Open Data (JO0060)

Development and enhancement of the
application of Government Open Data Policy Lead implementing agency
Commitment Description
1 / 9 / 2018 - 30 / 6 / 2020
Ministry of Information and Communications Technology What is the public
problem that the
commitment will
address?
This commitment will address the weak dissemination and pre-disclosure of governmental
data, which affects citizens’ right to access information, and weakens their understanding
of governmental conduct, which in turn lowers their willingness to participate in public
decision-making processes. In addition, the commitment will address the issue of conflicting
information provided by various media and non-media sources due to the absence of a
reliable source of information. It also will address the problem of poor access of stakeholders
to sets of information they require for their studies, research or to make decisions related to
investments and/or work, especially for entrepreneurs. Such lack of access to information
limits overall national economic development. Although efforts to promote governmental
open data have been initiated since 2017, the legislative and regulatory framework (from the
point of view of civil society) is the biggest challenge hindering easy access to governmental
data, disseminated institutionally by all governmental bodies and agencies.
What is the commitment?
The commitment seeks to promote the legislative and practical basis for improving the
dissemination of governmental open data in Jordan, through issuing binding instructions
for institutions to publish their datasets and develop tools to measure their quality. It
also raises awareness of the importance of disseminating governmental open data, and
encourages the adherence to publishing datasets as an evaluation requirement for King
Abdullah II Excellence Awards. How will the commitment
contribute to solve the
public problem?
The dissemination of open government data contributes to the creation of a reliable source
of information that provides citizens and all stakeholders with the following advantages:
1) making appropriate decisions about their work; 2) actively participating in the decisionmaking
process, making recommendations and providing feedback based on published
datasets; 3) practicing constructive accountability and limiting the dissemination of
inaccurate information; 4) enhancing the right of citizens to access information; and 5)
improving public trust in governmental decisions, as a result of understanding the basis
of information on which decisions are made.
The development of legislative and regulatory frameworks, raising awareness of good
practices, and incentivizing implementation are the cornerstones for establishing a
culture and applying any new practices.
Why is this commitment
relevant to OGP values?
The dissemination of datasets in open formats for enabling all citizens to access, store, use and
republish them, in addition to setting research parameters and building positions accordingly,
is the essence of OGP values. Such values are embodied in making information available,
and reducing the costs and efforts required to access governmental data. The impact of this
commitment enhances the adherence to other OGP values, since it enables individuals to
interact with the government based on reliable information, and thus fosters informed public
participation in decision-making processes. Additionally, open data facilitates informed
accountability practices by citizens over official conduct. And finally, publishing data through
an electronic platform aligns with the values of technology and innovation for openness and
accountability.
This commitment is also in line with the value of Civic Participation, as it requires collaborative
participatory actions by state and non-state actors throughout its implementation.
Additional information
This commitment complements governmental efforts in the electronic government program,
associated with the executive development program 20162018-, within the Ministry of
Information and Communications Technology’s projects. Particularly, the Open Data project
of 2017 and the activation of the governmental Open Data policy project 20182019-.
The commitment also addresses SDG 16 of 2030, in particular the goal, which is to «ensure
public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms, in accordance with national
legislation and international agreements».
This commitment is a continuation of work on commitment 10 of Jordan’s NAP under OGP
20162018-, and was designed based on its progress evaluation.
Milestone Activity with a verifiable deliverable
Start
implementation
Date
End
implementation
Date
Issuing instructions by the cabinet for governmental agencies to publish their
open datasets through the designated platform, based on a proposal submitted
after consultations with civil society and relevant stakeholders.
1 / 9 / 2018 1 / 4 / 2019
Development of procedural frameworks for classifying, measuring and evaluating
the quality of governmental open datasets, based on consultations with civil society
and relevant stakeholders, and then publishing the results to inform the public and to
receive feedback.
1 / 10 / 2018 30 / 6 / 2020 Listing governmental Open Data as an evaluation requirement for King Abdullah
II Excellence Awards. 1 / 11 / 2018 30 / 6 / 2020
Preparation and implementation of an awareness-raising plan on the importance
of and mechanisms to disseminate governmental open datasets, targeting various
sectors of stakeholders in consultation and partnership with representatives of
each sector.
01 / 01 / 2018 30 / 6 / 2020
Contact Information
Name of responsible person from implementing agency Nada Khater
Email and Phone Nada.khater@moict.gov.jo
+962798510405
Other Actors Involved
(CSOs and Experts)
Name of the CSOs and
experts who applied for the
voluntary assistance to the
implementation of the 4th
NAP. Open call of interest
was launched during 2 -17
/ 12 / 2018.
- Jordan Association for Entrepreneurship
- Al-Hayat Center - Rased
- Jordan Open Source Association
- Transparency International - Jordan
- Center for Defending Freedom of Journalists

Commitment 2. Government Open Data Policy Development and Enhancement

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

“The commitment seeks to promote the legislative and practical basis for improving the dissemination of governmental open data in Jordan, through issuing binding instructions for institutions to publish their datasets and develop tools to measure their quality. It also raises awareness of the importance of disseminating governmental open data and encourages the adherence to publishing datasets as an evaluation requirement for King Abdullah II Excellence Awards.”

