IfG.CC - The Potsdam eGovernment Competence Center

Revolution - that is the word people in open data use to describe their work’s potential. But what would the open data utopia actually look like?

One immediate point is that it need never look like very much to saturate our lives. Most people may never realise they are using open data. As Enrique Zapata, Mexico’s Deputy Director General of Open Data, put it, ‘Most people don’t know how electricity works. You walk into your house, you flick the switch and - magic - you have TV, you have your computer, you have everything. Data is the same. You don’t have to understand how it works, but you have to understand that it’s there and that you’re using it every day and that it’s ubiquitous in our daily lives.’

A new report ranks top G8 nations based on their signed agreement for open data success.

In June 2013, the G8 nations signed an agreement to support open data, and those nations have since been rated on their follow-up efforts -- with the United Kingdom taking the top spot, and Canada and the U.S. tied for second.

The City of Casey has launched an Open Data Platform to provide easy access to a range of data about the municipality.

The platform allows data to be presented in an easy to use and view format, making it more accessible for the community and businesses to conduct research, make evidence-based decisions, create new localised business strategies or gain knowledge and understanding of social, economic, and environmental trends.

Study partnership announced by Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

The Australian Government will launch a “comprehensive” survey to assess which datasets are most valuable to businesses and researchers, Malcolm Turnbull, Australian Communications Minister has announced this week.

In partnership with New York University’s GovLab, the federal government will look at organisations that use public datasets “to generate new business, develop new products and services or create social value,” he said.

Edmonton's open data plans and policies can set an example for other cities looking to bring more citizens into the "civic rink."

Edmonton, Alberta, is proudly referred to by its residents and admirers as the “City of Champions,” likely due to the Oilers’ hockey dominance between 1984 and 1990, when that storied team raised the Stanley Cup five times.

The European Commission has launched a quality-assured beta version of the European Data Portal, with more than 240,000 datasets, at the European Data Forum. An international consortium, which is led by Capgemini and of which con terra is a member, is responsible for the implementation.

The European Data Portal (www.europeandataportal.eu) enables fast and simple searching of open data from 34 European countries and supports their systematic onward use. Open data comprises information gathered, generated or purchased by public institutions that may be used, modified and shared freely by anyone. A recently published study by Capgemini Consulting estimates the immediate market volume for open data within Europe over the next five years at 325 billion euros. The European Commission aims to use the European Data Portal to simplify access to this data, in order to more successfully tap into its enormous economic potential. However, state administrations, research institutes and the general public also stand to benefit from open data, thanks to the optimised administrative processes, increased transparency and improved possibilities for participation associated with it.

India’s Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) has announced its policy of adopting open source software for e-governance facilities. This new implementation is aimed at giving the administration financial and strategic benefits.

The policy is effective for all Central Government organizations and also State Governments willing to adopt it. The policy will apply to all new e-governance projects and fresher versions of the existing systems that are being developed. Under this declaration, it is mandatory for software suppliers to provide information for the use of both open source software (OSS) and closed source software (CSS). And they should also validate wherever necessary, the requirement of CSS over OSS.

Government data can only remain useful within government, unless there is public participation in government decisions, the Philippines has said. This is why the Philippines open data team not only works closely with civil servants - who release the data - but also with citizens, the civil society and media, the beneficiaries of open data.

The need to have accurate data for holistic city development strategy was stressed upon at the Open Data Day organized by the Kohima Smart City Development Limited (KSCDL) here today.

Open Data Day is part of Open Data Week under the aegis of the Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs (MoHUA), Government of India, across 100 smart cities in the country from January 17 to 21 as part of the year-long celebration of ‘Azad Ka Amrit Mahotsav’ to commemorate 75 years of India’s independence to promote the use of open data for urban governance and delivery system.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs is launching an Open Data Week, which will see 100 of the country’s smart cities publishing high quality datasets and data blogs on an open portal.

India has launched an Open Data Week (17-21 January 2022) to encourage adoption of open data and promote innovation across India’s urban ecosystem.

