The document discusses open government data and the Open Knowledge Foundation. It provides an overview of the Open Knowledge Foundation, which promotes open data and builds tools to publish and use open data. It describes some of the Foundation's projects, such as hosting open data camps and competitions, developing open data portals and visualization tools, setting open data standards, and providing open data training. It also discusses how to design an open data strategy and the importance of open data for government transparency and accountability.

1. Next Stage in Open
Government Data: Using
Data for Transparency,
Accountability and
Collaboration
Cape Town, October 10-12, 2012
Next Stage in Open Government Data: Using Data for
Transparency, Accountability and Collaboration. Workshop,
Cape Town, October 2012

2. About me
Daniel Dietrich
Background in Computer Science & Media Science in
Frankfurt & Berlin, Germany
Working for the Open Knowledge Foundation since 2009
Author of several studies and reports on Open
Government, Open Data, Transparency and Participation
Next Stage in Open Government Data: Using Data for
Transparency, Accountability and Collaboration. Workshop,
Cape Town, October 2012

3. Open Knowledge Foundation
A not-for-profit organisation
promoting openness in all its forms.
"From sonnets to statistics, genes to geo-data”
We build tools and communities to create, use and
share open knowledge - content and data that everyone
can use, share and build on.
Next Stage in Open Government Data: Using Data for
Transparency, Accountability and Collaboration. Workshop,
Cape Town, October 2012

4. A Global Network
Chapters: UK, Germany, Austria, Belgium and Switzerland
Incubating Chapters: Finland, Brazil, Czech Republic, Italy,
Greece, Australia, Netherlands, India, South Africa, Bosnia
and ...
Next Stage in Open Government Data: Using Data for
Transparency, Accountability and Collaboration. Workshop,
Cape Town, October 2012

5. We build communities
450+ participants
40 countries
www.ogdcamp.org
Next Stage in Open Government Data: Using Data for
Transparency, Accountability and Collaboration. Workshop,
Cape Town, October 2012

6. We run open data competitions
20k in prizes for apps, ideas, data
430 entries from
24 EU Member States
www.opendatachallenge.org
Next Stage in Open Government Data: Using Data for
Transparency, Accountability and Collaboration. Workshop,
Cape Town, October 2012

7. Tools to publish data
CKAN is an open source data portal
software that makes it easy to publish,
share and find data.
CKAN features dozens of governments' data portals
including United Kingdom, Brazil, Finland, Norway and ...
www.ckan.org
Next Stage in Open Government Data: Using Data for
Transparency, Accountability and Collaboration. Workshop,
Cape Town, October 2012

8. Tools for data visualisation
Open Spending is an open source
software to make budget and
spending data more transparent.
Open Spending features dozens of governments'
spending data including United Kingdom, Brazil, Kenya,
Germany, and ...
www.openspending.org
Next Stage in Open Government Data: Using Data for
Transparency, Accountability and Collaboration. Workshop,
Cape Town, October 2012

9. Setting standards
www.opendefinition.org
Next Stage in Open Government Data: Using Data for
Transparency, Accountability and Collaboration. Workshop,
Cape Town, October 2012

10. Promoting open data
Next Stage in Open Government Data: Using Data for
Transparency, Accountability and Collaboration. Workshop,
Cape Town, October 2012

11. Guidelines
www.opendatahandbook.org
Next Stage in Open Government Data: Using Data for
Transparency, Accountability and Collaboration. Workshop,
Cape Town, October 2012

12. Training
www.schoolofdata.org
Next Stage in Open Government Data: Using Data for
Transparency, Accountability and Collaboration. Workshop,
Cape Town, October 2012

13. Open Government Data
Toolkit
Next Stage in Open Government Data: Using Data for
Transparency, Accountability and Collaboration. Workshop,
Cape Town, October 2012

14. About the Toolkit
The Open Government Data Toolkit is a user-friendly
guide for policy-makers in order to know:
 What OGD is
 Why it is important for citizen engagement
 How to create, implement, and monitor OGD initiatives
 How to enable a sustainable open data ecosystem
Next Stage in Open Government Data: Using Data for
Transparency, Accountability and Collaboration. Workshop,
Cape Town, October 2012

