Open Government Partnership and the Open Data for Development Network join forces to support open data initiatives around the world

The partnership will help advance the open dataBy opening up data and making it sharable and reusable, governments can enable informed debate, better decision making, and the development of innovative new services. Technical specifications: Polici... efforts in more than 60 OGP countries that have committed to implement ambitious open data principles.  

Since the creation of the Open Government Partnership, Open Data  commitments have been at the core of open government initiatives aiming to empowering government and civil society reformers to improve public services, reduce corruption, and harness technology to  make government more efficient. The OGP 16 Paris Declaration  recognizes that the increased availability of data is transforming the way citizens and governments interact, and is creating new opportunities for participation, responsiveness, and ongoing dialogue.

At a time when the open government and open data communities continue to evolve and still face similar challenges, the OGP and the OD4D network are establishing a partnership to coordinate efforts at the global, cross regional, and country levels to support knowledge sharing, peer learning, and mobilize resources toward effective the implementation of open data principles by members of the Open Government PartnershipThe Open Government Partnership (OGP) is a multi-stakeholder initiative focused on improving government transparency, ensuring opportunities for citizen participation in public matters, and strengthen... More.

Since the creation of the OGP Open Data Working Group in 2013, the Open Data for Development Network has worked together with global and regional partners to build the capacity of open data initiatives around the world. This included support for the establishment of the Open Data Charter, International Open Data Conferences, and an International Roadmap to advance standards, capacity buildingEnhancing the skills, abilities, and processes of public servants, civil society, and citizens is essential to achieving long-lasting results in opening government. Technical specifications: Set of ac..., and measurement together with regional initiatives around the world. In addition to supporting governments, Open Data for Development also supports civil society and citizens to use open data through new applications and innovations that are relevant to their lives, supporting more robust open data ecosystems.

During this #OpenGovWeek, we are pleased to announce that the Open Data for Development Network has established a thematic partnership to further advance open data across the Open Government Partnership. This partnership aims to increase support for transformative commitments by strengthening the capacity for more effective planning and implementation of open data initiatives, particularly in developing countries.  

With the  support of the  Open Data Charter, the partnership will reach a network of governments and experts with the goal of implementing open data based on a shared set of principles.

The partnership will target four main objectives:

1. Catalyze Action: To help governments, entrepreneurs, and civil society deliver on a global action planAction plans are at the core of a government’s participation in OGP. They are the product of a co-creation process in which government and civil society jointly develop commitments to open governmen... to harness open data for development;
2. Support Governments: To plan, execute, and manage national and subnational open data initiatives;
3. Scale Effective Use: To increase re-use of open data by supporting appropriate data standards, guidelines, solution-driven applications, and demand-side capacity, helping to bring about social and economic innovation;
4. Monitor Impact: To better understand the relationship between open data initiatives, socioeconomic development, and increased accountability in order to inform the quality and reach of future open data initiatives.

The partnership will be discussed during the webinar “Open data: How to Publishing with Purpose” on May 11, 2018 at 10 AM EST (co-hosted by the OGP and the Open Data Charter).  To inspire ideas for ambitious open data commitments in the 76 new action plans due this year, we will also discuss the trends that are informing the process to refresh the Open Data Charter Principles and emerging findings from the State of Open Data, which has been exploring the impact of open data to date, emerging challenges, and the way forward.  

More information on the planned activities under this new partnership is available here. You are also invited to take part in discussions to shape this partnership at the OGP Summit in Tbilisi and at the International Open Data Conference in Buenos Aires in September.

The Open Data for Development Network is hosted at the International Development Research Centre, and co-funded by Global Affairs Canada and the Hewlett Foundation. OD4D is the Co-host of the International Open Data Conference, and coordinates several locally-driven regional hubs in Latin America, Caribbean, West and East Africa, East Europe and Asia.