Regional Open Data Initiatives (MK0131)

Regional initiatives for cooperation in the field of open data
Start and end date of the commitment: September 2018 – September 2020
Lead implementing agency
Ministry of Information Society and Administration
Description of commitment
Status quo or problem addressed by the commitment
Open data portals in the region (WB6 countries) are different. Not all portals have implemented the option for entering metadata for open data. Different countries use a different data set of metadata.
Main objective
Preparation of a draft structure of metadata standards with at least one country in the region.
Brief description of the commitment
Macedonia has already developed a metadata standard that will be implemented in the new Open Data Portal. This standard would be a starting point for the development of metadata standards at regional level.
OGP challenge addressed by the commitment
- Public services improvement - Increasing public integrity
Additional information
It requires involvement and close cooperation by institutions responsible for open data in the countries in the region. Reference to Global Sustainable Development Goals, related to Goal 16 "Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions", Target 16.10: To provide access to information and protection of fundamental freedoms, in accordance with national legislation and international agreements The measures under this commitment contribute to the promotion of the access, utilization and monitoring of trends in relation to public information and data
Milestone
4.2.1. Establishing a working group for open data in the region
4.2.2. Analysis of macedoninan metadata standards by the working group
4.2.3. Preparation of draft metadata standards at regional level
Name of responsible person from implementing agency
Filip Manevski Nadica Josifovski
Title, Department
State Advisor for Information Systems and Technologies State Advisor for Information Systems and Technologies
Phone and e-mail
+389(0)2 320-0870 +389(0)2 320-0878 Filip.manevski@mioa.gov.mk Nadica.Josifovski@mioa.gov.mk
Other actors involved
Institutions responsible for open data from WB6
Martin Todevski, Center for change management, martin.todevski@cup.org.mk Misha Popovikj, IDSCS, misha@idscs.org

Theme IV: Open Data

4.2. Regional initiatives for cooperation in the field of open data

Language of the commitment as it appears in the action plan: [61]

Macedonia has already developed a metadata standard that will be implemented in the new Open Data Portal. This standard would be a starting point for the development of metadata standards at regional level.

Milestones:

4.2.1. Establishing a working group for open data in the region

4.2.2. Analysis of Macedonian metadata standards by the working group

4.2.3. Preparation of draft metadata standards at regional level

Start Date: September 2018

End Date: September 2020

Context and Objectives

Under Commitment 2.1 from North Macedonia’s third action plan 2016-2018), the Ministry of Information Society and Administration (MISA), in cooperation with international and local CSOs, created metadata standards for government data. The standards were based on the DCAT-AP platform, which is a standard used by UK, US and European data portals. [62] The commitment in the current action plan aims to use this North Macedonian metadata standard as a starting point to develop a regional metadata standard among the six Western Balkans countries (WB6) to promote consistency across the region. [63] According to the action plan, not all of the regional countries’ open data portals have implemented the option for entering metadata and the six countries use different datasets for metadata.

Metadata add fields and descriptors to a dataset and provide a consistent framework for diverse datasets. Unless datasets have the same metadata fields, intercomparability and combination of data in analysis is problematic. Common metadata enhance searchability and integration of datasets.

The commitment specifically plans to establish a regional working group for open data, which will then analyze the North Macedonian metadata standard and prepare the draft standard for the region. The aim to improve the regional metadata standard makes the commitment relevant to the OGP value of access to information. The planned activities are verifiable, though they lack detail in terms of who is expected to participate in the regional working group and its work, other than analyzing and preparing the new metadata standard. The adoption of a regional metadata standard could lead to greater consistency across the region and harmonize the information in various national open data portals among the six countries. However, without greater detail regarding the need for a regional metadata standard, the overall potential impact is considered minor.

Next steps

The IRM recommends that the WB6 countries agree on which metadata standards should become a standard in the region (for wider comparability, for instance, the DCAT-AP platform standard). Additionally, the WB6 countries could work to pilot this in particular fields where regional comparisons across the countries would be most insightful for informing policy decisions. This could either be one ministry in each country or could be at the local level in neighboring regions, e.g. parts of Albania or Serbia that border North Macedonia.

[61] The texts for all the commitments are an abridged version of the commitment texts. For the full commitment texts, see the Republic of North Macedonia 2018-2020 National Action Plan, https://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/Macedonia_Action-Plan_2018-2020_EN.pdf

[62] IRM, Republic of Macedonia End-of-Term Report 2016-2018, p 19, https://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Macedonia_End-of-Term_Report_2016-2018_EN.pdf

[63] The Western Balkans six (WB6) refers to Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia.

Commitment 4.2 Regional initiatives for cooperation in open data

Limited:

MISA held initial talks with the Regional Cooperation Council to establish a working group for creating a regional metadata standard for the six Western Balkans countries. [60] According to the government self-assessment, MISA now plans to establish the working group in 2021 in cooperation with the Regional School of Public Administration and OGP. [61] The remaining activities under this commitment were not started because they depended on the establishment of the working group. [62]