Raising Awareness About Open Data (HR0035)

RAISING THE LEVEL OF KNOWLEDGE AND AWARENESS OF THE IMPORTANCE OF OPEN DATA
Implementation of the measure is under way and will continue until 21 August 2020
Leader of the measure INFORMATION COMMISSIONER
Description of the measure
Which public issue does the measure address? Open data, as a resource of economic activity and source of
information for strengthening the accountability of public authority
bodies, are not yet available to a satisfactory degree. The topic of open
data in Croatia is still relatively new, so it is necessary to invest further
efforts to raise the level of knowledge and awareness of the
importance of open data among young people, NGOs and civil
servants, along with the opportunities for using these types of data for
commercial and non-commercial purposes.
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What does the measure include? By training civil servants, a better understanding of the concept of open
data will be assured, including why they are important, since their
quantity is expected to increase.
In addition, through activities focused on young people and other
users, the sustainability of these efforts will be assured, along with the
practical implication of data openness. By organising events which are
expected to attract representatives of NGOs, the level of knowledge
and awareness of the importance of open data and their potential for
creating values will be raised.
The measure envisages the implementation of several kinds of
educational activity, organising conferences and hackathons, and the
production of manuals for civil servants.
How does the measure contribute to resolving the public
issue?
The main goal is to raise the level of knowledge and awareness of the
important of open data and the potential for reuse of such data, with
the aim of developing new values, whether for commercial or noncommercial purposes. It is expected that this will influence the further
opening of data by public authority bodies.
Why is this measure relevant to the values of the Open
Government Partnership?
The measure contributes to increasing transparency, access to
information and accountability, and raising the level of knowledge and
awareness of the importance of open data among users and public
authority bodies.
Additional information Resources are guaranteed in the State Budget, section 258
Information Commissioner, activity A874006 Promoting the right to
access information and A874007 OP Project for strengthening the
capacities of public authorities, associations and the media to
implement the Act on the Right to Access Information. The State Public
Administration School has assured HRK 15,500 for implementing
education, section 095, heading 09515, activity A677018.
The measure is in accordance with the e-Croatia 2020 Strategy.
Activities Implementation start date Implementation end date
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10.1. Organising public events focusing on
strengthening awareness, promoting and developing
skills for the use of open data
Upon adoption of the Action
Plan 31 August 2020
10.2. Raising the level of knowledge of young people
on the reuse of data and on open data
Upon adoption of the Action
Plan 31 August 2020
10.3. Holding special training sessions on the reuse of
data and on open data for information officers, web
content officials, and IT support officials
Underway 31 August 2020
10.4. Producing and publishing a manual on open
data and reuse Underway 31 December 2018
Contact information
Person responsible in the body which is Leader of the
measure
Information Commissioner
Function, department Information Commissioner
Email and telephone [email protected]; +385 1 46 09 041
Other participants
involved
State participants Council of the OGP Initiative, Office of the President of the Republic of
Croatia, State Public Administration School, Central State Office for the
Development of the Digital Society, Ministry of Administration
NGOs, private sector, units of local and regional self-government
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NGOs, private sector,
multilaterals, working groups

10. Raising Awareness about Open Data

Language of the commitment as it appears in the action plan:

"Measure 10. Raising the Level of Knowledge and Awareness of the Importance of Open Data" [91]

"The main goal is to raise the level of knowledge and awareness of the important of open data and the potential for reuse of such data, with the aim of developing new values, whether for commercial or non-commercial purposes. It is expected that this will influence the further opening of data by public authority bodies. (…) Resources are guaranteed in the State Budget. (…) The State Public Administration School has assured HRK 15,500 for implementing education."

Milestones:

10.1. Organising public events focusing on strengthening awareness, promoting and developing skills for the use of open data

• Conference organised on open data with at least 70 participants
• At least three round table/panel discussions held on open data (in cooperation with NGOs) with at least 50 participants at each event
• Promotion of online training material via the media, internet and social networks

10.2. Raising the level of knowledge of young people on the reuse of data and on open data

• Three lectures per year held at educational institutions, with about 100 attendees
• Annual hackathon for young people held (in cooperation with NGOs) with at least 20 participants
• Open Data Youth Academy held, depending on financial possibilities, with at least 30 participants
• Handbook on open data for young people produced

10.3. Holding special training sessions on the reuse of data and on open data for information officers, web content officials, and IT support officials

• Four training sessions per year held – at the State School for Public Administration and through webinars
• At least sixty attendees per year

10.4. Producing and publishing a manual on open data and reuse

• Manual produced on open data and reuse of data for public authority bodies, with steps for opening data
• Manual distributed and published on the websites of the Information Commissioner and the Open Data Portal

Start date: Underway

End date: 21 August 2020

Context and Objectives

This commitment strives to raise the level of knowledge and awareness on the reuse of data through public events and promotion (Milestone 10.1), youth-focused events (10.2), training sessions for information officers, web content professionals, and IT support specialists (10.3), and a manual on open data and reuse (10.4). These milestones are a continuation of an open data commitment in the second OGP action plan, [92] which was fully completed.

Regarding the first milestone, public authorities [93] emphasized that the Open Data Policy Action Plan is being drafted; milestone activities should be organized with this in mind and as a joint effort with CSOs, who are milestone co-leaders.

The second milestone may be revised during action plan implementation, as announced by the leading institution at the fourth meeting of the OGP Council [94] and in the interview with the IRM researcher. [95] This particularily concerns the Open Data Youth Academy activity, which was to be a reboot of the Open Youth Academy. [96] According to stakeholders, financial constraints and differences in organizational vision make it necessary to revise, postpone, or exclude this activity from the milestone. One of the non-governmental participants [97] intends to continue the activity if enough funds are raised.

The milestones are all specific enough to be verifiable and relate to increasing access to information using technology and innovation, with a focus on raising access to information. The potential impact of the commitment is minor, given that its implementation may improve existing levels of knowledge on open data and reuse. Despite the country making progress since launching the Open Data Portal in 2015, this area is still very much neglected in Croatian society, so the commitment would not bring a significant change. [98]

Next steps

The IRM researcher suggests the following steps while implementing this commitment:

• Consider organizing an annual Open Data Youth Academy, even in a revised format, as it is the only activity in the OGP action plan focused solely on youth. Funding can be raised through various channels (state or ESI funds, European Commission programs, other donors, etc.) during implementation of this or the next action plan; and
• For the next action plan, the government might consider starting a nation-wide campaign regarding open data and its reuse, with special focus on the business sector as potential users of this valuable public good, as Croatia continues to lag behind other EU countries in this area.

10. Raising Awareness about Open Data

Completion: Substantial

The Information Commissioner’s Office (IC) carried out most of the planned activities, aside from organizing public events during the COVID-19 pandemic. ^[68] Financial constraints and differences in organizational vision led to dropping the Open Data Youth Academy activity (the milestone for raising awareness of young people on the reuse of open data). ^[69] However, the IC participated as a partner in a policy lab on climate data with young people. [70] The IC printed and published a "Manual on open data and re-use of information with steps for opening data" which is freely available in e-book form. ^[71] The postponed public events focusing on strengthening awareness, promoting and developing skills for open data use, and three workshops on proactive publishing and reuse of information are planned for implementation when the pandemic and post-earthquake situation improves. There is a proposal to transfer responsibility for the open data conference to the Central State Office for Development of Digital Society. ^[72]