Opening and Sustaining Government Data | IGF 2023 Networking Session #86

Audience

In Kuwait, the importance of open data governance and sustainability is highlighted through the efforts of an Automated Systems Company. This company focuses on governing and sustaining open data to government entities. The emphasis is on ensuring that open data is effectively managed and utilized by government bodies in Kuwait, promoting transparency and accountability.

Similarly, in Sri Lanka, the government is actively working on various personal data collection initiatives. It recognizes the need for data governance models to ensure that personal data is collected and managed in a responsible and secure manner. The aim is to strike a balance between utilizing personal data for development and innovation while protecting individual privacy rights.

Advocacy for open data is taking place in the Maldives, where Women in Tech Maldives is playing a significant role. This advocacy seeks to enhance transparency and public access to government data. By promoting open data, the Maldives aims to foster innovation, drive economic growth, and encourage evidence-based decision-making.

In terms of research, a researcher from the University of Melbourne is studying the political implications of open government data. This research aims to understand how data governance practices can influence political processes and decision-making. By investigating the relationship between open government data and politics, insights can be gained on how to effectively utilize data for democratic governance.

Data management is a crucial aspect of government operations, and the National Centre for Information Technology in the Maldives is responsible for managing government data. Proper organization, storage, and sharing of government data are necessary to ensure effective decision-making and efficient public service delivery. However, it is noted that within the same entity, government departments often do not share data, highlighting the need for improved coordination and collaboration.

The COVID-19 pandemic has showcased the importance of open data in crisis response. Indian and South Korean models of open data were successful in the pandemic as they allowed governments to track people and manage emergencies effectively. However, it is argued that open data initiatives should be tailored to align with each country’s specific goals and agenda, rather than imitating models from elsewhere. Contextual factors such as security concerns need to be carefully considered.

The issue of data quality is raised in India, where a research case highlighted the problem of inadequate data details despite data being open and machine-readable. This led to wastage of public resources. The research emphasizes that quality standards and ethics must precede open data initiatives to ensure the accuracy and usefulness of the data being made available.

At the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), the balance between different themes such as freedom of expression, freedom of information, security, and privacy is discussed. It is recognized that different countries may have varying definitions and understanding of personally identifiable information. The need to find a balance between these themes to foster a supportive and inclusive digital environment is emphasized.

It is important to note that open data initiatives should be adaptable to changing governments. What may be acceptable and appropriate in one government may change with a change in leadership. Governments should be cautious and considerate of potential shifts in data access and use as political circumstances change.

Efficient government data management and transparency are key to effective governance. Top management must have access to timely and accurate data to make informed decisions. However, it is acknowledged that there may be challenges in accessing data within middle and lower levels of government, highlighting the need for improved transparency and data sharing within government structures.

Opening up data brings both opportunities and risks. It may lead to increased transparency, community engagement, and proactive governance. However, organizations may also be reluctant to share data due to concerns about damaging their reputation. Finding the right balance between openness and risk management is crucial.

A top-down approach to instigate open data is advocated. Bureaucrats may be occupied with daily work and not prioritize publishing information. The onus is on top leadership to recognize the importance of data and foster a culture of openness within government agencies.

Lastly, a noteworthy observation is that more open data can reduce the need for individual information requests. In Sri Lanka, the Right to Information Act permits individuals to request information, but opening up data sets can provide access to information without the need for individual requests. This can streamline the process and enhance government transparency.

In conclusion, the importance of open data governance and sustainability is underscored by various initiatives and research efforts across different countries. Proper data governance models, data quality standards, and ethical considerations are essential for effective utilization of open data. The balance between different themes such as freedom of expression, security, and privacy must be carefully managed. Governments, researchers, and advocacy groups all play a vital role in promoting open data and driving transparent and accountable governance.

Kait Holm

The development of the Open Data Portal ‘Bayanet’ in the UAE was a collaborative effort between the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA). The project involved various essential steps, including identifying and exploring data, cleaning and converting it, ensuring its quality, and sustaining it in the long term.

One of the significant challenges faced during the project was the inconsistency in how data was documented, making it difficult to consolidate and analyze effectively. Moreover, there was a disparity in the units used across data from different Emirates, further complicating the process of integrating and comparing data.

Another notable challenge was the need to convert data between Arabic and English. This language barrier required meticulous translation and interpretation to ensure accurate and consistent data. To address these challenges, the project enlisted the support of two data auditors, a language editor, and Kait, who examined each dataset meticulously to ensure its quality.

Furthermore, a Hackathon for Happiness was conducted, demonstrating the significance of the data and its potential applications. This event served as a platform to encourage engagement and collaboration, highlighting the importance of open data in driving innovation and societal well-being.

