PRINCIPLE 6 — For Inclusive Development and Innovation

Authors: Nadiia Babynska | Reviewers: Arturo Muente-Kunigami, Ana Brandusescu, Danny Lämmerhirt

For Inclusive Development and Innovation

Principle 6 is about people, business, and inclusive development. It is also about partnerships, education and development. Beyond improving government performance, open data can benefit the economy via innovation and creativity, and increase the standard of living. For example, greater access to data can be used to tackle climate change. Open data can also support the inclusion of marginalised groups. Open data can help meet global challenges and be “a force for improving life for all people, everywhere” as The Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data states.

Case studies

The UK government, a Charter adopter, has partnered with the Open Data Institute to increase knowledge and expertise on data innovation. Bloomberg Philanthropies has launched programs for cities in the US and around the world. In addition, Etalab, the French agency in charge of Open Data in France in cooperation with the French national agency for statistics, organized in November 2016 a hackathon “OpenSirene” to test and use the data of SIRENE (an electronic directory of companies and institutions). Both of these case studies highlight programs and initiatives created and supported to foster the development or co-creation of datasets, visualizations, applications, and other tools based on open data.

Overview of Principle 6 – For Inclusive Development and Innovation

Target audience(s)	Governments, civil society, multilateral institutions, private sector, developers, educational institutions/academia
What is currently measured	All commitments are measured on different levels by the ODB, OURdata and EODMA, yet often only in-part.

Elements of Principle 6 that are assessed by leading open data measurement tools are catalogued in Appendix I - Principle 6 Indicator Table and reviewed below.

Commitment P6.a, “Encourage citizens, civil society and private sector organizations, and multilateral institutions to open up data created and collected by them in order to move toward a richer open data ecosystem with multiple sources of open data”, is measured by ODB and OURdata. Indicators assess the support to open up data by civil society and private sector and others, and whether coordinated campaigns exist that support open data or work with governments to promote open data and create value via products and services (ODB). Another example is by assessing whether civil society organisations have started to contribute to the enrichment of government data with new data collected by them (ODB), or whether a contact person systematically provided with every dataset made public as open data (OURdata).

Commitment P6.b, “Create or explore potential partnerships between governments and with civil society and private sector organizations and multilateral institutions to support the release of open data and maximize the impact of data through effective use”, is measured by ODB and OURdata. For example, ODB indicators consider whether there is regular government engagement with the user community, and whether public-private partnerships with civil society, private sector organizations or other multilateral institutions, are being explored to support the release of open data and maximize impact through effective use. OURdata measures the availability of government partnerships with business incubators to support reuse of open data by companies and start-ups, is also measured as well as the availability of government partnerships with civil society organizations to support the reuse of open data.

Commitment P6.c, “Create or support programs and initiatives that foster the development or co-creation of datasets, visualizations, applications, and other tools based on open data”, is measured by ODB and OURdata. Indicators assess the actual count of initiatives and programs at the national and/or sub-national, regional or local level, and whether government is involved in or supports such initiatives. ODB measures whether there is evidence of substantial continuous commitment from government to support and empower data driven innovation, assessing whether significant financial incentives are put in place to create new services to support a range of different activities for the promotion of data innovation (e.g. explore data possibilities and developing new products and tools). In addition, it assesses whether events with third-parties are organised, whether multiple government departments are involved in supporting innovation with open data, and whether government organises competitions, grants, events, or other support actions to incentivise open data use. OURdata assesses whether hackathons and/or co-creation events are organized by central/federal ministries/agencies.

Commitment P6.d, “Engage with schools and post-secondary education institutions to support increased open data research and to incorporate data literacy into educational curricula”, is measured by ODB, where the indicator assesses whether data literacy has been incorporated into educational curricula at schools and post-secondary education institutions.

Commitment P6.e, “Conduct or support research on the social and economic impacts of open data”, is partially measured by ODB and EODMA. Indicators assess whether any evidence is provided on the social and economic impacts (not considering whether government conducts or supports these studies) (ODB). OURdata assesses more specifically, whether government has conducted or financed research.

Commitment P6.f, “Build capacity and share technical expertise and experience with other governments and international organizations around the world, ensuring that everyone can reap the benefits of open data”, is partially measured by EODMA. Indicator assesses whether the European Data Portal holds meetings with national open data teams to share best practice.

Commitment P6.g, “Empower a future generation of data innovators inside and outside government by building capacity and encouraging developers, entrepreneurs, civil society and private sector organizations, academics, media representatives, government employees, and other users to unlock the value of open data”, is partially measured by ODB and OURdata. ODB assesses whether evidence exists that governments make a substantial continuous commitment to support and empower a data-driven culture of innovation with open data. Indicators measure whether significant financial incentives are put in place by governments to create new services and value and to support a range of different activities for the promotion of data innovation. Other indicators track whether events are organized targeting different audiences towards different ends, whether multiple government departments support innovation with open data through dedicated teams in government, whether explicit commitments to open data have been made by a senior government figure (e.g. Cabinet minister) and/or whether parliament backs an open data initiative, whether an open data initiative regularly shares experience and/or technical expertise with other governments and/or international organizations or initiatives around the world (e.g. the Open Data Charter or the Open Government Partnership). Beyond the ODB indicators, OURdata measures whether any comprehensive assessments have been conducted in a European country to better understand the main barriers to the reuse of OGD among businesses/ civil society organizations.