Public Administration of the Czech Republic’s Open Data Ecosystem (CZ0018)

STATE AND DEFINITION OF THE PROBLEM TO BE ADDRESSED BY MAKING THE COMMITMENT Running the National Open Data Catalogue in 2015 started the sequential process of publishing and cataloguing open data in the Czech Republic. CTO, SAO, CTIA, MI, MF, MT, the Moravian-Silesian Region, the Vysočina Region, CSO, CSSA and COSMC, the town of Bohumín, the town of Děčín, and the municipality of Huntířov recoded their data in the National Catalogue. Most public administration institutions do not publish and do not catalogue open data because there is no legislative duty to do so. Enshrining the National Open Data Catalogue in the legislation is a subject of the amendment of Act No. 106/1999 Coll., on free access to information, implemented within the draft of a proposed law, which changes some laws in connection with adoption of the Act on Services Creating Trust in Electronic Transactions (the draft of the proposed law was considered in the Chamber of Deputies when the Third Action Plan was being prepared). In addition to enshrining open data in the legislation, it is also necessary to provide knowledge support on open data for individual public administration institutions. The public administration of the Czech Republic’s National Open Data Catalogue and the standards for publishing and cataloguing the open data of the Czech Republic’s public administration in accordance with the development of needs and standards approved by the European Commission must be regularly adjusted and extended. To advance the principles of public administration open data and their access, it is necessary to support and develop the methods and standards needed to provide and continuously improve the quality of public administration open data, both from the technical and process aspects. MAIN OBJECTIVE Support and develop the open data ecosystem. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE COMMITMENT 1. Develop open and interconnected data standards. 2. Educate public administration employees. 3. Provide assistance for public administration authorities in opening data. 4. Develop the National Open Data Catalogue. 5. Develop a dialogue between public administration institutions and the general public.

4.2.2 Supporting the Development of the Public Administration of the Czech Republic's Open Data Ecosystem

Commitment Text:

Most public administration institutions do not publish and do not catalogue open data because there is no legislative duty to do so. In addition to enshrining open data in the legislation, it is also necessary to provide knowledge support on open data for individual public administration institutions. To advance the principles of public administration open data and their access, it is necessary to support and develop the methods and standards needed to provide and continuously improve the quality of public administration open data, both from the technical and process aspects.

Main Objective: Support and develop the open data ecosystem. Develop open and interconnected data standards. Educate public administration employees. Provide assistance for public administration authorities in opening data.

Develop the National Open Data Catalogue. Develop a dialogue between public administration institutions and the general public.

Milestones:

1. Developing open and interconnected data standards (measurement method: functioning and existing standards are available on opendata.gov.cz)

2. Public administration employee training on publishing and cataloguing open data (measurement method: according to the project application – 3 x conference on open data and 10 x 1-day training)

3. Providing assistance to public administration authorities on opening data (measurement method: 10 ministries or central authorities; unspecified number of regional authorities and municipalities)

4. Developing the National Open Data Catalogue (NODC) (measurement method: data.gov.cz available; compatibility with the EU standard: DCAT-AP)

Responsible institution: Ministry of the Interior

Supporting institution(s): Committees of Government Council for Information Society

Start date: 1 August 2016 End date: 31 December 2018

Context and Objectives

This commitment aims to support and develop the open data atmosphere. The four milestones focus on advancing and publishing the methods and standards for open data in a user-friendly manner to engage public administrations and guarantee the quality of datasets. Implementation of these methods and standards is supported by trainings and workshops for civil servants responsible for open data at public administrations. The commitment seeks three conferences on open data to advance knowledge among the public administration and share best practices. Lastly, further work on the National Open Data Catalogue (NODC) is planned in compliance with the DCAT Application Profile for Data Portals in Europe (DCAT-AP). This commitment is based on a project titled 'Implementation of open data strategies II (Open Data II),'[Note108: Ministry of the Interior, 'Otevrena data II' (2018), http://www.mvcr.cz/clanek/otevrena-data-ii.aspx.] funded by the European Social Fund. The project runs from January 2017 until October 2019.