To sustain the value and relevance of the data, continual updates and maintenance were emphasized. Trainings were conducted to educate ministries on how to consistently update their data, ensuring its accuracy and timeliness. This effort led to the creation of Bayanet AI, an artificial intelligence system trained using the initial data published. This innovation facilitates efficient data analysis and enables users to benefit from the insights gained through the Open Data Portal.

In conclusion, the development of the Open Data Portal ‘Bayanet’ in the UAE involved a comprehensive process of finding, exploring, cleaning, converting, and ensuring the quality of the data. Overcoming challenges such as inconsistent documentation, unit disparity, and language barriers was vital to achieving the project’s goals. The emphasis on continual updates and the creation of Bayanet AI reflect the importance of sustaining open data to maintain its value and relevance. The successful implementation of this project highlights the UAE’s commitment to fostering innovation, promoting transparency, and harnessing the potential of open data for societal development.

Winnie Kamau

During the Zoom meeting, Kat requests that all participants introduce themselves in the chat to facilitate communication and acquaintanceship. This act of self-introduction is meant to encourage interaction and connection among attendees. Additionally, Kat wants to personally introduce the individuals present in the room.

By encouraging participants to introduce themselves in the chat, Kat provides an opportunity for them to share their background, expertise, or other important information with the group. This helps create a sense of community and camaraderie among the participants.

Kat’s intention to introduce those present in the room emphasizes the importance of acknowledging and including everyone, regardless of their location. This inclusive approach fosters a welcoming environment and ensures that every participant feels valued.

Overall, Kat’s request for introductions in the chat and the intention to introduce individuals in the room reflects a commitment to promoting open communication, collaboration, and unity within the Zoom meeting. By creating opportunities for participants to connect and get to know one another, Kat cultivates an atmosphere that encourages productive discussions and meaningful interactions.

Kat Townsend

The analysis highlights the importance of open data governance and transparency, with a focus on various key points. Firstly, Katherine Townsend, who has eight years of experience in the US federal government, currently works with Open Data Collaboratives and advocates for open data and government transparency. Her expertise in governmental advisory roles makes her a valuable asset in promoting open data initiatives. Additionally, Katherine has advised governments in countries such as Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, and the UAE, indicating her broad experience in the field.

Partnership between internal and external actors emerges as the most effective strategy for open data governance and sustainability. By working together, these actors can pool their resources, knowledge, and expertise to ensure the successful implementation and maintenance of open data initiatives.

Developing a culture of openness and providing training for both government officials and the public is crucial for fostering data governance. It is important to educate civil servants and individuals outside the government about the benefits of open data, as well as the social impact of their work. By doing so, a deeper understanding of data handling and the potential advantages of open data can be fostered.

To garner government support for open data policies, it is recommended to build a prototype that demonstrates the benefits of opening up a non-controversial dataset. This can help showcase the potential advantages and convince other government officials to get on board with open data initiatives.

Public announcement of open data initiatives plays a significant role in engaging public support and sustaining it. When open data is published, efforts should be made to rally public support through effective communication campaigns. This ensures that the public is aware of the initiatives and can actively participate in utilizing the data for various purposes.

Open data should be both technically and legally open, allowing for its reuse and redistribution. This means that the data should be easily accessible in a machine-readable format and should not be subject to restrictive usage or redistribution policies. The concept of open data encompasses the ability to use, reuse, and widely redistribute the data.

Efficient distribution and usage of open data are crucial for its economic and social benefits. It is necessary to convince governments and agencies to open up their data so that it can be effectively utilized. The analysis suggests that organizing events like hackathons can demonstrate the need for open data and its potential applications, further supporting the argument for its distribution.

Striking a balance between freedom of information and privacy and security is essential in open data policies. There are contextual differences in what is considered personally identifiable information, and a change in government can lead to a change in the perception of appropriate data. Therefore, policies must ensure that data openness does not compromise citizens’ privacy or security.

The quality and applicability of data are important aspects of open data initiatives. It is crucial to ensure that the data provided is reliable, accurate, and applicable to specific needs. The analysis highlights cases where insincere actors claim their data is open but fail to provide high-quality and applicable information. This emphasizes the importance of opening data with specific applications in mind.

The analysis suggests that every country should have its own open data policy tailored to its unique needs and goals. Since different countries and even subnational entities have differing needs, a one-size-fits-all global open data policy may not be feasible. Instead, individual countries can develop policies that align with their specific goals and circumstances.

Government entities may be hesitant to open up data due to the fear of criticism or damage to their reputation. However, engaging the community and framing data openness in a positive and proactive manner can help overcome resistance. By highlighting the benefits of open data and fostering a sense of community ownership, government entities can gain public support and overcome their fears.

Identifying a specific stakeholder who can champion data openness within a government entity is crucial for making incremental progress. This stakeholder can leverage their influence and advocate for open data initiatives, thereby creating a conducive environment for change and implementation.