Open Data — data that is freely available online for anyone to use and republish for any purpose — is becoming increasingly important in today’s development agenda driven by the Data Revolution, which has been recognized worldwide as the key engine for achieving the post-2015 UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Data is probably one of the most valuable and least-utilized assets of modern governments. In that context, Open Data is being widely recognized as a resource with high economic and social value and as an effective approach for smarter data management.

“This [open data] would boost cumulative G20 GDP by around 1.1 percentage points of the 2% growth target over five years,” the report Open for Business, by Lateral Economics and commissioned by Omidyar Network, said.

ITU News talks to Mateusz Morawiecki, Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland.

Q: What is your vision for Poland’s digital future at the European level and beyond?

Poland is already among Europe’s fastest-developing countries and is rapidly bridging the digital divide.

Increased availability of e-services via our governmental portal (gov.pl) helped Polish citizens get through the time of isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, we have continued digitalizing more public services, making them accessible for all, especially for people with disabilities.

Using Wi-Fi hotspots to gauge crowd patterns on train platforms.

Singapore is prioritising open data, care for the elderly and improving transportation in its Smart Nation plan to use technology to improve services, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said.

Singapore has an ageing population and the Prime Minister has made care for the elderly a priority for the Smart Nation agenda. The city plans to “integrate sensors, apps, remote monitoring to help our seniors age in place”, the Prime Minister said. Already one person in every nine is age 65 and above, and by 2030, one person in five will be 65 and above. “Technology can help them to live independently in their own communities with their own support networks”, he said.

Open data a part of plan to become a digital economy.

Thailand’s ICT Ministry will propose to the Parliament that free access to government data be made a constitutional right of citizens, a senior official said.

The ministry plans to submit the proposal within a month, said Sak Segkhoonthod, Chief Executive of the ministry’s E-Government Agency.

Gospodarstvo published data on the water quality in the reservoirs of Ukraine. About this first Deputy head of the state Agency for e-governance Alex Wiskup reported on his page in the network Facebook.

“Almost 80% of Ukraine’s population are supplied with drinking water from surface sources, among them nearly 75% — from the Dnieper. That is why it is important for citizens to understand what is the quality of the surface waters near their homes, work places”, — said Viskup.

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, TRA, in collaboration with the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, UNDESA, and the Open Data Institute, ODI, is organising a workshop to introduce global trends and best practices in e-participation and open data.

The workshop will be held on Tuesday, 19th September, 2017, in Dubai. It will be hosted by Richard Kerby, the Inter-Regional Advisor in UNDESA e-government, and a number of experts, leaders of smart transformation in government entities, managers of corporate communication departments, e-participation and smart data officials, and several stakeholders.

Government thinks open data is an add-on that boosts transparency, but it’s more than that.

Most open data portals don’t look like labors of love. They look like abandoned last-minute science fair projects, pie charts sagging because someone didn’t use enough glue stick. The current open data movement is more than a decade old, but some are still asking why they should even bother.

Antiquated and outdated are words I hear too often when someone describes the federal government’s approach to information technology — or the corresponding laws and policies governing its implementation. During my nearly 27 years of public service, it was clear that the government’s response to new technology was often delayed by the challenges of reconciling new technology with existing law. Many laws today, including the Electronic Communications and Privacy Act, are decades out of date and do not address the use of cloud computing and mobile devices. Without new legislation, such as the Law Enforcement Access to Data Stored Abroad Act, the U.S. is at risk of falling behind in its approach to privacy, jeopardizing its position as a leader in the digital age.

The opportunities and benefits afforded by these innovations are endless, but they will be minimized, even detrimental, without policy action in Congress to safeguard individual privacy. Moreover, the recent Safe Harbor announcement underscores the need for greater clarity to protect citizen privacy and the economy at large.

It follows launch of the City Manager’s Performance Dashboard one year ago that displays more than 130 key metrics to provide a holistic view of its operations.

The City of Phoenix has announced it is seeking feedback from those who live and work in the city to help enhance its performance dashboard platform and help advancement of open data.