Global Open Data Index: Survey
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The Global Open Data Index measures and benchmarks the openness of government data around the world, and then presents this information in a way that is easy to understand and use. Each year Open Knowledge International collaborates with the open data community to produce an annual ranking of countries, peer reviewed by our network of local open data experts. Launched in 2013, the first edition of the Index reviewed the state of open government data in 70 countries, with over 1,300 submissions and over 60 volunteer country editors analysing over 700 government data sets. It has only grown since, with 122 countries assessed in 2015. The Index focuses on 15 key datasets (see question below for a complete list) that are essential for transparency and accountability (such as election results and government spending data), and those vital for providing critical services to citizens (such as maps and water quality).
Each year, governments are making more data available in open formats. The Global Open Data Index tracks whether this data is actually released in a way that is accessible to citizens, media and civil society, and is unique in crowdsourcing its survey results of open data releases around the world. Crowdsourcing this data provides a tool for communities around the world to learn more about the open data available in their respective countries, and ensures that the results reflect the experience of civil society in finding open information, rather than accepting government claims of openness. It also ensures that those who actually collect and review the information that builds the Index are representative of the very people who use the data and are themselves in a strong position to advocate for more and higher quality open data.
The Global Open Data Index is also uniquely easy to read — anyone can read and understand the results. The Global Open Data Index is not only a benchmarking tool, it also plays a foundational role in sustaining the open government data community around the world. If, for example, the government of a country does publish a dataset, but this is not clear to the public and it cannot be found through a simple search, then the data can easily be overlooked. Governments and open data practitioners can review the Index results to locate the data, see how accessible the data appears to citizens, and, where improvements are necessary, advocate for making the data truly open. This increases its usefulness and broadens its impact.
An increasing number of governments have made commitments to open up their data. But it’s not clear that these commitments are actually being fulfilled. We want to know : How much data is actually being released? What kind of data is it, and in what format is it published? Which countries, regions and cities are the most advanced and which countries are lagging behind in terms of open data publication?
The Global Open Data Index allows people to compare the state of open data internationally. This encourages governments, local administrations, and citizens, media and civil society to work towards improving the quality and increasing the quantity of open data. Since the Global Open Data Index launched in 2013, a number of governments — including Russia, Indonesia, Germany and France — have used the Index as a yardstick for their progress (or lack thereof).
The Index also acts to establish global norms for open government data, and provides guidance to civil society and policy makers about where new opportunities may lie to advance the open government agenda.
The Open Definition stipulates that data is open if anyone is free to access, use, modify, and share it — subject, at most, to measures that preserve provenance and openness. Read the full text of the Open Definition.
Each dataset in each place is evaluated using a set of questions that examine the openness of the datasets based to the open definition and the Open Data Charter. In 2016, we introduced the new survey of the Global Open Data Index (GODI). The new scoring follows two major ideas: We assume that each question of our survey measures a crucial characteristic of either the legal, technical and practical ‘openness’ of data. Our scoring follows an assessment of the weighting (see below) in which we describe why a question is important for open data and how a scoring can reflects this importance. We also explain cases why we should not score a question. With this approach we aim to reduce the potential bias towards single aspects of openness. _The new scoring gives in total 40 points to open licences/public domain status and machine readable and open file formats. These technical and legal aspects of openness are the core of the Open Definition 2.1 and we seek maintaining a strong emphasis on them. _ However, aspects like timely publication, data availability and accessibility are equally important to access and use open data. Questions around data accessibility receive a score of in total 60 points._ For more information on the questions and their respective score, please see the methodology section.
We want to understand how civil society is able to find open data in each country. We are looking at a range of datasets that cut across interests and activities and there is no reason to assume one person is well placed to assess all of them. By working with a broad group of contributors, those people in each country most interested in a particular dataset can contribute their expertise and knowledge, raising the overall quality of the Global Open Data Index and creating a valuable resource that is useful for activists and journalists seeking out datasets as well. Open is built by the power of global community everywhere. We are building on our strengths.
More generally, the Global Open Data Index is a powerful tool to raise awareness of open data with new groups, and to build capacity and understanding. Getting involved in contributing to the Index in your country is a great way to start out in open data.
Good question! In fact, if you want a city based or even a regional local Index, you can build it. We encourage you to request a city Index for your area. Learn more about this here. We have had a huge amount of interest in this work and encourage your engagement on the local level as well. Or, feel free to suggest this with your local networks, and see if you can team up with other city censuses to work on these together. If you’re ready to start up a city census in your area you can get started here.
The Global Open Data Index was initiated by Open Knowledge International in 2013. It is maintained, coordinated and hosted by Open Knowledge and with contributions from many members of the wider community around the globe. Join the discussions through the Open Data Index forum . It is supported by The Open Data for Development and the Hewlett Foundation.
There are 15 datasets included in the Global Open Data Index. We have aimed to keep datasets simple, clear and easy to understand, and as applicable as possible to most countries worldwide. We encourage your participation in debates around dataset definitions and refinements. Government budget Government spending Government Procurement Election results Company register National map National statistics National Laws _Draft Legislation _ _Postcodes _ _Administrative Boundaries _ Emissions of pollutants Water quality Land ownership Weather forecast
For more details on these datasets, please see our methodology section.
This page shows the most recent submissions to and activity on the Index. Check here to follow the progress of this year’s survey.
The information in the Index is collected by open data enthusiasts and experts around the world. The Index data undergoes a process of expert review before being published, to ensure high quality results. For more information, please see the methodology section..
Right now we're focused on the 2016 Index and so the information live on the site is revolves around it but you can find the results of the 2013, 2014 and 2015 Indexes at www.global.survey.okfn.org
Once a year we open the Index for a contribution period of a month. Experienced practitioners and experts from around our network get approached and asked to make contributions for their country. You can make a submission in the Global Open Data Index by going to global.survey.okfn.org, where the submission is queued up for review. These will remain queued up for the full duration of the sprints.
After the contribution period, expert reviewers will go in and review all submissions and push the correct ones to the Census league table.The final, reviewed results will be transferred to the non-editable Global Open Data Index and press release will be produced.
For more details, please refer to methodology section.
If you've got information about a dataset that isn't in the Index yet you can add it! Anyone can submit new information to the Index by following these steps:
Select your country in the list and click on it. You are now on the Country overview page for that country Click the blue “Submit Information" button on the right next to the appropriate dataset category. _Login to the system by using your Gmail or Facebook account. _ Fill the form based on the dataset you have found (there are detailed instructions on the page). Click Submit. Your submission is now waiting for review, and will be visible in the table as 'awaiting review' after a few minutes.
Please see further details in the Index tutorial.
One a submission has been made, no other submission can be added to that dataset until it will be reviewed. However, you can comment on a submission that is awaiting review and flag important information to the reviewer.
Please see further details, including more information about contributing and commenting on each particular dataset, in the tutorial.
It’s easy to make a contribution to the Index! Learn how to get started in the tutorial. This year’s contribution period opens on November 10th, 2016 and close on December 10th, 2016. We would love for you to be involved. Follow #GODI6 on Twitter for more updates.
Join the discussion on the Open Data Index forum
There are lots of people who can help on the forum and there are no silly questions, so we encourage you to post there.