Outline
Developing and implementing a strategy on open data that coordinates the efforts of multiple agencies.
Links to the Revised PSI Directive
Challenge
Different agencies in the public sector develop and implement their own strategy. These different strategies are unconnected so it is hard to apply central planning and evaluation.
Solution
There needs to be a strategy that coordinates the efforts of multiple agencies.
Why is this a Best Practice?
This best practice allows different agencies to understand what is required, plan accordingly and measure progress. Having a strategic plan is essential for decision makers at the highest level, i.e. ministers, to support an approach to implementation. Both the G8 Open Data Charter, published in 2013, and the Shakespeare Review of Public Sector Information, emphasised the need for a clear, visible, auditable plan for publishing data as quickly as possible, defined both by bottom-up market demand and by top-down strategic thinking, overcoming institutional and technical obstacles with a twin-track process which combines speed to market with improvement of quality:
- an ‘early even if imperfect’ track that is very broad and very aggressively driven; and,
- a ‘National Core Reference Data’ high-quality track which begins immediately but narrowly;
and then moving things from Track 1 to Track 2 as quickly as we can do reliably and to a high standard. ‘Quickly’ should be set out by government through publicly committed target dates.
How do I implement this Best Practice?
- Give responsibility to an individual civil servant or department for developing the plan.
- Convene a meeting, or a series of meetings, between stakeholders - data producers, data users etc.
- Develop the plan through an iterative process before seeking high level endorsement.
Where has this best practice been implemented?
| Country | Implementation | Contact Point |
|---|---|---|
| Flanders, Belgium | The Flemish Innovation Projects | Noël van Herreweghe, Program Manager Open Data – Government of Flanders in Belgium |
References
- Samos Workshop Talk: The Flemish Innovation Projects - promoting innovation through encouraging the use and re-use of government datasets
- Open Data Institute guidance: How to plan and budget an open data initiative
- Open Data Institute white paper: Open data in government, how to bring about change
- Open Data Institute method report: Supporting public sector open data leadership
- Open Data Institute technical paper: The Open Data Maturity Model and Pathway
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