15. What is OGD?
Data is not a means in itself - it needs to be used to
create value. For data to be reusable it needs to be
technically and legally open.
“A piece of content or data is open if anyone is free to
use, reuse, and redistribute it for any purpose - without
any restrictions”
www.opendefinition.org
Next Stage in Open Government Data: Using Data for
Transparency, Accountability and Collaboration. Workshop,
Cape Town, October 2012

16. Why OGD matters?
 supports citizens to hold government to account, which
can reduce corruption and mismanagement.
 supports citizens to better understand why and how
decisions are made, which can help rebuild trust.
 supports citizens to make informed decisions and
engage with the government, thus playing an active
role in society.
 supports government and public administration to
make better decisions and thus to increase efficiency
and effectiveness.
 supports governments, citizens, academia and the
private sector to work together and collaboratively find
Next Stage in Open Government Data: Using Data for
better solutions.
Transparency, Accountability and Collaboration. Workshop,
Cape Town, October 2012

17. Realistic expectations
 OGD is not a magic panacea!
 While OGD holds tremendous potential for citizens’
engagement, innovations and government transparency
and accountability, expectations need to be managed
properly and realistically.
Next Stage in Open Government Data: Using Data for
Transparency, Accountability and Collaboration. Workshop,
Cape Town, October 2012

18. From e-gov to we-gov!
Next Stage in Open Government Data: Using Data for
Transparency, Accountability and Collaboration. Workshop,
Cape Town, October 2012

19. Whats needed?
"It has to start at the top, in the middle, and at the
bottom", as Tim Berners-Lee observed in an interview.
 Top-level political commitment
 An engaged and well-resourced "middle layer" of
skilled government bureaucrats; and
 Bottom up: Civil society, and in particular a small and
motivated group of "civic hackers"
Next Stage in Open Government Data: Using Data for
Transparency, Accountability and Collaboration. Workshop,
Cape Town, October 2012

20. Designing an OGD Strategy
Step 1: Identify stakeholders and communicate with
others
Step 2: Evaluate OGD readiness
Step 3: Set goals and objectives
Step 4: Set performance indicators
Next Stage in Open Government Data: Using Data for
Transparency, Accountability and Collaboration. Workshop,
Cape Town, October 2012

21. Step 1: Stakeholders and
Partners
 Stakeholders can include: citizens, government
agencies, private-sector companies, community-based
organizations, etc.
– Important to get stakeholders involved quickly in the process
to increase acceptance
 Open Government Partnership (OGP): a multilateral
initiative that promotes opening data and its use
– Available for consulting and support
Next Stage in Open Government Data: Using Data for
Transparency, Accountability and Collaboration. Workshop,
Cape Town, October 2012

22. Step 2: OGD Readiness
 Political Commitment
 Capacity of Private Sector
 Capacity of civil society, media, etc.
 Legislative and Regulatory Framework
 Institutional and Organizational Framework
 Cultural and Human Resources Conditions
 Financial Conditions
 Technological Infrastructure
 Data and Information Systems
 Legal and Technical Openness of Data
Next Stage in Open Government Data: Using Data for
Transparency, Accountability and Collaboration. Workshop,
Cape Town, October 2012

23. Step 3: Goals and Objectives
 Set a vision and strategic goals to help reach this vision
 Remember to be realistic in your goals and prioritize
what is most important for your country
Next Stage in Open Government Data: Using Data for
Transparency, Accountability and Collaboration. Workshop,
Cape Town, October 2012

24. Step 4: Performance Indicators
 Quantitative and qualitative indicators of whether or
not your goals are being achieved
Next Stage in Open Government Data: Using Data for
Transparency, Accountability and Collaboration. Workshop,
Cape Town, October 2012

25. Implementation, Monitoring &
Evaluation
 An action plan must be SMART!
– Specific
– Measurable
– Actionable
– Relevant
– Time-bound
 Set indicators and when they should be achieved
– Include feedback from stakeholders
Next Stage in Open Government Data: Using Data for
Transparency, Accountability and Collaboration. Workshop,
Cape Town, October 2012

