of Providence does not maintain documents responsive to those requests.

As to your request seeking “Schema of database (preferably, with granularity down to column names),” the Public Records Unit has conducted a review of the responsive records and has determined that it will require a significant amount of search, retrieval, review, and/or redaction to complete to your request. More specifically, it is estimated that it will take two hundred (200) hours due to the voluminous nature of the request, given the number of databases (approximately 100) within the City of Providence, and the level of effort needed to extract a “schema.” Furthermore, each database would need to be reviewed, and redacted under (among other portions of the APRA) R.I.Gen. Laws § 38-2-2(4)(B) to determine if they constitute “trade secrets…obtained from a person, firm, or corporation which is of a privileged or confidential nature.” The City estimates this task will take approximately two (2) hours per database, totaling two hundred (200) hours.

Under the Access to Public Records Act, the City may charge $15 per hour for search, retrieval, review, and redaction, with the first hour free. See R.I. Gen. Laws § 38-2-4(b). Additionally, for the purpose of assessing charges, multiple requests from the same person or entity within a thirty (30) day period are considered one request. See R.I. Gen. Laws § 38-2-4(b). The Public Records Unit has already expended at least one hour in search, retrieval, review, and/or redaction to respond to your other request(s) made within the past thirty (30) days (see Request #18-573). Accordingly, your free hour has been exhausted and you will be charged $3,000.00.

To the extent you are interested in reviewing vendor contracts as you indicated in your request (“I understand that the information respondent to this request may require the creation of new documents-if that will be the case, then please provide me with documents that may contain the information (eg, documentation, contracts, etc.)), please be advised that all contracts entered into with the City of Providence are posted on our Public Meetings Portal, accessible here: http://providenceri.iqm2.com/citizens/default.aspx.

Please note that this is just an estimate and you will be charged based upon actual time and costs. Please further note that nothing in this email represents a determination that responsive records will be found or that, if found, responsive records are public records.

Kindly note that the time to respond to your request is tolled pending receipt of your authorization and prepayment in the amount set forth in the estimate. Checks made payable to the City of Providence may be sent to: Public Records Unit, 444 Westminster Street, Suite 220, Providence, RI 02903.

In accordance with R.I. Gen. Laws § 38-2-8, you may wish to appeal this decision to the Chief Administrative Officer. In this instance, Jim Silveria, Chief Information Officer, fulfills that role. You may also wish to file a complaint with the Department of the Attorney General or the Rhode Island Superior Court.

This request is now closed.