Despite the challenges posed by bureaucratic systems, efforts to organize and share data can still be worthwhile. It is important to recognize that bureaucratic offices are often busy with administrative work and may not realize that making certain information public could actually facilitate their own processes. By raising awareness and demonstrating the benefits, bureaucratic entities can be encouraged to embrace open data initiatives.

Lastly, transparency and open data can help build reputation and facilitate civil activities. Certain countries already have laws in place that demand the publication of government data. By making data open and transparent, governments can build public trust and foster civil society initiatives.

Overall, the analysis provides valuable insights into different aspects of open data governance and transparency. It emphasizes the need for partnership, training, prototyping, public engagement, and careful consideration of privacy and security. By implementing these recommendations, governments can utilize open data to improve decision-making, foster innovation, and achieve sustainable development goals.

Winnie Kamau:
Yes, Kat, I can hear you. I can hear you. Yes, so if in Zoom you can just introduce yourself, that would be great, in the chat so that you all can get a chance to meet each other. And I’d love to do the same for the people who are in the room.

Kat Townsend:
So I’ll start. My name is Katherine Townsend. I spent eight years in the U.S. federal government and have been advising governments in Ghana, South Africa, Kenya, UAE, and local, domestic, and around the world on open data and open data policies. And I work with a group of others who we have various day jobs, but because we believe so strongly in government transparency, this collective is called Open Data Collaboratives. So if you would like to follow on with any of these slides or any of the people involved, that is the link there. I will say it’s case sensitive, so just follow it directly. And you’ll see I’m here by myself. Others did not get their visas, so unfortunately many are, it’s in the middle of the night. They may join, but I do have a colleague who is on and supporting, so thank you all for joining today. I think what I’d like to do is just take a moment to take you all through, but it would be helpful for me to understand what roles you’re in. This is a networking event, so the point is for us to really see and meet each other. So do you mind if we just go around a little bit and speak about, just to say, you know, either what role you’re in or why you chose to come to this session, what kind of you’re looking for, and then I can sort of tailor on what would be most useful. And I’d just ask those on Zoom to do the same, please. Thank you.

Audience:
Hello. Good morning, everyone. My name is Qusai Al-Shati. I’m from Kuwait. I’m the chairman of Automated Systems Company, and we are interested in how to sustain. I’m sorry. Make sure your face is filmed. Oh. Yeah. We are mostly interested in how to govern and sustain open data to government entities because they are our clients. Thank you. My name is Varuna Dhanapada. I am from the government of Sri Lanka. I’m a civil servant for 23 years. I have also served in New York as a diplomat where the Sustainable Development Goals were composed, and I was part of the open working group. So I found it quite interesting, this subject. The government of Sri Lanka has many personal data collection initiatives, and it finds it very essential for data governance models that applies to all stakeholders of this subject. Thank you very much. Good morning, everyone. My name is Nisha. I’m from the Maldives. So I’m one of the co-founders of Women in Tech Maldives, a nonprofit organization which was actually established in order to empower women. But currently, I think we are the only functioning IT nonprofit in the Maldives, and we do advocate a lot for open data, which is why I choose to be in this session because I’m looking forward to learning from you and maybe going back home and trying to get our government and our other offices to implement this. Thank you. Good morning, everyone. My name is Shilpa. I am a researcher at University of Melbourne. I am an academic. I used to work as an assistant professor at an Indian university, and my research is on data governance, and I am trying to look at data not from an economic perspective but from a political perspective, and hence, I really wanted to see the capacity of how open government data can protect or guarantee political values, I mean, specifically constitutional values. That’s what I’m here for. Hi, I’m Aishit Mahat from Maldives. I’m in government, National Centre for Information Technology. I’m working in IT service management. Hi, I’m Aisha. I am also working in the National Centre for Information Technology. It’s under the Ministry of Information Technology, so we kind of manage the government data. We have the data, and we are developing systems that are taking and using this data, so this session is really good for me to know more about it, so I feel it. Maldives.

