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Capability: Open data initiative

To what extent is there a well-resourced open government data initiative in the country?

Definitions and Identification

An open government data initiative is a program by the government to release government data online to the public. It has four main features:

  1. The government discloses data or information without request from citizens. This may be according to a release schedule or ad hoc.
  2. The Internet is the primary means of disclosure (including mobile phone applications);
  3. Data is free to access and reuse (e.g., is released under open licenses);
  4. Data is in a machine-readable format to enable computer-based reuse, e.g., spreadsheet formats, application programming interfaces (APIs), etc.

Resources for an open government data initiative include a sufficient budget, personnel, and facilities to carry out the initiative's mandate, including technical personnel with appropriate qualifications for dealing with open data issues.

This indicator investigates not merely the presence of an initiative, but an active initiative. Over the last decade, many countries launched open data initiatives. This indicator is concerned with whether these remained active during the study period.

Signs of activity may include (but are not limited to):

  • Commitments from senior leaders to continued or new open data publication;
  • Updates to relevant policies and guidance, or monitoring of policy/guidance implementation;
  • Dedicated staff and financial resources supporting open data activities;
  • Active participation in international fora such as the Open Data Charter;
  • Regular updates to a national open data portal.

Note: This question is only concerned with initiatives led by the national or sub-national governments. Open data initiatives covering the country, but organised by a third party, such as the African Development Bank or another regional organisation should not be counted, although these can be mentioned in the sources and justification boxes.

Start by identifying the national open data portal. Check there for recent updates, as well as information regarding the team behind the initiative. You may also want to look for social media accounts related to the initiative, which may share about recent activities with regard to guidance or senior leadership.

Consulting individuals or organizations working on open data can help you identify additional sources regarding budgets and other evidence.

Starting points

  • Sources:
    • The World Bank Digital Government/GovTech Systems and Services 2020 survey provides information on open data initiatives and portals (columns IZ–JB).
    • The Open Data Charter's list of government adopters and the Open Government Partnership's action plans can help identify which offices or agencies manage open data activities, and may provide leads to current open data initiatives.
    • The qualitative data from the Open Data Barometer may provide details of policies and initiatives identified prior to 2017 generally, prior to 2019 for Latin America and the Caribbean; look for sheets with primary data on ODB context and impact and filter by question ID "ODB.2015.C1."
    • Answers to the current Barometer's core governance indicator on open data policies may also provide evidence of an initiative.
  • Search:
    • For details of how central government data portals are updated; look for evidence of a team maintaining the portal or providing guidance.
    • Parliamentary or government records for recent mentions of "open data" that might provide evidence of active leadership or monitoring of open data initiatives.
    • General searches for "open data policy," "data strategy," "open data strategy."
    • Search academic search engines (e.g., Google Scholar, arXiv, ResearchGate, etc.) for recent papers on "open data" + [country].
  • Consult:
    • Individuals or organizations working on open data in government or civil society.

What to look for?

Look for evidence that can answer the following questions:

  • How recent were the latest updates to guidance, data portals, or other open data initiative resources?
  • Is there a well-maintained open data portal in place? For example, a portal that offers:
    • A wide range of topics;
    • Data published by a wide range of public agencies;
    • Updated datasets;
    • APIs.
  • Is there a government team working to support open data activities?
  • Do open data activities appear to have allocated funding and budgets?

National and sub-national considerations

Look first for a national open data initiative. If there is no national initiative, but you locate a strong sub-national initiative, you may carry out the assessment with respect to this example, recording this in your answer to the question regarding the coverage of the initiative and explaining further in the indicator's justification box.

Show/hide supporting questions

Existence

  • Has there been any form of government-led open government data initiative during the study period?
    • There is no evidence of any government-led open government data initiative in the country.
    • There has been a government-led open government data initiative, but there is limited evidence of recent activity.
      Supporting questions: When was the open government data initiative first launched?When was the initiative last active? (Please provide year, and if appropriate, a brief explanation. E.g. '2016: before the last election').
    • There is evidence of an active government-led open government data initiative.
      Supporting questions: When was the open government data initiative first launched?

Elements

  • Specific features:

  • There is a government team in place supporting open data activities. (No, Partially, Yes)

    Supporting questions (conditional)

    If Partially: Please provide evidence of the existence of this team, and briefly explain your 'Partially' response.

    If Yes: Please provide evidence of the existence of this team.

  • There is an allocated budget for open data activities. (No, Partially, Yes)

    Supporting questions (conditional)

    If Partially: Please provide evidence of this allocated budget, and briefly explain your 'Partially' response.

    If Yes: Please provide evidence of this allocated budget.

  • There is a well-maintained open data portal. (No, Partially, Yes)

    Supporting questions (conditional)

    If Partially: Please provide the URL and briefly explain your 'Partially' response.

    If Yes: Please provide the URL.

  • There is guidance and support for government publication of open data. (No, Partially, Yes)

    Supporting questions (conditional)

    If Partially: Please provide evidence of this guidance, and briefly explain your 'Partially' response.

    If Yes: Please provide evidence of this guidance.

  • Senior political leaders back the open data initiative. (No, Partially, Yes)

    Supporting questions (conditional)

    If Partially: Please provide evidence of this leadership, and briefly explain your 'Partially' response.

    If Yes: Please provide evidence of this leadership.

Extent

  • How widely does this, or similar, open data initiatives apply?
    • The open data initiative covers only a limited part of the national government, or only covers one or more sub-national governments.
      Supporting questions: Please briefly describe the scope of this initiative and indicate sources for this affirmation.
    • The open data initiative covers only a limited part of the national government, but there are similar initiatives for many other parts of government.
      Supporting questions: Please briefly describe the scope of this initiative and indicate sources for this affirmation.
    • The open data initiative covers much of the national government, and there are similar initiatives in many sub-national areas.
      Supporting questions: Please briefly describe the scope of this initiative and indicate sources for this affirmation.
    • The open data initiatives covers much of both national and sub-national government.
      Supporting questions: Please briefly describe the scope of this initiative and indicate sources for this affirmation.

Promoting the reuse of public data is central to realizing the potential of data for the public good. Consequently, the Open Data Charter calls for countries making commitments to open data to establish delivery mechanisms that will translate such commitments into improved supplies of open data. However, because integrating open data practices can change the way that public institutions work, such efforts benefit from ongoing open data initiatives that provide leadership, resourcing, guidance, support, and infrastructure for government open data activities.

The Open Data Barometer included an indicator (ODB.2013.C.INIT) which asked: "To what extent is there an active and well-resourced open government data initiative in the country?" This indicator is designed to provide comparable data. It converts the guidance from the ODB's 0–10 scoring system to element checklist items that should yield similar scoring for similar situations.