Bila Tserkva City adopts the international Open Data Charter principles
Bila Tserkva City joins the global open data community
Why did your government adopt the Charter and what benefits do you hope to gain?
Bila Tserkva is a transparent, modern and innovative city with rich cultural and historical heritage, hardworking citizens and a powerful research base. The emergence of new digital products and Internet of Things for municipalities has contributed to the development of open data in our community. With the assistance from the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, we compiled an action plan and formed a legal regulatory framework for further activities. We also conduct periodic training for responsible persons, publish basic and additional data sets of Bila Tserkva City Council, organize and carry out comprehensive audit of information, use open data in our everyday work and promote our own data sets, particularly for developing various software products. We have decided to join the international Open Data Charter because we strive to reach the international level, learn more about current global trends in the development of open data, receive and share valuable experience, cooperate with other local governments in the field of open data, get quality advice and feedback while preparing digital-projects.
How have you approached the guiding principle of becoming open by default?
The term “open data”, even in its name, contains the main principle — openness. All public data, which according to the law does not have limited access, should be available to everyone. We strive to share not only legislatively required data, but also additional ones that may be of public interest. The key factor of this process is the correct preparation of data sets (resources), which ensures their machine-readability and interoperability. We are currently working on filling our City Open Data Portal, which will have a user-friendly interface and will provide fast, secure access to open data, managed by BTCC and its executive bodies.
What challenges have you encountered from developing and implementing your open data policy and which area would you seek most support from the Charter network?
The main challenges faced by most managers of information are the involvement of interested parties in the development of open data and its effective use. Our community is no exception. We are thinking of expanding open data impact and scaling processes based on it. Another important issue is the digitalization and establishment of registers, which are meant to interact with each other and bring everything to a unified integrated system. We are confident that we will be able to gain some useful experience in solving similar problems from our Charter colleagues.
Based on your experience, what is your top tip for government officials implementing open data initiatives?
We recommend including open data in communities’ strategies, plans and programs; spreading more information about benefits and relevance of using open data today. Modern world is in the Information Age, when many different data are stored, distributed, processed and used. The future is not possible without structuring and systematization of information, so if you want to stay ahead — use open data.
Is there a particular policy challenge or sector that your open data strategy will seek to tackle?
As a local self-government body, we are most interested in solving local-level tasks, such as managing communal property and land, supporting local business, providing administrative and social services, developing education, medicine and sports, etc. Our strategy is aimed at the establishment of unified mechanisms of interaction between government and society based on open data.
We are very happy to welcome the city of Bila Tserkva of Ukraine to the ODC Network and hope to strengthen our collaboration! Read their adoption letter here.