Kat Townsend:
Yeah. Thank you. Australia, Kuwait. Beautiful. Okay, thank you all for taking that time, and I don’t know if I said it, but I’m from the U.S. That wasn’t very evident. Okay, and then just to know who is online. Okay, if you all want to introduce yourself a bit on the chat, I’m happy to read out so that others in the room know. Okay, so I just have three examples that I wanted to run you all through of different ways that the people I’ve worked with and the people on our team have approached government data. So, to know about our group, who we’re coming from, so we have, thank you so much, so we’ve worked, founding members worked in the U.S. State Department, USAID, White House on the U.S. Open Government Data Policy, and from that, we built out a platform that was shared around the world, and really took this to other countries, and what we have been working with is with youth and startups, academics, to try to build these coalitions and have about 4,000 people across our network that we engage in fairly regularly. If I could share anything about the strategy for how this works well and sustained, there’s a lot of people who try to change by shouting from the outside and saying you must open data, and then there’s people working really hard on the inside trying to convince their colleagues. The most effective is to have a partnership where you’re working together, so in any way that the government can find people on the outside that are championing the work that they’re doing and saying this is what we need and we’re so supportive, you can use that advocacy to make changes inside government and sort of vice versa. So that would be the, perhaps it feels very obvious, but finding that collaboration and finding your counterparts is what’s going to make it work and sustain. So just three countries, and I’m just checking my time here. So the first I’ll share, and it is about 3 o’clock in the morning for Florence, so I’m sharing her slide deck, but this is Florence Tofa, and she has an external organization, so she has a women in tech organization in her country, and built relationships with the government and learned from them that they wanted to build out an open data portal. So I think some of the basics about what is open government data, it seems like you all are working on this, you study it very well, but to just think about sort of the history of how this came together, a lot of this has been pushed and supported out of the north, but it’s presented as just a different kind of platform that can be used for government to be responsive to its citizens, to improve service delivery, and to have better partnerships and also better transparency and accountability. It will depend on your context of whether you want to share it as an accountability strategy or, as worked very well in the United States, as a way of supporting GDP growth and making a lot of funds, and that was very appealing to people within government to want to help others to open up data, if you were able to say that we would unlock what we said a trillion dollars worth of growth. Currently, there’s about 122 countries that have open data portals. There is a group called the Global Data Barometer that takes a measurement each year of the quality of data. If there is gray, that doesn’t mean that there’s nothing, that just means that they didn’t include them in the study, there’s not data there. Just to be clear, what open data means, it is both technically and legally open. There’s a lot of times that we’ll have data available and it’s just a PDF on a website, you can’t search for it, it’s very difficult to find, it’s buried in, but it’s called open. The quality of a machine being able to track and identify and pull in so that people can run their own analysis, this is a baseline requirement for open. I am sure I’m saying things that you all already know, but it’s sometimes helpful to just reset, are we all talking about the same thing? Legally open. We have also had many experiences where we have, legally it’s open. What that means is that you have to physically travel to an office and then you have to rent out a book with 1,600 pages of text and then you can only read it there and they say, well, it’s open. That is technically open or that is, to the letter of the law, legally open, but it’s described as being able to use, reuse and be able to redistribute widely. Here are some of the arguments that we’ve made. Improved social value, public services, more transparent and more efficient government. This is really something that we find is that open data really improves government efficiency because if you know what you should be public and what needs to be private, you really have to organize your own systems very well so that you can make that determination quite quickly. These are just some stats that have been used by the European Data Portal to make the case when they were developing their own portal. Again, it’s truly dependent on the context that you’re working in, whether it’s regional, national or subnational, understanding what are the cases and now there’s so many cases about open data. What is the story that you need to tell that’s going to say that’s the kind of growth that I want or that’s the kind of social change that I want? This is providing a legal context for open data. Role of open data policy. You can do all the work within your teams and the organizations that you’re working with to build up these platforms and to build up these relationships and to open information, but unless you really have either a law that says you must do this by default or at least a government policy, the second someone changes their job or that roles and responsibilities shift, all of that work goes away. In addition to training up how people are working and really getting them on board, you need to have a document in place that everybody can point to and say this is what we’re acquiring and this is what our values are. This is the portal that they built. This is now about 10 years old. It looks about the same. It is very hard to change. Once you do lock something in place, just know, as you all know, it’ll be there for a while. Anytime that you do this, it’s not just about, all right, we got the law in place and we’re requiring them to do this and then they have to. Well, that’s not going to sustain. People want to be useful and they want to help for the most part. How can you build their capacity so that they feel a sense of ownership themselves? Working to develop that culture of openness, really training people outside of government and also the civil servants so that they understand what they’re doing and how their jobs change day to day and also the social benefits of the work that they’re undertaking. Because anytime you implement a new policy, regardless of the topic, but for sure open data, you have to do a lot more work and it takes time. If you want a civil servant to add even more time to their work, being able to link it to the social impact that they will have is very vital. This is a methodology that we use. We use hackathons. Hackathons have been around for years. The benefit of hackathons, especially with policymakers and politicians, is that it is visceral. They can see people using the data. They show up. You can teach them something small about how to interact. I find maps are extraordinarily helpful. So if you have a mapathon, because then they can visually see what they’ve done. They see the data and they see it mapped out. And then they can feel connected and part of the community. So I think social events are really, really vital. It’s also a place where youth are very comfortable. Love that. So I recommend, and you’ll see throughout here, we have hackathons in each of these. There’s a reason for it. Okay. So that’s Ghana. And this, let’s see, this is about 350 students on a Saturday. Florence runs these about once a month. You do not have to have that frequency. She’s very impressive with the community that she crowds. But I do think that there is, you know, knowing that there’s that consistency, that there’s a space to go where people can show up and they can contribute and where governments can show up and they can meet members of the community is really helpful. All right. So this is the work that I did to come into this space. It’s the open data policy out of USAID. And we started with trying to open up agriculture data. And I will say, just to say why agriculture data. In, it is important when you’re trying to figure out what data set you could make open is to choose one that people will not find terribly controversial. So there’s many, any data set could be controversial for sure. Land use is very controversial. But at least in the context of crop yield and weather patterns, this was seen as much more neutral. So it was much easier to create a prototype about let’s open up this data set and just show how the process goes than if we had chosen a data about health or women and children or security, anything like this. So there was sort of an effort to just rebrand into something called a data palooza. So you might see case studies of this. I think we’ve sort of reverted the language. But there’s a lot of this sort of process of not just hosting a hackathon but actually going through the cycle of opening data, writing a policy on data, bringing the people together, engaging with the data, bringing out some prototypes. types and then using that to iterate on what the process can be continuing and going forward. So this is a hack from with about eight different countries joined, which might seem, you know, at the time it was sort of before we had a lot of, you know, this is all Skype, and it was sort of before we had a lot of awareness that this could happen, but this was the first hackathon at USA that the foreign arm of the U.S. government had ever run. And sort of from that, we built out a prototype, and we built out a prototype of how to open up data, and we built out the open data policy. So if I were to condense sort of what those learnings were, if you are within government or if you’re working outside and you find your champion, really important to find a catalyst. What you need is a prototype or a paradigm of what it could look like. And once you have a prototype and you have a story, then you can share that around and people will say, that’s what I want to do. How do I replicate that? So you find your colleague, you find your contributor, you find your person who is right there with you and saying, yes, how do we open this? If you don’t have a friend in this, it’s pretty hard to do this all on your own, and I don’t say that to discourage, but just it’s really important to find a friend to, you know, a lot of change, a lot of government change happens because you have a small group of really committed people. So as I mentioned, try to choose a topic that’s not controversial just to start. You can go controversial later, but try to find one that is easy to tell the story on. Figure out who you actually need to have on your side. It’s not going to be always the people who are first to raise their hand, but you often will need to figure out who approves from legal, who approves from privacy, if you have a privacy laws and requirements, who are the subject matter experts, the people who actually collected the data or who are in charge of it, that you need their approval. And so actually mapping out all of the steps that you would need to go through, really important to build that plan. When I did this, I realized that you would have to go through 47 different people’s approval, which is a lot, but even just the act of writing out those 47 steps, we could say, all right, well, this is too much, so how can we tighten this up smaller and smaller, but really building out what that workflow would be from collecting a data set to making it open meant that we could put a real process in place. I always recommend including media and communications people in the beginning because you need storytellers. And often, especially for those of us who’ve worked in government, you do so much work and then you try to share it with the world and hope that everybody’s excited, but they weren’t part of the process, and so they don’t own it in the same way. And so I would just bring in their storytellers as early as possible. And then making time for implementation and institutionalization. One of the big flaws that we have for policymakers in general is that we will write a policy and then we will think that it’s done. And if you don’t take time to actually change people’s jobs, change people’s work plans, then it won’t sustain and it won’t stick. So all of these things that I’ve said, there are guidelines, there are job descriptions, there are case studies at that website. It is a U.S. lens, but it has been forked and taken around the world. So I would definitely recommend, it’s all written on GitHub, so it’s easy to copy and share around, but if you’re looking at job descriptions or at any sort of guidance on running the hackathons or anything like this, that is a location. And so after that prototype, that development work, we have the development data library, data.usa.gov, cuts across all different sectors, and it does sustain. So this was under the Obama administration. We’ve had a president since then that was not very interested in transparency and collaboration. This stayed online. And it stayed online because there were groups of civil servants that sustained it, because it was already part of their work and it wasn’t just something that political groups sort of put in place and then left. So I think I’ve talked through this. Again, find the data set and write down each step of the process. I created a working group with the approvers. It was really important and beneficial within USAID to actually take notes and share those out around the world. Often work happens in silos or it only happens at headquarters and nobody knows what others are working on. So sort of demonstrating we’re working on open data and we’re also going to work in the open was really important. And then synthesizing and then, as I said, taking those 47 steps down to eight. And then when you publish, you try to get the public on your side. So for sure you have your external person, or if you’re working externally, you are the external person, and as soon as that data goes up, that’s when you hit your communications campaign. Isn’t this wonderful? We want more of this. Look at all these things we can do to change it. Because it’s not just about that one data set, it’s all the other ones that can follow. And then the last example, and just because you’ve heard my voice chatting for a while, I’m going to see if it’s possible for Kate to, is it possible to have a virtual speaker join? Might be a little complicated. All right. We have Togo, Ethiopia on the line, and there’s a few others who haven’t introduced themselves. Kaitlin Home. And Kate, I don’t know, you have the slides in front of you. It’s just about five, and then hopefully we can take the last ten minutes to just hear from people in the room. But it would be maybe if we have her face side by side. If it’s too hard, I can just run through them. She’s unmuted. Great. Kate, can we hear you? Yes. Can you hear me? Can you hear me? Hello? Yes. We can hear you.