The coordinator and lead implementing agency provides methodological and training support to the public administration bodies, aiming to increase the number of datasets published in NODC in an open format. By achieving compatibility with the EU standard, the NODC will have improved functionality and usability. Trainings and workshops target only public employees, leaving no expectation for state agencies to publish open datasets. Given the limited scope of the milestones, the impact of the commitment is considered moderate.

Completion

The commitment was launched in parallel to the start of the project Open Data II in January 2017, five months later than planned.

Regarding Milestone 1, the standards and process for opening data is presented step-by-step and currently published on the front page of Open Data Portal[Note109: Otevrena dat, 'Otevrena data v CR: Portal pro poskytovatele' (27 Jul. 2018), https://opendata.gov.cz/.] in a user-friendly manner. This also includes information on EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)[Note110: European Parliament and The Council of the European Union, 'Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016' L119/1 (Official Journal of the European Union, 4 May 2016) http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32016R0679&from=EN.] and information on personal data protection. The available information serves as guidelines for public bodies starting the data opening process and includes tips on publication plans, dataset publication, local catalogues, privacy and GDPR, a template for publication and cataloguing open data, technical standards, and examples of bad practices in opening data. The milestone can be considered completed although the work under the project Open Data II is ongoing.

In terms of Milestone 2, the self-assessment report stated the lead implementing agency hosted six trainings on open data in the regions and the capital with 62 participants in total between the beginning of 2017 and the end of the self-assessment reporting period. The report also mentioned the three Office of Government workshops. The Office of Government started publishing its data in open format in July 2017. The annual conference, 'Open Data in Public Administration 2017,' was also held on 10 November 2017. It allowed international sharing (topics included open data policy in Poland and best European open data practices) as well as tackling national issues like open data in agriculture, the open data reality in the Czech Republic, municipality experiences with open data, and a presentation on the first hackathon based on public administration open data.[Note111: Otevrena data, 'Vyrocni konference Otevrena data ve verejne sprave 2017' (14 Nov. 2017), https://opendata.gov.cz/edu:konference:2017.] The government has been organizing several training activities in line with this commitment, in addition to the ten trainings and three conferences already held, indicating this milestone is ongoing.

As for Milestone 3, the self-assessment report indicated that the lead implementing agency organized 21 workshops on open data for state agencies but only six agencies requested and received this assistance. The IRM researcher was not able to fully verify the information, however the information gathered shows that implementation of the milestone is ongoing.

Milestone 4 is currently being developed by the government. The National Open Data Catalogue (NODC) 2.0 is being developed to be more user-friendly and a fully integrated platform for citizens. The government stated in the self-assessment report that the software prototype is already prepared to provide current NODC content of open datasets which will be fully compliant with the DCAT-AP standard.[Note112: Office of the Government of the Czech Republic Minister for Human Rights, Equal Opportunities and Legislation, 'Czech Republic 2017, Mid-Term Self-Assessment Open Government Partnership Action Plan Report of the Czech Republic for 2016-2018' (Aug. 2017), http://www.korupce.cz/assets/dokumenty/tiskove-zpravy/Prubezna-sebehodnotici-zprava-Akcniho-planu-Ceske-republiky-Partnerstvi-pro-otevrene-vladnuti-na-obdobi-let-2016-az-2018---verejne-konzultace.pdf.] Implementation of the milestone is ongoing.

Early Results

On 17 July 2017, the Office of Government of the Czech Republic launched its open data portal[Note113: Vlada Ceske republiky, 'Otevrena data' (25 Jul. 2017), https://www.vlada.cz/cz/urad-vlady/otevrena_data/otevrena-data-158324/.] and consequently registered several datasets on NODC as of 25 July 2017. The Office of Government has led these actions autonomously and published some of their datasets in open format. Published data includes a list of consultative bodies; a register of certified experts in drug prevention and gambling; analytical, statistical, and strategic documents for the Office of Government; a price list of energy commodities; and a dataset from the National Information System for Research, Experimental Development and Innovation (IS VaVal). The Office of Government plans to publish new datasets and encourage line ministries to improve their open data methods.[Note114: Vlada Ceske republiky, 'Urad vlady zacal yverejnovat otevrena data' (25 Jul. 2017), https://www.vlada.cz/cz/media-centrum/aktualne/urad-vlady-zacal-zverejnovat-otevrena-data--158897/]

