How open is government data in Africa?

Findings from the Africa Open Data Index and Africa Data Revolution Report Today, we are pleased to announce the results of Open Knowledge International’s Africa Open Data Index. This regional version of our Global Open Data Index collected baseline data on open data publication in 30 African countries to provide input for the second Africa […]

Open data governance and open governance: interplay or disconnect?  

Authors: Ana Brandusescu, Carlos Iglesias, Danny Lämmerhirt, Stefaan Verhulst (in alphabetical order) The presence of open data often gets listed as an essential requirement toward “open governance”. For instance, an open data strategy is reviewed as a key component of many action plans submitted to the Open Government Partnership. Yet little time is spent on […]

Advancing Sustainability Together: Launching new report on citizen-generated data and its relevance for the SDGs

We are pleased to announce the launch of our latest report Advancing Sustainability Together? Citizen-Generated Data and the Sustainable Development Goals. The research is the result of a collaboration with King’s College London, Public Data Lab and the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data. Citizen-generated data (CGD) expands what gets measured, how, and for what […]

New research to map the diversity of citizen-generated data for sustainable development

We are excited to announce a new research project around citizen-generated data and the UN data revolution. This research will be led by Open Knowledge International in partnership with King’s College London and the Public Data Lab to develop a vocabulary for governments to navigate the landscape of citizen-generated data. This research elaborates on past […]

Europe’s proposed PSI Directive: A good baseline for future open data policies?

Some weeks ago, the European Commission proposed an update of the PSI Directive**. The PSI Directive regulates the reuse of public sector information (including administrative government data), and has important consequences for the development of Europe’s open data policies. Like every legislative proposal, the PSI Directive proposal is open for public feedback until July 13. […]

The Open Data Charter Measurement Guide is out now!

This post was jointly written by Ana Brandusescu (Web Foundation) and Danny Lämmerhirt (Open Knowledge International), co-chairs of the Measurement and Accountability Working Group of the Open Data Charter. It was originally published via the Open Data Charter’s Medium account.     We are pleased to announce the launch of our Open Data Charter Measurement Guide. The […]

The Open Data Charter’s Measurement Guide is now open for consultation!

This blogpost is co-authored by  Ana Brandusescu  and Danny Lämmerhirt, co-chairs of the Measurement and Accountability Working Group of the Open Data Charter. The Measurement and Accountability Working Group (MAWG) is launching the public consultation phase for the draft Open Data Charter Measurement* Guide! Measurement tools are often described in technical language. The Guide explains how […]

How do open data measurements help water advocates to advance their mission?

This blogpost was jointly written by Danny Lämmerhirt and Nisha Thompson (DataMeet). Since its creation, the open data community has been at the heart of the Global Open Data Index (GODI). By teaming up with expert civil society organisations we define key datasets that should be opened by government to align with civil society’s priorities. […]

Understanding the costs of scholarly publishing – Why we need a public data infrastructure of publishing costs

Scholarly communication has undergone a seismic shift away from closed publishing towards an ever-growing support for open access. With closed publishing models, academic libraries faced a so-called  “serials crisis” and were not able to afford the materials they needed for their researchers and students. Partly in response to this problem, open access advocates have argued […]

New research: Understanding the drivers of license proliferation

Open licensing is still a major challenge for open data publication. In a recent blog post on the state of open licensing in 2017 Open Knowledge International identified that governments often decide to create custom licenses instead of using standard open licenses such as Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. This so-called license proliferation is problematic for […]

The state of open licensing in 2017

This blog post is part of our Global Open Data Index (GODI) blog series. Firstly, it discusses what open licensing is and why it is crucial for opening up data. Afterward, it outlines the most urgent issues around open licensing as identified in the latest edition of the Global Open Data Index and concludes with […]

What is the difference between budget, spending and procurement data?

Fiscal data is a complex topic. It comes in all different kind of formats and languages, its’ availability cannot be taken for granted and complexity around fiscal data needs special skills and knowledge to unlock and fully understand it. The Global Open Data Index (GODI) assesses three fiscal areas of national government: budgets, spending, and procurement. Repeatedly […]

How to Read the Global Open Data Index Results

The Global Open Data Index (GODI) is a tool to educate civil society and governments about open government data publication. We do so through presenting different information, including places scores, ranking, and scores for each data category per place, and comments by our submitters and reviewers. Even though we try to make this assessment coherent […]

Take aways from TicTec2017 – what happens when civic tech and research meet

This week mySociety held TICTeC 2017 in Italy, a conference to present and debate the impact of civic technology. The programme was well curated, convening high-quality talks from theory and practice, while striking a balance between discussing fundamental questions and looking at practical solutions. All session notes are stored on a hackfoldr that was kindly […]

Mapping open data governance models: Who makes decisions about government data and how?

Different countries have different models to govern and administer their open data activities. Ana Brandusescu, Danny Lämmerhirt and Stefaan Verhulst call for a systematic and comparative investigation of the different governance models for open data policy and publication. The Challenge An important value proposition behind open data involves increased transparency and accountability of governance. Yet […]

Data and the City: New report on how public data is fostering civic engagement in urban regions

How can city data infrastructures support public participation in local governance and policy-making? Research by Jonathan Gray and Danny Lämmerhirt examines the new relationships and public spaces emerging between public institutions, civil society groups, and citizens. The development of urban regions will significantly affect the lives of millions of people around the world. Urbanization poses challenges including […]

10 Critical Insights for Democratising the Data Revolution

This week marks the launch of the first-ever UN World Data Forum, aimed at bringing together data experts and sustainable development leaders. Danny Lämmerhirt shares findings from a new research series on citizen-generated data, how it can be used to monitor and drive change for sustainable development, and why this matters for civil society. Image […]

New Report: Making Citizen-Generated Data Work

Read the full report here. We are pleased to announce a new research series investigating how citizens and civil society create data to drive sustainable development. The series follows on from earlier papers on Democratising The Data Revolution and how citizen-generated data can change what public institutions measure. The first report “Making Citizen-Generated Data Work” asks […]

How is our economy ordered by information? Reflections from the Open Knowledge International monthly reading group

Danny Lämmerhirt and Mor Rubinstein share team reflections from the inaugural meeting of the Open Knowledge International Reading Group. This month’s topic examined the role that knowledge and data play for political and economic coordination. The team looked at Friedrich Hayek and Hernando de Soto and drew parallels from their work to how government information is managed […]

Introducing The New Proposed Global Open Data Index Survey

The Global Open Data Index (GODI) is one of the core projects of Open Knowledge International. Originally launched in 2013, it has quickly grown and now measures open data publication in 122 countries. GODI is a community tool, and throughout the years the open data community have taken an active role in shaping it by reporting […]