Promotion and Improvement of Open Data Policy and Practice (ME0067)

What public problem does the measure address? This measure responds to the problem of insufficient visibility of the open data portal, weak promotion of good practices, publication and reuse of open data in the possession of authorities (including machine-readable data), as well as inadequate planning of the publication of open data by state administration bodies. The open data portal: https://data.gov.me/ was established for the first time in Montenegro in 2018 and is a central place for publishing information held by the public administration and enables easy data searching in an open, i.e. machine-readable, format. On the Open Data Portal https://data.gov.me/ in June 2022 there were a total of 146 data sets, published by 20 institutions from 15 different thematic areas, and those open data from the Montenegrin national portal as of June 2020 are available on the European open data portal https://www.europeandataportal.eu/en . Regardless of the progress achieved in recent years, still a small number of institutions publish datasets on the open data portal. The Mayority of employees in the public administration are not familiar with the concept of open data and the reuse of already available/published data, as well as the importance of proactive publication of data, as established in the Law on SPI. Additional promotion of the use of open data portals and the publication of high-value data sets is needed, in line with the expectations of the European Open Data Directive.

What does this measure entail? The measure includes a series of activities intended to encourage greater use of the open data portal by all state administration bodies - from the creation of visuals and promo videos about the open data portal that would be available on the websites of all state administration bodies.

In what way does the measure contribute to the solution of the identified public problem? It is expected that through promotional activities and campaigns aimed at raising awareness and expanding the initiative on opening data in the possession of the public administration, as well as better planning for the publication of open data, greater transparency of authorities, the use and reuse of the same data, the awarding of an annual award for the best initiatives will be achieved /open data projects, as well as the introduction of annual plans for publishing open data and monitoring the frequency of updates of published data.

Why is this measure relevant in relation to the values promoted through the OGP initiative? This measure is directly relevant to the values of transparency and openness of public administration, as well as strengthening the responsibility of authorities in the creation and management of public policies.

Additional information This measure is complementary to the goals and activities of the National Public Administration Reform Strategy 2022-2026, especially Strategic Priority 4. Transparent and open public administration and related operational goal 4.3. Improving the reuse of information and increasing the availability of open data. It is necessary to further improve coordination in this area in the work of the Operational Team for implementing the Partnership for Open Administration initiative, the Council for Open Data as well as the Council for Public Administration Reform as working bodies of the Government that deal with open data policy as part of their competence. The measure is compatible with the goals of sustainable development (Goal 16: 'Peace, justice and strong institutions', especially with task 16.6 - Develop efficient, accountable and transparent institutions at all levels), as well as task 16.10. Provide public access to information and protection of basic freedoms, in accordance with national legislation and international agreements.

Budget 33.000 EUR

Activities

5.1. Promote access to the open data portal on the web of all state bodies and LGUs Holder: Ministry of Public Administration, Directorate for Innovation and Openness of Public Administration Activity realization indicator: - Made a visual and promo video about the open data portal and available on all ODU and LS web presentations Required financial resources: EUR 5,000 Source of funding: Budget of Montenegro, donor funds March 2023 - June 2023

5.2. Award annual awards for the best open data initiatives/projects Holder: Ministry of Public Administration, Directorate for Innovation and Openness of Public Administration, Directorate for Infrastructure, Information Security, Digitization and e-Services Activity realization indicator: - Organized Hackathon - development of applications using open data, 2024 (in cooperation with the start-up community and the most frequent users of the open data portal) -Awarded three awards for the best rated applications Required financial resources: EUR 15,000 Source of funding: Budget of Montenegro, donor funds January 2024 - December 2024

5.3. Determine the obligation to adopt annual plans for the publication of open data and the obligation to report to the Government on the implementation of those plans Holder: Ministry of Public Administration, Directorate for Innovation and Openness of Public Administration, Directorate for Infrastructure, Information Security, Digitization and e-services; Agency for the Protection of Personal Data and Free Access to Information Activity realization indicator: - the amended Law on SPI includes the obligation to adopt annual open data plans and to report to the Government on the implementation of those plans Required financial resources: EUR 3,000 Source of funding: Budget of Montenegro, donor funds June 2023 - December 2023