Kait Holm:
Oh, okay. Perfect. Okay. So I will talk to you guys a little bit about some of the work that we did in the UAE, opening up and building their open data portal called Bayonet. This was done originally in partnership with the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority and was done as an initiative from the UAE, which is a conglomeration of seven emirates. It was done as an initiative to bring together some of that very decentralized data that they had in order to create a national platform. And as part of this, we hosted a hackathon for happiness, which really helped us to both show and establish the fact that there was a need for this data, as well as how people intended to use this. Because there’s always a little bit of a tricky dance with helping to convince governments to open their data and illustrating, one, that there’s a need, but two, specifically what types of data might be most useful or most valuable. So in this case, the UAE was really interested in innovation, as well as the possible economic benefits that might stem from that. So this hackathon for happiness that we created in partnership with universities took place across all seven emirates and really gave us a large swath of data on who might be interacting with these published data sets and how these interactions might produce applications that may have economic benefit, social benefit, or benefit for civil society. So like I’d mentioned, this hackathon took place with across, I think, about six weeks or so, all seven emirates with universities, but it also included people from industry. It included civil society members. So it gave us a pretty large data set to pull from. There were some challenges with building this open data portal. In particular, one of the challenges you can see here that we had was converting data between Arabic and English, making sure that both were represented. As you can see on this slide, these are some of the steps that we followed. First step was finding the data. This was quite a bit of a challenge because the data that had previously been published had mostly been for internal documents or kind of organizational metrics. So we had to go to each of these different ministries or agencies. Some data we got was from university libraries, really, really difficult to find pieces of information at certain points. Once we did this, though, we then had to look and explore how the metadata, so how that information had been gathered, how it had been cataloged, and this was all part of an initiative to, as I said, federate or nationalize the data. So we were combining data from one emirate that may have, for example, let’s say it’s on camel populations, may have taken this data and only looked at camel populations around watering sources, but there might have been another that only measured camel populations in rural regions or mountainous regions. So understanding that metadata was a real key in order to create more complex and comprehensive data sets that included information about the entirety of the UAE. Once we were able to understand that, the next step was to clean this data. Like I mentioned, sometimes these internal documents and metrics were not always clear or consistent about how they were documenting the data and what types of units, for example, they would use. And then we had to convert the data. This is that slide you see now, or the image you see now, and part of this was sometimes the data would come in Arabic, sometimes it would come in English, but it was really important that we made it accessible in both English and Arabic. And this could be a bit of a challenge because, especially with the Arabic font, a lot of programs won’t recognize that that is a font or a script. So there was quite a bit of a challenge in figuring out how to either scrape that data or how to input it in a way that would be machine-readable across multiple platforms. The next step then was to ensure the quality. And this was done, we had in each data set, we had over 2,300 data sets that were published in each one. We had a language editor, we had two data auditors, and then I personally looked through and viewed every single data set to make sure that this data set matched the initial source material and wasn’t duplicative of other information that we had published previously. Last step was sustaining the data, so working with ministries themselves and making sure that they knew how to publish and continue to publish that information. And this links us into the last point here, which was on training and visualization. So part of that was training the ministries on how to continually update their data, why it was important, and how to follow up. And then visualizations came in the form of trainings that are hackathons, how to help students produce visualizations based on the data and metrics they’re working. And excitingly, we can see that this project has gone on to be quite significant as the UAE has expanded upon this and now developed Bayonet AI, which was trained based on this data that we initially put up for work for Bayonet. So here’s an example of what it looks like when you look at the landing page for the Open Data Portal, and you can search here using any of the terms that are included in the datasets in both Arabic and English, as well as tags, which we added as part of the metadata and any of the text in the metadata. OK, then this next slide, this is actually a picture of us at the hackathon at the Sharjah Planetarium. In fact, you can see Cat in the corner. Hi, Cat. And this image shows one of the teams presenting their work to one of the shakes. So then we have, I think, Cat, I’m going to let you take it from here, is that if there is anything I missed, please feel free to add it.