Next Steps

Implementation of the commitment is and will be ongoing in line with the implementation of the Open Data II project. Given that the project has been approved, is it unlikely that extensive modifications will occur. The government self-assessment stated that despite the methodical and technical support offered, there is insufficient interest in training from relevant information system administrators. Therefore, recommendations include:

· A workshop can be organized for the Open Data Working Group established by the Government Council for Information Society that coordinates interministerial cooperation. A multistakeholder impact assessment on secondary use of open data could be developed under the Open Data II project, medialized, and used in public discussions in support of open data policy; and,

· The Ministry of Interior can hold workshops for other stakeholders like business and civil society, using their cooperation with the EU for funding the workshops.

4.2.2. Supporting the Development of the Public Administration of the Czech Republic’s Open Data Ecosystem

Commitment Text:

Running the National Open Data Catalogue in 2015 started the sequential process of publishing and cataloguing open data in the Czech Republic. CTO, SAO, CTIA, MI, MF, MT, the Moravian-Silesian Region, the Vysočina Region, CSO, CSSA and COSMC, the town of Bohumín, the town of Děčín, and the municipality of Huntířov recoded their data in the National Catalogue. Most public administration institutions do not publish and do not catalogue open data because there is no legislative duty to do so. Enshrining the National Open Data Catalogue in the legislation is a subject of the amendment of Act No. 106/1999 Coll., on free access to information, implemented within the draft of a proposed law, which changes some laws in connection with adoption of the Act on Services Creating Trust in Electronic Transactions (the draft of the proposed law was considered in the Chamber of Deputies when the Third Action Plan was being prepared).  In addition to enshrining open data in the legislation, it is also necessary to provide knowledge support on open data for individual public administration institutions. The public administration of the Czech Republic’s National Open Data Catalogue and the standards for publishing and cataloguing the open data of the Czech Republic’s public administration in accordance with the development of needs and standards approved by the European Commission must be regularly adjusted and extended. To advance the principles of public administration open data and their access, it is necessary to support and develop the methods and standards needed to provide and continuously improve the quality of public administration open data, both from the technical and process aspects.

Main Objective: Support and develop the open data ecosystem.

Brief description of the commitment:

1. Develop open and interconnected data standards.
2. Educate public administration employees.
3. Provide assistance for public administration authorities in opening data.
4. Develop the National Open Data Catalogue.
5. Develop a dialogue between public administration institutions and the general public.

Milestones:

1. Developing open and interconnected data standards (measurement method: functioning and existing standards are available on opendata.gov.cz)
2. Public administration employee training on publishing and cataloguing open data (measurement method: according to the project application – 3 x conference on open data and 10 x 1-day training)
3. Providing assistance to public administration authorities on opening data (measurement method: 10 ministries or central authorities; unspecified number of regional authorities and municipalities)
4. Developing the National Open Data Catalogue (NODC) (measurement method: data.gov.cz available; compatibility with the EU standard: DCAT-AP)

Responsible institution: Ministry of the Interior

Supporting institutions: Committees of Government Council for Information Society

Start date: 1 August 2016                                                         End date: 31 December 2018

Commitment Aim:

This commitment aimed to support and develop the open data enviroment. The commitment’s four activities focused on advancing and publishing the methods and standards for open data in a user-friendly manner to engage public administrations and guarantee the quality of datasets. Implementation of these methods and standards also involved organizing three conferences and 10 one-day trainings for civil servants responsible for open data. This commitment was based on a project titled “Implementation of open data strategies II (Open Data II),” ^[18] funded by the European Social Fund. The project runs from January 2017 until October 2019.