Milestones

1. "Issuing instructions by the cabinet for governmental agencies to publish their open datasets through the designated platform, based on a proposal submitted after consultations with civil society and relevant stakeholders.
2. Development of procedural frameworks for classifying, measuring and evaluating the quality of governmental open datasets, based on consultations with civil society and relevant stakeholders, and then publishing the results to inform the public and to receive feedback.
3. Listing governmental Open Data as an evaluation requirement for King Abdullah II Excellence Awards.
4. Preparation and implementation of an awareness-raising plan on the importance of and mechanisms to disseminate governmental open datasets, targeting various sectors of stakeholders in consultation and partnership with representatives of each sector."

Start Date: 1 / 9 / 2018

End Date: 30 / 6 / 2020

Editorial Note: the commitment description provided above is an abridged version of the commitment text, please see the full action plan here.

Context and Objectives

Open data is defined as “data that can be freely used, re-used and redistributed by anyone—subject only, at most to the requirements to attribute and share alike.” [13] Jordan ranked 80th out of 178 countries in the 2018 Open Data Inventory. [14] Its overall score was 47. [15] Jordan scored higher than the regional median for environmental statistics. Its highest levels of coverage and openness are on economic statistics, and its lowest are on social statistics. [16]

According to the action plan, weak dissemination and publication of data affect citizens’ right to access information and their understanding of government functions. The legislative and regulatory frameworks—from the perspective of civil society organizations (CSOs)—serve as key limitations in this area. [17]

This commitment is a continuation of Commitment 10 of the third national action plan. That commitment led to the development of the Open Government Data Policy and the training of officials from 45 government entities. [18]

Under the current commitment, the Cabinet would mandate that governmental agencies publish their open datasets and create procedural frameworks to classify, measure, and evaluate the quality of the published datasets. Further, to incentivize governmental entities and to promote a culture of data openness, the commitment would implement an awareness-raising plan and incorporate open data as an evaluation requirement for the King Abdullah II Excellence Awards. The inclusion of these awards is strategic, as they are highly regarded in Jordan. Incorporating open data criteria into the award will help create and foster an open data culture.

In relation to OGP values, the IRM found this commitment relevant to access to information. It is oriented toward making data available to citizens in an open data format. In addition, proposed consultations with CSOs on procedural frameworks make it relevant to civic participation. Its milestones are specific enough to be verifiable.

This commitment is considered to have a moderate potential impact on Jordanians’ access to government data. The Cabinet’s issuance of binding instructions for government agencies to publish data would represent a significant change from government practice, given existing gaps in publicly available data. Importantly, these instructions would be developed through CSO-government collaboration and allow for a public comment period. The inclusion of a positive incentive through the King Abdullah II Excellence Awards, awareness raising, and procedural framework all promise to bolster the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology’s efforts to implement Jordan’s Open Government Data Policy across government.

Next Steps

To strengthen this commitment during implementation, the IRM recommends future commitments in this policy area:

• Establish an alternative mechanism that allows government institutions to commit to adopting the resulting instructions for open data publication in conjunction with the King Abdullah II Excellence Awards, even if they are not approved by the Cabinet.
• Define a methodology to provide assistance to government institutions for implementation of open data frameworks, given the complexity of such frameworks.
• Ensure participation of current end users of specific datasets. Such participants can provide an objective assessment of the advantages and limitations of data currently available.
• Make sure the awareness plan includes an educational component on the differences among access to information, open data, and e-government services. These terms can be confusing to the general public. Provide examples of instances in which open data is relevant to citizens’ livelihoods, and show how it can positively impact decision-making processes.

Commitment 2. Government Open Data Policy Development and Enhancement

Complete:

This commitment included engagement from Al-Hayat Center-Rased, Transparency International Jordan, the Jordan Open Source Association, the Information and Communications Technology Association. Under this commitment, the Council of Ministers issued Instructions for Publishing Open Government Data on the Open Government Data Platform in February 2019, and the Open Government Data Quality Framework was approved in September 2020. [9] In September 2019, new standards on open data were added to the King Abdullah II Award for Excellence in Government Performance and Transparency. [10] From March 2019 through February 2021, workshops fostered government stakeholders’ engagement with open data. [11] As of October 2021, the Open Data platform included 894 datasets from 82 government bodies, [12] rising from 230 datasets from 35 government bodies in March 2020. [13] Transparency International Jordan also notes that by the end of the implementation period, most government websites listed a form for data requests. [14] However, the World Bank reports relatively limited usage of open government data by civil society organizations and businesses, indicating issues with prioritization criteria, quality, or relevance to users. [15] Al-Hayat Center-Rased and Transparency International Jordan clarify that data is often not disclosed in an up-to-date, digestible format, with shortcomings in data quality limiting usability for the public. They call for efforts to build political will on access to information. [16] While all activities within this commitment were completed, the IRM did not find evidence that implementation contributed towards the stated policy objective of public access and use of government-held data. This gap between implementation and evidence of early results indicates an opportunity for stronger commitment design. In the future, the IRM recommends that government reformers closely consult with data users during the commitment design process to ensure that planned activities address existing obstacles to data use and reflect public priorities.