Kat Townsend:
That was awesome. Thank you, Kate. OK, so just it’s a it’s not a terribly complex formula what we run through, and it just takes a bit of grit of work and some time. If the if we were able to start a little bit on time, this is the kind of breakouts that I would ask you for. I think probably the the third, you know, I am happy to help you all and we are happy to help you all run through any of these. And if you’re able to answer these three questions, then it will be we will be even more effective in helping you chase down. OK, how do we get that prototype together? So what data is possible to make open? Who can you work with to actually do the work to get that data open? And I think it’s really important to tell the story and answer the question. It’s sort of the if this, then that framework. If you open this data, then that impact will happen. So, you know, for example, if we knew about Internet quality and cost, we could build maps of companies that were supposed to deprive that service, and then we could allocate funds the way that they’re intended to, to improve people’s connectivity, something for IGF. But truly, any way that you can get it into this framing, it’s so much more impactful if you say here’s how I will apply that data. And here’s the here’s the impact that it will make. And then I don’t know if the last slide comes up for you. It might need a refresh. Maybe the deck does. But otherwise, I’ll just share it on the Zoom. It is just the context. And it’s just a slide that has the links. Yes, there we go. Great. So these are the links that were shared today and just context if you are interested and if you want to follow up with any of us, because I know we’re at about four minutes. OK, so with that, does anybody have any questions or want to share their experience? Yeah, please.

