Open Data Collection and Publication (GE0082)

Commitment 2: Improving the open data collection and publishing process in
Akhaltsikhe and Kutaisi municipalities

The open data concept holds a special place in the open government process. The GoG maintains open data at both the central and local levels on a daily basis.

The open data publication in a regular and proper form enables citizens, the business sector and any stakeholder to familiarize with the state data and make using them innovative applications, business projects and electronic services.

For regular and effective use of open data, the LEPL – Data Exchange Agency under the Ministry of Justice, within the framework of the OGP Georgia Action Plan 2014-2015, created an open data portal http://www.data.gov.ge. Since creation of the portal up to this day, the placement of data thereon is carried out with a low frequency and intensity, and especially on the part of local government.

The Kutaisi City Municipality with the support of UNDP has developed and approved an anti-corruption strategy and action plan. The anti-corruption activity will be conducted using an innovative model Islands of Integrity. A part of the anti-corruption action plan represents the proactive publication of open data. However, one of the major challenges for Akhaltsikhe and Kutaisi municipalities is shortage of necessary capabilities for collecting and processing open data in the appropriate formats (XML, CSV).

Based on the above, the Akhaltsikhe and Kutaisi municipalities shall work out an Open Data Action Plan 2019-2020, the effective implementation of which will significantly improve the open data collection, processing and publishing capabilities in Akhaltsikhe and Kutaisi municipalities.

Commitment 2: Improving the open data collection and publishing process
Lead Agency Akhaltsikhe Municipality Town Hall
Kutaisi Municipality City Hall
Other Involved Actors Public Agency
Civil Society/ Private Sector USAID-funded Good Governance Initiative in Georgia (GGI);

Issues to be Addressed To date, Akhaltsikhe and Kutaisi municipalities maintain and publish open data in a rather limited amount in the appropriate formats (XML, CSV).
At that, the municipalities lack a specific plan on how to improve the municipality capabilities for facilitating the open data collection, processing and regular publication.
Main Objective Enhancing the capabilities for the open data collection, processing and publication in Akhaltsikhe and Kutaisi municipalities.
OGP Challenge Increasing integrity in the public sector; better management of public resources.
OGP Principles Transparency Accountability Civil Participation Technology and Innovation
 
Milestones to Fulfill the Commitment New or ongoing commitment Start date End date
Preparation of a situational analysis in connection with open data collection, processing and publication. New Fourth quarter 2018 December 2018
Preparation of an initial version of the Open Data Action Plan (2019-2020) New First quarter 2019 March 2019
Public considerations of the initial version of the Open Data Action Plan (2019-2020) New First quarter 2019 June 2019
Approval of the Open Data Action Plan (2019-2020) and monitoring framework New Second quarter 2019 June, 2019
Indicator The Open Data Action Plan (2019-2020) and monitoring framework have been developed and approved by the Municipality Assembly.

Commitment 17: Improving the Open Data Collection and Publishing Process in Akhaltsikhe and Kutaisi Municipalities

Language of the commitment as it appears in the action plan:

“The open data concept holds a special place in the open government process. The GoG maintains open data at both the central and local levels on a daily basis.

The open data publication in a regular and proper form enables citizens, the business sector and any stakeholder to familiarize with the state data and make using them innovative applications, business projects and electronic services.

For regular and effective use of open data, the LEPL — Data Exchange Agency under the Ministry of Justice, within the framework of the OGP Georgia Action Plan 2014–2015, created an open data portal http://www.data.gov.ge. Since the creation of the portal up to this day, the placement of data thereon is carried out with a low frequency and intensity, and especially on the part of local government.

The Kutaisi City Municipality with the support of UNDP has developed and approved an anti-corruption strategy and action plan. The anti-corruption activity will be conducted using an innovative model Islands of Integrity. A part of the anti-corruption action plan represents the proactive publication of open data. However, one of the major challenges for Akhaltsikhe and Kutaisi municipalities is shortage of necessary capabilities for collecting and processing open data in the appropriate formats (XML, CSV).

Based on the above, the Akhaltsikhe and Kutaisi municipalities shall work out an Open Data Action Plan 2019-2020, the effective implementation of which will significantly improve the open data collection, processing and publishing capabilities in Akhaltsikhe and Kutaisi municipalities."

