An open goal that can’t be missed: 2015 and open data
February 28, 2013 in Access to Information, Open Data, WG Development
STOP PRESS: UN holds consultation.
Okay, so this may not be the most groundbreaking of introductions. It’s up there with such bombshells as “man catches bus” and “comedian tells joke” with but stick with me … it’s important.
Today marks the first day of the UN’s post-2015 consultation on governance, jointly hosted by South Africa and Germany. For the uninitiated, “post-2015” is the lingo that the UN has given to the process of deciding what comes after the Millennium Development Goals which expire at the end of 2015.
As you may recall, in amongst the commotion of the millennium bug the turn of the century was accompanied by two significant actions by the UN. The first was the publication of ‘The Millennium Declaration’ which outlines the principles of cooperation for the twenty-first century and, incidentally, is probably one of the finest documents to emerge from UN headquarters on First Avenue at 46th Street, New York. The second was, at the time, the slightly less fanfared Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which set targets for developing countries in areas such as halving absolute poverty, providing greater access to education and reducing child mortality.
What we’ve learnt over the decade since the millenium is that what get measured counts. Wonderful prose and narrative on the importance of governance and human rights are to be applauded (and we should drive for more commitments), but when it comes to investing money governments have tended to focus on more measurable gains. The upshot of all this means that the MDGs, and the targets and indicators that they represent, have become the currency of twenty-first century development.
This brings me back to the UN post-2015 consultation on governance. If the lessons are to be learnt this time round it is essential that the values and principles of accountability, transparency and participation are translated into measurable goals, targets and indicators that are included as part of the goal framework – not as the side note. Without an explicit push to improve the quality, timeliness and availability of information any efforts to establish a transformational post-2015 agenda will only ever be directed at an incomplete, and potentially inaccurate, picture.
At Development Initiatives we have been working on proposals for a goal on access to information as well as proposals on open development with others. But alone we don’t have the all the answers or the influence to make this happen. What is needed is for other members of the open data community to be alert to the post-2015 process and how we can collectively use this forum to advance the cause for open and better quality data. In short, we need your help to make sure the UN understand that this is an open goal that can’t be missed.
If you’d like to find out more about the post-2015 process then please contact andrew.palmer@devinit.org
On February 15-16, the Open Research Data Handbook Sprint will happen at the Open Data Institute, 65 Clifton Street, London EC2A 4JE.