Audience:
Thanks. Yeah. Oh, thank you. It’s it’s really not I don’t think it’s a question or something, but you know, it’s it’s just I told you, like, I’m researching on data governance and one of the aspects that I’m doing is open data. And I was doing this particular research. not comparing the models but then you know just focusing on Indian and the Korean the South Korean model of open data because I found that you know they have been like doing a fantastic work especially during pandemic including I mean India and South Korea have been really promoting open data including data related to the pandemic lockdown and you know people who were inside and outside and all of that which is why it was easy for the government to track people that you know if people are hiding and how to reach them in case they in case emergency in in situations of emergency with of course that you know we realize in it that it it’s it’s a there’s a possibility of being used all these tools used as surveillance right and one of the things that I mean of course now that’s really to do like a personal data but then in South Korea there was also this particular problem that you know Google for many years very persistent to ask the location of certain kinds of buildings within the geography which South Korea did not want to reveal for the fact that because of North Korea and the potential damage that I mean the potential attack that they could create in the critical infrastructure so now that is non personal data so that maybe maybe the point I would like to raise to everyone who is thinking from the government’s perspective if they want to open data personal or non-personal you really need to see your country’s goals or agenda that you want to meet and not just follow the model that is going on in every other world because they may have different values they may have different targets to meet but what is that you want to do and the second point I really wanted to because because there was this one particular research which happened in India and they were just analyzing that you know what kind of data they have been released and the problem was that the quality of data and it’s not just in India but it’s pretty much everywhere yes it’s machine readable it looks fantastic how it is there but then you know if the data is the the the the juice is actually in the details of the data if it is not detailed it is pointless you were just wasting public resource then so just having to say that you know we have an open data initiative but it doesn’t do anything because it doesn’t give enough information to be used so which is why like you know before opening data I would say that quality standards like having standards and ethics is the first thing that a government should work on or anyone that wants to work on I mean that’s exactly what happened in India that you know they open data but then they did not have those values and now they are this problem that you know what do we do with all these things there’s so much wasted a public resource now so now but things are getting on track they are working on these things so I mean like that’s just a lesson I thought like I could share with everyone reaction to that I do think for sure all of this work is a

Kat Townsend:
balance between as many of the themes that we have at IGF it’s freedom of expression freedom of information and it’s security and privacy and what looks like personally identifiable information in one context is going to be different around the world which is why you know the UN doesn’t have a global open data policy that it pushes each country and some it’s even subnational needs to change and it’s also what seems fine in one government and then you change governments and it is a completely different situation so trying to start with again those more neutral data sets data sets that are a bit more about what the government does and less about people is sometimes can be helpful there and then for sure on the quality of the data yeah don’t you can definitely have insincere actors who check a box look we did all this work to make it open and now you’re still complaining as they will say to civil society all the time that’s where the application is really important so you don’t just have open data for open data sake we’re opening this data in order to apply it here and so you can see that as a full package of stories we just don’t have it as a resource but here’s where it’s it’s being used in service so if they are consistently seeing this is the kind of data that is useful this is the kind of data that’s just fluff then you can make it possible to have some sort of catalyst and better examples there