5.4. Establish calendars for the publication of open data and monitor the frequency of updates of published data (minimum weekly or even daily updates, especially statistical data) Holder: Ministry of Public Administration, Directorate for Innovation and Openness in Public Administration Indicators for the implementation of activities: - prepared calendars of open data publications - monitor the frequency of data publication at the OGP Council and the Open Data Council Required financial resources: EUR 3,000 Source of funding: Budget of Montenegro, donor funds January 2024 - December 2024

5.5. Conduct regular consultations with citizens, the economy and other interested actors on the need to publish new data sets of great importance Holder: Ministry of Public Administration, Directorate for Innovation and Openness in Public Administration Indicators for the implementation of activities: - organized Open Data Days for the interested public in 2023 and 2024 - conducted targeted consultations with certain groups of the population to determine the need for publishing new data sets of great importance, including the business community, women's organizations, women's organizations, organizations representing people with disabilities and other categories of the population. Required financial resources: EUR 5,000 Source of funding: Budget of Montenegro, donor funds May 2023 - May 2024

5.6. The launch of an open data hub (Open Data Hub), which includes open membership of representatives of public administration, business, NGOs, scientific and educational academic communities, with the mission of improving the open data ecosystem and promoting the reuse of data sets on the portal Holder: Ministry of Public Administration Ministry of Public Administration, Directorate for Innovation and Openness in Public Administration in cooperation with the Council for Open Data Management Indicator for the implementation of activities: - conducted consultations on the working concept of the Open Data Hub - the Hub was formed in 2023 - the number of Hub members - completed work plan in 2023 - the first meeting and presentation of the Hub's work plan in 2023 was held. Required financial resources: EUR 2,000 Source of funding: Budget of Montenegro, donor funds September 2023 - December 2024

Action Plan Review

Commitment 5. Promote and improve open data

● Verifiable: Yes

● Does it have an open government lens? Yes

● This commitment has been clustered as: Open data (Commitments 5 and 16 of the action plan)

● Potential for results (cluster): Modest

Commitments 5 and 16 focus on open data at the national and local levels. Montenegro was classified as a “beginner” in the 2022 Open Data Maturity report, ranking 31 out of 34 EU+ countries. [54] Commitment 5 involves creating promotional visuals and videos about the portal, awarding innovative open data projects, holding an annual “Open Data Day”, and consulting citizens on publishing new datasets. It also entails adopting mandatory annual open data plans by and calendars for public institutions.

The annual plans could help the MPA and CSOs learn which public institutions are not publishing open data in line with their plans. In addition, interested organizations could influence data publication (i.e., businesses, women's organizations, and organizations representing people with disabilities). [55] The open data portal (data.gov.me) portal is back online following hacker attacks on Montenegrin government websites in August 2022. The IRM recommends the MPA focus on publishing key categories of data that Montenegro is lacking, such as air quality, administrative boundaries, election results, and land ownership. [56] In the long-term, the IRM recommends developing a national open data strategy to set targets and benchmarks for open data publication. Lastly, Institut Alternativa highlighted the need to address the issue of cybersecurity across the action plan by taking appropriate protective measures when improving websites and publishing open data. [57]

Commitment 16 focuses on open data from local self-government units (LSGUs). It involves organizing workshops for staff in LSGUs on open data disclosure and organizing an "open data caravan" with civil society in three regions. According to the Ministry of Finance, many LSGUs do not meet the provisions in the Law on Free Access to Information which require them to publish certain information in open format. [58] The activities to support the staff of LSGUs could benefit from the involvement of civil society and data users during implementation. For example, CSOs could support LSGUs in developing their own open data plans. Peer learning among LSGUs could also be encouraged.