Public Data Qulity Management (KR0047)

Enhancement of the Quality Management of Public Data through Collecting the Public’s Opinions
Commitment Start and End Date
September 1, 2018 ~ August 31, 2020
Lead Implementing Agency/Actor
Public Data Policy Division, Ministry of the Interior and Safety
Commitment Description
What is the public problem that the commitment will address?
As the data with the huge demand from the public and businesses are increasingly disclosed, they are being used actively. Indeed, the number of data usage has jumped from 13,000 in 2013 to 166,000 in 2016, a 120-fold increase. That said, the public and businesses have continuously raised concerns over a lack of quality and standardized public data
What is the commitment?
The purpose of this commitment is to produce more quality data and increase the usage of such data through encouraging the public including citizens and businesses to participate in policy making regarding the quality management of public data. To do so, the following will be conducted: 1) providing more standards for disclosing the public data and open formats regarding data with high demand amongst the public and owned by multiple organizations (e. g. the domains of self-driving vehicles, smart city, health care and smart farm are selected considering the demand in the public) 2) reflecting the user’s request regarding the problems in the quality of public data through operating the suggestion box year-round 3) involving the public throughout the entire policy implementation process including the establishment, implementation and outcome (impact) of policies on the quality management of public data. The implementation of this commitment will support free convergence between the public and private data, reduce the cost of processing and refining data of the public and businesses and enhance the value of using the public data.
How will the commitment contribute to solve the public problem?
The detailed implementation method of this commitment is as follows: 1) conducting a public demand survey on standardization and quality enhancement of public data 2) operating the year-round public suggestion box such as “the error report center for public data” within the public data portal and “the Data 1st Street” 3) receiving the public’s opinions regarding the quality management through establishing the public council
Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values?
- (Transparency) The public data created and collected throughout carrying out the administrative work helps enhancing work transparency - (Citizen Participation) Disclosure standards and quality management policies are conducted with the help of the public council
Exchange and Peer Learning
- Delivering a presentation on disclosure standards of public data and a quality management evaluation system at the ISO TC184/SC4 Meeting for experts in the public and private sector - Delivering a presentation on disclosure standards of public data and a quality management evaluation system at 2019 MIT CDOIQ Symposium for CDOs in the public and private sector
Additional Information
Other policies and strategies: the 2nd Public Data Basic Plan (2017 – 2019), public data innovation strategies (the Public Data Strategy council, Feb, 2018), the way to standardize public data and encourage the usage (a steering session on pending policy issues, April, 2018)
Milestone Activity with a Verifiable Deliverable
Conduct a public demand survey on standardization and quality enhancement of public data
Operating a suggestion box for public data users year-round
Building and operating a public-private cooperative body for standardization of public data
Conducting an evaluation on public data quality management and having quality evaluators from the private sector participate in the process
cf. The establishment and implementation of policies and strategies commence in January and end in December in Korea
Contact Information
Name of Responsible Person from Implementing Agency
Heera Song
Title, Division
Deputy Director, Public Data Policy Division
Email and Phone
lapaella@korea.kr, +82-2-2100-3453
Other Actors Involved,
NA

11. Enhancement of the Quality Management of Public Data through Collecting the Public's Opinion

Commitment Text:

"Enhancement of the Quality Management of Public Data through Collecting the Public's Opinion"

The purpose of this commitment is to produce more quality data and increase the usage of such data through encouraging the public including citizens and businesses to participate in policy making regarding the quality management of public data. To do so, the following will be conducted: 1) providing more standards for disclosing the public data and open formats regarding data with high demand amongst the public and owned by multiple organizations (e. g. the domains of self-driving vehicles, smart city, health care and smart farm are selected considering the demand in the public) 2) reflecting the user's request regarding the problems in the quality of public data through operating the suggestion box year-round 3) involving the public throughout the entire policy implementation process including the establishment, implementation and outcome (impact) of policies on the quality management of public data. The implementation of this commitment will support free convergence between the public and private data, reduce the cost of processing and refining data of the public and businesses and enhance the value of using the public data.

