Interview with Antonio Moneo

Interview with Antonio Moneo, senior associate in the area of open knowledge at the Inter-American Development Bank.

Which is the role of the IDB in the open data ecosystem in Latin America and the Caribbean?

The Inter-American Development Bank is a multilateral organization that provides support to countries to finance major reforms of the administration and infrastructure. Through several departments, especially through the Division of Institutional Capacity of the State, the Bank has accompanied many countries in Latin America and the Caribbean in the development of open government policies, training programs for civil servants, technological infrastructures for publishing open data and many activities to generate international and local commitment.

The IDB has always opened spaces and channels to share their knowledge with countries. In recent years it has significantly increased the scope of these efforts by creating a digital library of technical publications, a blog network, the open data portal "Números para el Desarrollo", offering massive online open courses (IDBx), and a working line to open knowledge where we include progressively open innovation methodologies that the Bank uses to articulate open ecosystems. Moreover, we are planning to continue expanding the number, quality and type of open knowledge products. Stay tuned to the following updates.

Which are the main objectives of your blog "Open to the public"? How does your blog contribute and help the open knowledge sector and community?

The blog was launched in 2014 as a space to learn about the evolution of open knowledge in Latin America and the Caribbean, which has been a pioneer at different times and in different cases. Open government policies as in the case of the city of Buenos Aires, or the Government of Chile, made us think of the potential of open knowledge to foster innovation in the public sector.

This approach has always led us to pay attention to the spillover effects of opening up knowledge, which often goes unnoticed. We saw that opening up knowledge helps governments be more transparent, but above all establish channels to improve the design of public policies. Thus, when we open up the knowledge we contribute to the dual goal of making administration more transparent and accelerate economic development in the region.

I think the biggest contribution of the blog has been serving as a repository of real examples, recommendations and methodologies on how open knowledge promotes the country development in Latin America and the Caribbean. Our articles have let many people know specific examples which show that open knowledge is truly useful. To date, we have published more than 200 articles, many of them from external partners, and we have a community of 16,000 subscribers. We receive an average of thirty thousand visitors per month from all countries worldwide. We have almost a million visits in total.

“Opening up knowledge helps governments be more transparent, but above all establish channels to improve the design of public policies”.

You are a member of the Open Data Charter, which role does the Open Data Charter play? Which will be the next steps of this global initiative?

The Open Data Charter is an universal declaration aimed at standardizing the open data definition. Though its non-binding nature, it enjoys sufficient legitimacy to generate a shift globally. It is an essential tool to establish the framework for public discussion on open data, and it will be critical for governments and cities which are approving plans within the framework of the Alliance for Open Government. For me, it would be ideal that the countries in the region commit themselves to adopt and implement the Charter within its Action Plans in the Alliance for Open Government.

The Open Data Charter has been promoted by an international and interdisciplinary group now divided into five working groups. These working groups strive to collect examples of how open data are being used in cities and private sector; to develop tools for specific sectors or issues specially important such as the fight against corruption; to generate theoretical frameworks for analyzing the impact of open data and tools to facilitate the implementation of the Charter.

Since the IDB has organized several data hackathons, which barriers are found organizing such events?

Identifying the expectations is always a key issue. It is essential that the hackathon is seen as a milestone in an open innovation process, and not as a single event. At each hackathon we work for months to select challenges, create institutional partnerships, open databases and train those who will participate in the event. If the hackathon is assessed by the number of viable projects obtained, it is difficult to obtain good results, and indicators which are more important are also lost.

If expectations are well identified, obstacles can be reduced to mere milestones of a project. If the challenges are significant, it will not be difficult to find allies. If allies are strong, it will not be difficult to open up data. And if you know what your participants need, it will not be difficult to train them. It is a question of good expectations.

In your opinion, at what point of maturity is the open data sector and the re-use of public sector information in Latin America and the Caribbean?

Latin America and the Caribbean are experiencing a very interesting time. Fifteen countries in Latin America and the Caribbean are attached to the Alliance for Open Government, and eleven of them were evaluated by the last Open Data Barometer. The trend is unequal and I think the conversation is more focused on the debate on the access to information, which is the basis to talk about re-use. There is much to do.

However, in regional forums such as the Regional Conference on Open Data, the Latin American Open Data Initiative or the regional summit of the Alliance for Open Government Partnership we see how the discussion about standards occupies growing space. For me, this is a sign that we are moving gradually towards a model of re-use of data. It is good news and I would like to see a law enacted on the re-use of data in the future.

“The trend is unequal and I think the conversation is more focused on the debate on the access to information, which is the basis to talk about re-use.”

What do you believe the main barriers are for open publication in Latin America and the Caribbean unlike other regions of the world?

The lack of regional integration is the main barrier. Latin America and the Caribbean need to institutionalize the regional debate on access and re-use of information. It is difficult to obtain sustainable results if there are no standards to standardize and link openness processes. In that sense, I think the debate on transparency should be extended to include the issue of technical interoperability. It is important that the information is public but also re-used, and, for that to happen, it is essential to publish it in a standardized way.

Nevertheless, the solution requires a greater effort to train civil servants. It is not just a technical problem. In fact, there are standards, but they are not properly implemented. It is necessary to train civil servants to understand how open data can help improve public policies. When the head of a department in a ministry understands the potential of the data, it is easier to address the issue of interoperability.

”The lack of regional integration is the main barrier. Latin America and the Caribbean need to institutionalize the regional debate on access and re-use of information.”

As a specialist consultant on open knowledge, what do you think the main differences are between Latin America and Spain as regards the focus on open data policies?

In the regulatory matter we can say that the European Union is a privileged environment which has facilitated many discussions. Directive 2003/98/EC on re-use of public sector information was the basis for further regulations on interoperability and the European statistical system upon which EUROSTAT relies. Spain adopted this directive in 2007 and, since then, it has been able to frontally address the problem of interoperability.

In Latin America and the Caribbean I see a high participation of civil society what I would like to see replicated in Europe. There is good coordination between organizations in different countries, and together they have played a very important role in the legislative development of open data. I find very interesting the emergence of government laboratories where is institutionalizing the relationship between government and civil society is being institutionalized in the field of re-use of data to improve public policy.