Audience:
the thing is that government data although it is a structure but it is not organized they have the format of a structure data but actually the data itself is not organized so oh sure in that case we are talking about government data so it is public data that’s what we are looking for of economic value of social value how to make government whether the slide that says how to improve public services transparent government efficient government how you would convince the decision maker and what controls comes under each line that tells him if this is achieved if we can format the government data in forms of sets again non-controversial neutral available to all what controls you would apply here or indicators that you will tell to the decision maker if this is met you will perform better taking consideration bureaucracy is heavy in the government you can you can find the departments within the same government entity and they don’t share data right and now you’re talking about open data to others so you’re talking about the top management who may not know the real data within the middle and lower levels and they need it and they know that they need it so how you would convince them that such approach is can be efficient we do have a law of freedom of information but to what extent it’s an into effect that’s a question so I think

Kat Townsend:
your question would benefit more from diagnosing let’s try to figure out what the topic is but I think what I hear is what are who are you trying to convince so actually identifying who the stakeholder is not just government in general but can you find one team one leader who has the power to say I can at least I maybe can’t open up every ministry but I can open up one section in my ministries information I hear that I hear that and it’s but it is hard and so and I will say that just one of the things that governments that companies anybody non-profit anybody gets concerned about is that they don’t want to look bad everything is their reputation so they get very scared of opening up data because they don’t want it to be messy and shows that they didn’t do well and they’re very Chris so now you give them an option where instead of being criticized heavily okay let us help you let us help you with a good story about how you’re being proactive you’re showing your information you’re being transparent you’re bringing in the youth with these hackathons you’re bringing in the community and then thank you so much and and I it is important to have top-down but you need to give them a story you a few examples of here’s how we’ve changed and look there’s stories in the in the newspaper about how great this is and I’ll just I’ll say I am sure your context is difficult and I’m sure Sri Lanka is difficult and I’m sure Maldives is difficult and I can only offer that in the US government that the offices don’t share data with each other the offices don’t organize the data very well themselves if you ask a Freedom of Information Act they say well we’d have to find that data it’ll cost you $20,000 do you want to pay $20,000 for us to answer your question so it’s there’s there’s not a perfect model there’s only all of us trying to build slightly better models for how we can have better government systems so just to say that it’s all of these resources that we’re sharing is is that attempt to try to bring that sort of information sharing into these different spaces that are reticent to do so so but are you saying that you don’t think it’s possible without a top-down approach how we would

Audience:
create the commitment governments are bureaucrats but they are too much in deep of their bureaucracy a daily work yes he has 20 individuals every day for a license for a permission he’s busy with that to finish their work yeah now we are asking him to publish information yeah I’ll tell you really let me finish who’s in front of me yes right yes he would not realize that publishing the would make his life easier yes or himself or his organization so bureaucrats are always busy with their daily work they are inside the box they are not out of the box yes now I’m not saying that this is the right approach but it is our perception that the the top leadership would always see the case because they need information to make the right decision so they would say yes we want certain information to be public and set information for us to know yeah in order to make the right decision rather than they say what’s the case here or what the case there and what the case here and wait for a week or ten days and he need to make the decision yesterday right right because the formation is not or suddenly there is a crisis or a political issue that just came up and suddenly he’s exposed yes right so you know that there is no there is no mindset for open data there are countries that has laws that force government entities to poor data yeah and to a specific format this format of time gets outdated or or that mechanism is at the time it was done it was good but then there is more data needed more information needed but it didn’t get updated for and so it become all that nobody is now using it and there is demand to modernize it you’re not wrong it’s I see I say the hand so I just want to make sure that other people can show because if the point is networking people can help each other it’s not just yeah in Sri Lanka there’s initiative we joined open government partnership in 2015 and 16 there’s a lot of civil society activities around it and the government also responded I think they we could submit the second hybrid report into for the 2019 to 2021 after that I am not sure of what is happening but Sri Lanka is a law of right to information so if if the data sets can be more open and open there’s no need for individuals to send requests before for search the paper documents and all other things so so it’s kind of a win-win situation so more open you are with with what government can show to the people who are the stakeholders request I think I think that’s very true I will say that usually and if you

Kat Townsend:
okay so we’re just gonna close out usually if you’re looking at the people who submit Freedom of Information Act requests they want a very specific data set that and often it’s from a journalist perspective it’s accountability which is vital it is hard to get civil servants to convince their bosses to get excited about accountability because it doesn’t feel good to get yelled at and if you want to get people to be excited about transparency you give them a positive story of why it will be in their interest to open it up and if that is you’re helping the youth you’re building businesses you know there’s a nice story in the newspaper in general everybody cares about their reputation and when you build those models you can shift perception and then yes as happened it took 15 years for the US to do it but now we finally have a FOIA website that is easy to use as before it was not at all it does take time and so it’s that nothing that you build today is going to be modern in five ten years and it is about those communities and consistency but it’s a global community there’s a lot of people working on this and we want to work together so we really appreciate your time you