The detailed implementation method of this commitment is as follows:

1) conducting a public demand survey on standardization and quality enhancement of public data

2) operating the year-round public suggestion box such as "the error report center for public data" within the public data portal and "the Data 1st Street"

3) receiving the public's opinions regarding the quality management through establishing the public council

Milestones:

11.1 Conduct a public demand survey on standardization and quality enhancement of public data

11.2 Operating a suggestion box for public data users year-round

11.3 Building and operating a public-private cooperative body for standardization of public data

11.4 Conducting an evaluation on public data quality management and having quality evaluators from the private sector participate in the process

Start Date: 1 September 2018 End Date: 31 August 2020

Editorial Note: For the full text of the commitment, please see Korea's 4th National Action Plan 2018-2020 at https://bit.ly/2JvQr98.

Context and Objectives

Linked to Commitment 10, which aims to expand disclosure of public data, the purpose of this commitment is to produce higher quality public data and increase its usage by citizens and businesses. The commitment aims to encourage inclusive participation in decision-making around the management and standardization of data quality through public demand surveys, suggestion boxes, and a public-private council to capture and represent public opinion.

This commitment is verifiable as it identifies a number of specific and measurable milestones such as the introduction of a suggestion box and the establishment of a public-private council. However, at a more macro, outcome-level, the commitment does not define "quality data," it does not indicate how much the commitment aims to increase data usage, and it does not specify how the public input will be used to inform decision making. The Act on the Provision and Use of Public Data [49] and the Guidelines for Public Data Management provide direction on the measures that public institutions should take in order to ensure adequate data quality.

This commitment is relevant to the OGP value of access to information as the activities aim to improve the quality of information being made available to the public. It is also relevant to the OGP value of civic participation as the public-private council allows citizens and businesses to participate in government decision-making about managing data quality and standards.

At the time this commitment was designed, the public data portal published a range of data, and often responded to requests received through the portal. [50] However, this regular exchange was frequently hampered by poor data quality. Specifically, inadequate standardization, missing data, and the inconsistent use of data formats diminished the utility of public data, and discouraged stakeholders from leveraging its full potential. According to a civil society representative, it cost citizens and other interested stakeholders time and money to refine, process, and integrate data of poor quality. ^[51]

This commitment seeks to address these concerns through the inclusive participation of key stakeholders in ensuring data quality and standards. Civil society noted that involving citizens and businesses in data management decisions should enhance data quality and usage. ^[52] Although citizens and businesses could file requests for public data on the portal prior to this commitment, [53] there was no opportunity for them to be involved in decision-making processes around the management of data quality. ^[54]

This commitment stands to have moderate potential impact on producing higher quality public data and increasing data usage among citizens and businesses. Although limited in terms of specificity, the commitment outlines measures to involve citizens and businesses in managing data quality and civil society stakeholders are confident that this will further improve data quality and usage. ^[55] However, data quality and usage have been increasing steadily over the years; [56] so the extent to which inclusive participation in decision-making will improve data quality and usage cannot be easily verified.

Next steps

As noted in Commitment 10, better data quantity and quality could position South Korea as a regional and global leader in public open data initiatives. Therefore, the IRM recommends the next action plan continue efforts in this area. However, in doing so, the IRM recommends that stakeholders build on existing efforts to raise the ambition of future commitments in the following ways:

• Provide training and clear guidelines on how public data can be leveraged and used by citizens to inform decision-making; and
• Organize workshops, hackathons, or other competitions to support the utilization of public data in resolving societal issues.

11. Enhancement of the Quality Management of Public Data through Collecting the Public’s Opinions

Complete:

According to the government self-assessment, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety selected 120 standards for data disclosure and established a preventive quality control system. Relevant public and private sector entities participated in the process. In addition, the ministry facilitated demand surveys and a year-round suggestion box for public data users. There is no information on any activities to increase data use. IRM requested information from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on what suggestions, if any, were received and how they were incorporated into the quality management processes. The ministry did not respond to this information request.