Status

Midterm: Limited

The commitment was launched in parallel with the start of the project Open Data II in January 2017, five months later than originally planned. The planned trainings and workshops on open data were organized and guidelines on open data procedure published on the Open Data Portal. ^[19] The second annual conference (the first took place in 2015), “Open Data in Public Administration,” was held on 10 November 2017. [20] The National Open Data Catalogue (NODC) 2.0 was in the process of being developed to be more user-friendly but the preparations were delayed due to the late start of the Open Data II project.

End of term: Complete

The new version of the National Open Data Portal (https://data.gov.cz) was launched in June 2018 but was not fully functional until several months later. Compared to the previous pilot version, all guidelines on open data procedures are now systematized according to type of recipients, such as ministries, central public administration bodies, regional and local authorities, and government agencies. The portal also provides examples of good and bad practice in the process of opening data, including the most frequent legal and technical mistakes, such as the incorrect usage of Creative Commons licence or coding. The list of good and bad practice is updated on an ongoing basis with recommendations on how to tackle the related problems and obstacles to publishing. The planned trainings and workshops on open data were organized and announced on https://opendata.gov.cz/edu:start.

The Ministry of the Interior organized 56 trainings and workshops for more than 300 participants in 2017 and 2018. In 2017, 8 trainings were conducted for 93 employees from 38 different public bodies. [21] The follow-up individual consultations (milestone 3) were provided in at least 69 cases. According to the annual report on open data in the Czech Republic 2017, [22] the trainings and consultations on open data were organized for 139 employees from 97 different public bodies. The third annual “Open Data in Public Administration” conference took place on 2 November 2018. [23] The National Open Data Catalogue (NODC) 2.0 was upgraded to a more user-friendly and fully integrated platform for citizens (https://data.gov.cz/english/). It provides targeted information to the group of open data users, owners and entities interested in providing data in open format. The upgraded version of the portal was launched on 1 July 2018. The portal is compatible with the EU standard: DCAT-AP.

Did It Open Government?

Access to Information: Major

After launching the National Open Data Catalogue (NODC) in 2015, the start of its 2.0 version in June 2018 accelerated the process of publication and cataloguing public administration information in open data format. The aim of the commitment was to further support and develop open data by assisting public bodies with the process of opening data and facilitating user-friendly access for citizens. Most public authorities do not publish and catalogue in open data format as there is no legally binding provision for them to do so unless the respective dataset is listed in the Government Resolution. Following the launch of this commitment, the following authorities started publishing requested information in open data: the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Regional Development, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Environment, the General Financial Inspectorate, the Office for Government Representation in Property Affairs, and the Czech Office for Surveying, Mapping and Cadastre.

The trainings, workshops, and information sharing facilitated by this commitment helped to change the established practice by educating the responsible employees in open data process. Although only 25 public authorities, out of more than 7,500, currently publish and catalogue their data in NODC, including government ministries (as stated above), and there is a positive trend in terms of involving public bodies and providing them with support for publishing in open data, which was not the case before the commitment implementation. Consequently, access to information for citizens has improved, as the upgraded NODC offers more than 130,000 open datasets, searchable by key words, provider or formats, which can be used for non-commercial and commercial purposes. There is still room for improvement, namely in opening data from areas under the competence of the Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Education, or Ministry of Transport.

Carried Forward?

This commitment is not carried forward to the next action plan.

^[18] Ministry of the Interior, "Otevrena data II" (2018), http://www.mvcr.cz/clanek/otevrena-data-ii.aspx

^[19] Otevrena dat, "Otevrena data v CR: Portal pro poskytovatele" (27 July 2018), https://opendata.gov.cz/

[20] The second annual conference, https://opendata.gov.cz/edu:konference:2017. The first conference took place in 2015. (There was no annual conference in 2016.)

[21] Annual Report on open data in the Czech Republic 2017, https://opendata.gov.cz/_media/dokumenty:výroční-zpráva-2017.pdf

[22] Ibid.

[23] Ministry of the Interior, https://www.mvcr.cz/clanek/ministerstvo-vnitra-usporadalo-konferenci-o-otevrenych-datech-ve-verejne-sprave.aspx