71 communities from Lviv Region, Ukraine adopt the international Open Data Charter en masse
1,928 settlements jointly commit to the 6 principles of openness
In a rapidly changing world, where information is becoming more accessible and challenges are becoming more complex, we make a conscious choice: the choice of openness and transparency.
Do you remember the cult movie The Matrix? Neo faces a choice between the red and blue pills offered to him by Morpheus. The blue pill would allow Neo to stay in the illusory world of the Matrix, to live in ignorance. The red pill, on the other hand, reveals the truth to him: he will see reality as it is.
In the world of The Matrix, reality was an illusion created to control humanity. What will allow us to see and understand the true state of affairs? For us, this is open data, which, on the contrary, breaks any illusion. It allows us to analyze, compare, and draw conclusions based on real facts, not assumptions or speculation.
In 2017, the city of Lviv has already embarked on this path, followed by Drohobych.
“Why not do it all together?” we thought. Two cities had already adopted the Charter in 2017 so we decided that it would be a really cool case to join the entire Lviv region. This new wave of adoptions includes a total of 71 communities with 1,928 settlements and 2,709,294 residents.
Joining all 71 communities —which now totals 73 communities from the Lviv region adopting the Open Data Charter principles to date — is our way of showing that together, we choose transparency, responsibility, and openness. It is our “red pill” that allows us to see reality and work to improve it.
Ukraine is a country with a great future, and its society has high expectations of the government, so the communities of the Lviv region represent the aspirations of the whole of Ukraine for openness and support of global development trends. Implementing a policy of free access to open data in society is one of them.
Our goal is to teach public officials and other consumers how to use open data competently.
Why did we choose the path of openness?
Just like Neo, who sought to understand the truth, we strive to ensure transparency and accountability in the management of our region and communities. Open data is not just a set of numbers and tables. Lviv region has not just joined the International Open Data Charter. We are actively implementing our action plan.
- Streamlining the regulatory framework for open data
- Staffing and organizational support
- Development of the Local Open Data Portal of Lviv Oblast
- Financial support
- Improving the quality of data management
- Publication of datasets and their popularization
- Methodological support, standards and requirements for data
- Data management culture
- Promoting and supporting open data projects
- Cooperation at the national and international level
Was the process difficult?
Let’s just say it was intense and there were many challenges, but at the same time, it taught us a lot of things that we are ready to share. So if you are ready for this process…
● Ensure that you have a strong regulatory framework in place to govern all data-related processes. Also, define mandatory information sets and appoint people who will be responsible for keeping them up to date.
● High-quality technical infrastructure. Data should be posted on user-friendly portals.
● Cooperate with stakeholders who can provide the necessary support: investors, international partners, local government officials.
● Conduct regular information audits to help identify the actual needs of citizens.
● Through ongoing public discussions, find out what data is most interesting and in demand by residents.
● Organize constant feedback and internal communication to improve the quality of work.
●Create a culture of openness and transparency in society, from government agencies to residents.
●Do not stand still and strive for continuous development and improvement. Try to surpass yourself and work for the benefit of people, because they are your foundation and support.
● Oh, and of course, the team — make sure you have a team that is really passionate about it! A kind of “open data — open minds” community of doers.
As Morpheus said in the movie “Remember, all I offer is the truth. Nothing more.”
We offer to open data in a quality manner. Nothing more.
How did we do it?
The difficulty of implementing the open data system was to launch and subsequently control this process properly. It was not enough to just join the Charter, provide people with the entire array of information and say: “Here is all the open data, use it.” Unfortunately, public servants often do not understand the importance of this area, and residents are characterized by low competence in working with open data.
We had to work hard to prioritize and gradually introduce open data, as well as to ensure inclusiveness and make sure that all data is understandable for every category of the interested population.
We created the Local Open Data Portal of Lviv Oblast https://data.loda.gov.ua/ and set up harvesting with the Unified State Open Data Portal https://data.gov.ua/. We saw positive feedback and started looking for new data that could meet all the needs of citizens;
With the support of the Hoverla project, the Lviv Oblast Analytical Portal was launched at https://apl.loda.gov.ua/, which already contains 28 dashboards of the region’s life;
Signed a Memorandum on Data Exchange with territorial units of central executive authorities in the Lviv Oblast, which has already resulted in the publication of 56 datasets.
Launched the Local Statistics Portal of Lviv Oblast https://stat.loda.gov.ua/, which already contains 142 indicators of the oblast’s vital activity, reflected in 16 categories and 114 of them in the context of Lviv Oblast’s territorial communities;
Ensured electronic interaction between the Local Open Data Portal and the Local Statistics Portal, whereby the former performs the function of data accumulation and the latter visualizes the accumulated data;
And, of course, 71 communities submitted a full package of documents for accession to the International Open Data Charter and approved an action plan for the development of open data in the community!
From this, we have formed principles that help us achieve success.
Clear understanding of the goals. Define a clear purpose of publishing open data, for example, to improve government transparency and accountability, to stimulate innovation. Determine the type of data to be published and its target audience.
Collaboration. Stakeholder engagement, collaborate with various stakeholders such as the public, researchers, developers and government to determine their needs and expectations for open data. Regularly collect feedback from users on the quality and usefulness of open data.
Responsibility. The success of open data depends on our willingness to take responsibility, facilitate access to data, and care about the overall success of the initiative
Why is open data still relevant and necessary, you may ask?
- Open data is the way to a better life.
- Citizens can control the government, see how their taxes are spent, and participate in decision-making.
- Businesses can grow by using data to develop new products and services.
- Scientists can make new discoveries, and journalists can conduct investigations based on real facts.
2. Open data is a tool for development.
- They help improve infrastructure, education, healthcare, and other areas of life.
- They stimulate innovation and create new jobs.
- They make the region more attractive for investment.
3. Open data is the foundation of democracy.
- They give people the opportunity to control the government and participate in political life.
- They make society more fair and inclusive.
- They help fight corruption and abuse of power.
We invite you to join us in the world we would like to see: one of openness and transparency, because open data is a common good that belongs to all of us. Together we can make our society better and more responsible.
