Discussion on the global open data roadmap at IODC16 - Part I

The International Open Data Conference (IODC) held in Canada in 2015 concluded with a call for participation in the development of the global roadmap linked to the Open Data Charter. The last edition of the IODC, organized in Madrid last October, gathered the witness and took the opportunity to reflect on the progress made since last year and discuss the challenges that the open data community is facing in relation to the different areas of action of the global roadmap.

In fact, this meeting was the platform to identify the key discussions to make possible the fulfilment of the Charter principles and increase the local impact of open data. To this end, five Action Areas were established around which the discussions that took place during the pre-conference events and the international dialogues at the Conference under the "Action" axis were developed.

Then, the conclusions reached for two of the five key Action Areas of the global open data agenda are explained in detail: Good Practices of Open Standards and Capacity Development.

Good practices of open standards

The potential of open data is often undermined by the poor application of common standards and good practices in licenses, formats or data structures; in fact, this lack has a negative impact on the socioeconomic level. For this reason, data quality and interoperability need to be improved, creating stronger links between technical standards communities and data producers and reusers.

In fact, the fourth principle of the Open Data Charter states that open data should allow the comparison, interoperability, monitoring and re-use of such information; calling on data producers to commit themselves to jointly implement and develop open standards.

Given the need for a "common language" to maximize the impact of open data, IODC16 was the perfect opportunity to bring together experts from different areas and know good practices such as Open Contracting Standard that allows the information to be opened in each of the phases of public procurement processes; discuss the role of organizational identifiers that facilitate linked data and the monitoring of economic resources; or the importance of the JUDS (Join-Up Standards) project aimed at finding joint solutions to challenges such as the discovery, use and creation of open standards.

To achieve these goals, the conclusion reached among the participants at the table was the need for international consensus and joint collaboration to build adequate standards for the different uses and applications of open data.

In addition, such is the importance of this area of action, that the day before the Conference a work day dedicated exclusively to the open standards took place. The Open Standards Day was conceived as a space for different groups to work on developing and implementing technical standards, while bringing together international initiatives and opportunities for the sector. An open forum to share practices that improve open data comparability and interoperability.

Capacity building 

In the last year great consensus and results have been achieved in this area of action of the Open Data Charter: the creation of new international working groups such as the Open Data Leaders Network; the creation of sectoral projects such as GODAN Action for the development of capacities within the agricultural industry or the creation of resource centers by action networks such as Open Data Charter or Open Data for Development  (OD4D).

Nevertheless, building a sustainable open data infrastructure and ensuring the re-use of open data requires a clear leadership and a wide range of knowledge and skills. Therefore, it is necessary to share the methodologies used in learning the use of open data. 

Given these requirements, as discussed in the specific session on capacity development during the last International Open Data Conference, private and public organizations, regardless of the sector to which they belong, need to strategically invest in the different actors involved in the value chain of open data, especially those related to data collection. This is an essential aspect both for solving local problems and creating the necessary resources. Those responsible for open data policies require a wider network of contacts to guarantee their continuous learning. In order to do this, it would be necessary, first, to continue working on data literacy at all academic levels to foster a culture of demand and use of open data. And, later, working on the materials, policies and strategies that enable training and progressing in the area of open data, increasing their impact through local actions.

Regardless of the area of action to be discussed, all IODC16 participants concluded with the need for global consensus and joint work at the international level to achieve not only the implementation of common technical standards that pave the way to full interoperability, but to develop the capabilities needed for the open data community to leverage and maximize the impact of open data.