Milestones: 

1. Preparation of a situational analysis in connection with open data collection, processing and publication.
2. Preparation of an initial version of the Open Data Action Plan (2019-2020)
3. Public considerations of the initial version of the Open Data Action Plan (2019-2020)
4. Approval of the Open Data Action Plan (2019-2020) and monitoring framework

Start Date: September 2018

End Date: June 2019

Editorial note: For the full text of this commitment, please see https://www.opengovpartnership.org/documents/georgia-action-plan-2018-2019/.

Context and Objectives

This commitment calls for Kutaisi and Akhaltsikhe municipalities to develop Open Data Action Plans and monitoring frameworks. Kutaisi municipality approved an Integrity Strategy in 2018 that included proactive publishing municipal data. Akhaltsikhe municipality committed to approve an Integrity Strategy within Georgia’s current national action plan. The Open Data Action Plans will define specific steps to improve data collection and management processes and enable municipalities to publish government data in an open data format. [98]

The implementation of the commitment is supported by the United States Agency for International Development’s Good Governance Initiative. That initiative contracted the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) to provide technical assistance to the municipalities. [99] Specifically, IDFI will provide expertise for the development of detailed methodologies and work plans, conduct situational analyses with recommendations, develop open data strategies and action plans, and conduct capacity building for municipal government personnel. The commitment and its activities are directed toward the improvement of internal data management and better data disclosure. Thus, it is relevant to the OGP value of access to information. The commitment is also relevant to civic participation. It encourages public discussions on the initial drafts of action plans.

The commitment provides verifiable, measurable milestones, such as performing situational analyses, preparing first drafts of documents, and conducting public consultations on the drafts. The development of the Open Data Action Plans could improve data management and proactive disclosure in the two municipalities. Also, the plans could increase the accessibility of local government datasets, enabling stakeholders, civil society organizations, private sector actors, media, and academics to utilize this data. Accordingly, this commitment could represent a minor but positive a first step toward improving open data management in these municipalities. However, the actual impact of these action plans will depend on their content as implemented.

Next steps

The IRM researcher recommends the following:

• The published data should be continuously updated. This could raise the reliability of the provided data and increase its utilization by interested parties.
• To generate maximum impact from publishing in an open data format, public organizations could raise awareness among communities about both the concepts of open data and how such data can be used. Those organizations could also promote what they have accomplished in this regard.

[98] Institute for Development of Freedom of Information project: “Develop Open Data Strategies and Action Plans (2019–2020),” 2019, https://bit.ly/2GcWrSY.

[99] Mariam Gorgadze, Deputy Chief of Party and Mikheil Darchiashvili, Governance Manager at USAID Good Governance Initiative USAID Good Governance Initiative, interview with IRM researcher, 14 May 2019.

17. Improve the open data collection and publishing process in Akhaltsikhe and Kutaisi municipalities

Theme VI: Municipalities

Complete

Both Akhaltsikhe and Kutaisi Municipalities developed and approved their open data strategies (2019-2020) and monitoring frameworks. USAID GGI contracted the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) for this commitment. [66] IDFI carried out comprehensive analyses for both municipalities and met with stakeholders such as City Hall representatives, CSOs, and media to identify local needs. Based on the findings, IDFI developed initial drafts of the strategies tailored to local needs. As a next step, IDFI organized public consultations on the drafts and reflected the feedback in the final documents. [67] IDFI trained relevant municipal personnel on how to collect, process, and publish information in open data format. [68] Lastly, IDFI developed an Open Data Guidebook for civil servants [69] that provides practical solutions and examples for data collection, processing, analysis, and visualization.

This commitment served as a key starting point to raising the understanding of open data in these self-governments and develop unified standards for collecting and publishing public information in open format. Both municipalities revised their procedures for proactively publishing public information and defined default open formats such as CSV and XML as the primary format for publication. The municipalities also specified responsible units for exchanging data between their departments and archiving information. Both municipalities published their budgets for the 2019, 2020, 2021 fiscal years for the first time in open data format, unlike the previous practice when budgets were published as PDFs. According to stakeholders, this has allowed local CSOs to better monitor the budgetary and spending processes. [70] Both municipalities plan to identify additional government information to publish in open format and promote its use among CSOs and the private sector. [71]

Based on the positive experiences from Akhaltsikhe and Kutaisi, in 2020, USAID GGI and IDFI supported six new municipalities (Gori, Lagodekhi, Ozurgeti, Senaki, Telavi, and Zugdidi) in conducting situational analyses of open data management practices and provided open data trainings for the employees of these municipalities. Capacity building activities will continue in 2021. [72]