26. Opening Data
 Legal Openness
– Is the data in a public domain? Can it be re-used without
restrictions?
 Technical Openness
– Is the data available in standard machine-readable formats?
 Relevance
– What kind of data is most useful to the public? Is this data
available?
Next Stage in Open Government Data: Using Data for
Transparency, Accountability and Collaboration. Workshop,
Cape Town, October 2012

27. What data to start with?
 Start with low-hanging-fruits
– Those datasets that are already available in machine-
processable formats. Data that can be easily be published for
reuse.
 Start with data that really matters
– Election Results, Company Register, National Map, Detailed
Government Budget and Spending data, Legislation like laws
and statutes, Parliamentary protocols and documents, National
Statistical Office Data, National Postcode/ZIP database, Public
Transport Timetables, Environmental Data on major sources of
pollutants
– publicly available in: digital form, machine-readable, free of
Next Stage in Open openly licensed Data for
charge, Government Data: Using
–
Transparency, Accountability and Collaboration. Workshop,
Cape Town, October 2012

28. The OGD census
census.opengovernmentdata.o
rg
Next Stage in Open Government Data: Using Data for
Transparency, Accountability and Collaboration. Workshop,
Cape Town, October 2012

29. Promoting OGD
 Ways to sustain the OGD ecosystem
– Hold conferences, workshops, and trainings
– Community engagement
– Capacity building
– Apps competitions
Next Stage in Open Government Data: Using Data for
Transparency, Accountability and Collaboration. Workshop,
Cape Town, October 2012

30. Oh no - thats complicated!
Implementing Open Government Data tools and
infrastructure don’t have to be complicated and
expensive.
 Keep it simple!
 Avoid 5-year plans and multi-million $ solutions
 Allow for iterating process and experiment
Next Stage in Open Government Data: Using Data for
Transparency, Accountability and Collaboration. Workshop,
Cape Town, October 2012

31. What should Governments
do?
Next Stage in Open Government Data: Using Data for
Transparency, Accountability and Collaboration. Workshop,
Cape Town, October 2012

32. Understanding the cultural
change
 Open Government is NOT mainly about better public
service delivery
 Open Government is about citizen engagement,
government transparency and accountability
Next Stage in Open Government Data: Using Data for
Transparency, Accountability and Collaboration. Workshop,
Cape Town, October 2012

33. Focus in OGP action plans?
 'Open Data' and 'E-Government' are the most popular
commitments across the Partnership
 Commitments to legislative reforms such as freedom of
information or measures on anti-corruption are
underrepresented
 Why is this?
Next Stage in Open Government Data: Using Data for
Transparency, Accountability and Collaboration. Workshop,
Cape Town, October 2012

34. Legislate, don’t innovate!
 Governments should focus on serious legislative
reform, and engage with citizens and NOT on creating
shiny-web-interfaces!
 Governments should set up a supporting environment
for OGD.
 Government should publish data & become a
platform for others to build value added services upon.
Next Stage in Open Government Data: Using Data for
Transparency, Accountability and Collaboration. Workshop,
Cape Town, October 2012

35. Why interoperability matters
Tim O’Reilly encourages Governments to embrace open
standards and open source technology to build
lightweight web applications.
Many high quality, ready-to-use open source solutions
out there.
Next Stage in Open Government Data: Using Data for
Transparency, Accountability and Collaboration. Workshop,
Cape Town, October 2012

36. Civic Services
Some of the best public services today are not build by
Governments but by civil society and private companies.
Examples being ‘fix my street’ by MySociety. Tomorrow
most of such services will have to go mobile. Do we really
think governments should build all this?
I think we better not!
Next Stage in Open Government Data: Using Data for
Transparency, Accountability and Collaboration. Workshop,
Cape Town, October 2012

37. Thank you!
Open Knowledge Foundation
ww.okfn.org | @okfn
Daniel Dietrich
daniel.dietrich@okfn.org
www.ddie.me | @ddie
Next Stage in Open Government Data: Using Data for
Transparency, Accountability and Collaboration. Workshop,
Cape Town, October 2012