The study examined how sharing governance information online through the Philippines' Full Disclosure Policy has impacted local governments and how the information has been used. The researchers analyzed province websites for compliance and interviewed officials and citizens. They found that while provinces shared timely information, it was not in open formats. Only some data could be published as open datasets if standards were established. Most citizens were unaware of online information and interested in different data, and had difficulties using data due to skills gaps.

1. What we were interested in…
In 2011, the Department of Interior and Local Government of the Philippines mandated the implementation of
the Full Disclosure Policy (FDP) that requires local government units to post financial and procurement-
related information on their websites. Using a case study approach, this research looked at how the sharing
of governance information online has impacted on local government systems, and how the information and
data has been accessed and used by civil society representatives and intermediary groups.
What we did..
In our case study we focussed on three provinces that were
ranked as the best governed in 2011. In each of the provinces, we
conducted a secondary data review and content analysis of
websites to determine “openness” and compliance with the FDP
policy. Focus group discussions were then conducted with
government officials and civil society representatives to determine
changes brought about by the FDP governance information
sharing mechanism and increased access to data and information.
What we found out….
What the implications of these findings are…
1. In opening up data to the public it is important to consider the intended
audience of the open data initiative, and what sorts of information they
want to have access to as open data sets.
2. Data owners in government should be educated that publishing data in
machine-readable format for re-use does not change or threaten the
integrity of the original documents. They need real incentives for open data
publication.
3. Conversion of open datasets into forms that are useful for policy, advocacy,
or education work needs infomediaries who are capable of converting data
to information and making it useful for citizens.
4. Open data initiatives should promote offline citizen use and engagement
www.opendataresearch.org | www.lguopendata.ph
Step Up Consulting Services
http://www.steupconsultants.com
Michael Cañares, Marijoe Narca, Joseph de Guia, and Jare Arawiran
Corresponding author: mikocanares@steupconsultants.com
The funding for this work has been provided through the World Wide Web Foundation 'Exploring the Emerging Impacts of Open Data in
Developing Countries' research project, supported by grant 107075 from Canada’s International Development Research Centre (web.idrc.ca).
Find out more at www.opendataresearch.org/emergingimpacts
This
work
is
licensed
under
a
Crea2ve
Commons
A6ribu2on
4.0
Interna2onal
License.
Opening the Gates: Will Open Data Initiatives Make Local
Governments in the Philippines More Transparent?
On the Supply Side On the Demand Side
• All provinces share timely,
easy to use, & useful
information but not in machine-
readable formats.
• Two of the three provinces
provide more information than
what is required by FDP.
• Data could be published as
open datasets if requirements &
standards for this were
established.
• The majority of citizen groups
are not aware that local
governance information is
available online.
• Most citizen groups are
interested in data different from
that which the FDP requires.
• There is difficulty for citizen
groups to use the data because
of skill gaps for data use and
analysis.
Openness
Criteria
3
Provinces
1.
Does
the
data
exist?
Y
2.
Is
it
available
online
in
digital
form?
Y
3.
Is
the
data
machine
readable?
N
4.
Is
the
data
available
in
bulk?
N
5.
Is
the
dataset
available
free
of
charge?
Y
6.
Is
the
data
openly
licensed?
N
7.
Is
the
data
up-­‐to-­‐date?
Y
8.
Is
the
publicaJon
of
the
dataset
sustainable?
N
9.
Was
it
easy
to
find
informaJon
on
the
dataset?
Y
10.
Are
linked
data
URIs
provided?
N
15%
85%
Citizens
Awareness and
Access
Aware/Able to access
Not Aware/Not Able to
Access