Outline
Open data actions must be supported by senior officials.
Links to the Revised PSI Directive
Challenge
All open data actions need support at high level to be effective at overcoming those objections and, no less importantly, securing resources and refocusing priorities. When done correctly, the sponsor could also start advocating the actions him/herself.
Solution
Open data actions must be supported by senior officials who are empowered to provide top down authority where required.
Why is this a Best Practice?
Public sector bodies normally have their own procedures for securing high level support, such as ministerial support. However, such support is often most readily made public by the inclusion of an introduction to the document by the senior official. Written support in other formats (eg press releas, internal e-mail, social media, web page etc) could also be beneficial for your open data actions.
How do I implement this Best Practice?
To reach high level support for your open data action, you should:
- Understand, who's support do you mostly need? How broad is the action? Who are your main targets? Eg national government strategies will typically need ministerial support, ideally including the Head of Government him/herself. When you need to reach IT-specialist, a government/ministerial CIO is more suitable.
- Be very simple and clear in the message that you need from him/her. It's best that you have a fine draft ready for reviewing.
- Think of ways to reach him/her. It could be just as simple as a e-mail or could include several meetings with lower officials to convince them of this need
- Ask for permission to use his/her name in different media. Most probably you have to coordinate it with his/her communication experts.
- Have the name of the senior official supporting the open data action in question readily discoverable. You can also include a quote from him/her also in a press release, internal e-mail, social media, web page etc.
Where has this best practice been implemented?
This best practice has the following implementation examples:
- In Flanders, since 2011 Open Data and Shared Services have been at the center of the eGovernment strategy. The Open Data Programme was set up that realising that in a well-functioning, transparent and democratic society, citizens and business must be able to access government data and information and to share and reuse that information, freely and with minimal restrictions. The government decided on a top-down approach to implement the open data strategy. A concept note was drawn up and signed by all ministers.
- In Germany, successful open government needs broad political commitment at all levels of government due to its cross-level importance and the necessary cultural transformation of policy-making and administration. It will be especially important to find a powerful sponsor and further high-level supporters for the project who identify with the development of open government.
| Country | Implementation | Contact Point |
|---|---|---|
| Belgium | The Flemish Open Data Program | noel.vanherreweghe@bz.vlaanderen.be |
| Germany | Open Government Data Germany (EN, short version) | jens.klessmann@fokus.fraunhofer.de |
References
- The Flemish Open Data Program, Noël Van Herreweghe
Local Guidance
This Best Practice is cited by, or is consistent with, the advice given within the following guides:
- (Austria) Open-Government-Vorgehensmodell Open Government Process Model
- (Belgium) Open Data Handleiding Open Data Handbook
- (Croatia) Preporuke o prilagodbi skupova podataka za javnu objavu i ponovno korištenje Open Data Guide, Croatia
- (CzechRepublic) Standardy publikace a katalogizace otevřených dat veřejné správy ČR Open Data Standards
- (Estonia) Eesti avaliku teabe masinloetava avalikustamise roheline raamat Green Paper on machine-readable Estonian Public Information disclosure
- (Hungary) Nyílt Adatok kézikönyv Open Data Handbook
- (Lithuania) Viešojo Sektoriaus Informacijos platinimo gerosios praktikos Best Practices for Sharing Public Sector Information
- (Luxembourg) Recommandations pour l'ouverture des données publiques Recommendations for opening data
- (Malta) PSI Directive Implementation & Internal Data Sharing Platform (draft)
- (Serbia) Open Data Handbook
- (Slovenia) Priročnik za odpiranje podatkov javnega sektorja Manual for the opening of public sector information
- (Sweden) Ramverket för öppna data - SKL The Framework for Open Data
- (Sweden) Vidareutnyttjande av information Om PSI och öppna data Reuse of PSI and open data
- (UK) Open Data Resource Pack
Contact Info
Noël van Herreweghe, Program Manager Open Data – Government of Flanders in Belgium
Issue Tracker
Any matters arising from this BP, including implementation experience, lessons learnt, places where it has been implemented or guides that cite this BP can be recorded and discussed on the project's GitHub repository