transparencia

On October 6, the V Open Government Plan was approved, an initiative that gives continuity to the commitment of public administrations to transparency, citizen participation and accountability. This new plan, which will be in force until 2029, includes 218 measures grouped into 10 commitments that affect the various levels of the Administration.

In this article we are going to review the key points of the Plan, focusing on those commitments related to data and access to public information.

A document resulting from collaboration

The process of preparing the V Open Government Plan has been developed in  a participatory and collaborative way, with the aim of collecting proposals from different social actors. To this end, a public consultation was opened in which citizens, civil society organizations and institutional representatives were able to contribute ideas and suggestions. A series of deliberative workshops were also held. In total, 620 contributions were received from civil society and more than 300 proposals from ministries, autonomous communities and cities, and representatives of local entities.

These contributions were analysed and integrated into the plan's commitments, which were subsequently validated by the Open Government Forum. The result is a document that reflects a shared vision on how to advance transparency, participation and accountability in the public administrations as a whole.

10 main lines of action with a prominent role for open data

As a result of this collaborative work, 10 lines of action have been established. The first nine commitments include initiatives from the General State Administration (AGE), while the tenth groups together the contributions of autonomous communities and local entities:

1. Participation and civic space.
2. Transparency and access to information.
3. Integrity and accountability.
4. Open administration.
5. Digital governance and artificial intelligence.
6. Fiscal openness: clear and open accounts.
7. Truthful information / information ecosystem.
8. Dissemination, training and promotion of open government.
9. Open Government Observatory.
10. Open state.

Figure 1. 10 lines of action of the V Open Government Plan. Source: Ministry of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration.

Data and public information are a key element in all of them. However, most of the measures related to this field are found within line of action 2, where there is a specific section on opening and reusing public information data. Among the measures envisaged, the following are contemplated:

• Data governance model: it is proposed to create a regulatory framework that facilitates the responsible and efficient use of public data in the AGE. It includes the regulation of collegiate bodies for the exchange of data, the application of European regulations and the creation of institutional spaces to design public policies based on data.
• Data strategy for a citizen-centred administration: it seeks to establish a strategic framework for the ethical and transparent use of data in the Administration.
• Publication of microdata from electoral surveys: the Electoral Law will be amended to include the obligation to publish anonymized microdata from electoral surveys. This improves the reliability of studies and facilitates open access to individual data for analysis.
• Support for local entities in the opening of data: a grant program has been launched to promote the opening of homogeneous and quality data in local entities through calls and/or collaboration agreements. In addition, its reuse will be promoted through awareness-raising actions, development of demonstrator solutions and inter-administrative collaboration to promote public innovation.
• Openness of data in the Administration of Justice: official data on justice will continue to be published on public portals, with the aim of making the Administration of Justice more transparent and accessible.
• Access and integration of high-value geospatial information: the aim is to facilitate the reuse of high-value spatial data in categories such as geospatial, environment and mobility. The measure includes the development of digital maps, topographic bases and an API to improve access to this information by citizens, administrations and companies.
• Open data of the BORME: work will be done to promote the publication of the content of the Official Gazette of the Mercantile Registry, especially the section on entrepreneurs, as open data in machine-readable formats and accessible through APIs.
• Databases of the Central Archive of the Treasury:  the public availability of the records of the Central Archive of the Ministry of Finance that do not contain personal data or are not subject to legal restrictions is promoted.
• Secure access to confidential public data for research and innovation: the aim is to establish a governance framework and controlled environments that allow researchers to securely and ethically access public data subject to confidentiality.
• Promotion of the secondary use of health data: work will continue on the National Health Data Space (ENDS), aligned with European regulations, to facilitate the use of health data for research, innovation and public policy purposes. The measure includes the promotion of technical infrastructures, regulatory frameworks and ethical guarantees to protect the privacy of citizens.
• Promotion of data ecosystems for social progress: it seeks to promote collaborative data spaces between public and private entities, under clear governance rules. These ecosystems will help develop innovative solutions that respond to social needs, fostering trust, transparency and the fair return of benefits to citizens.
• Enhancement of quality public data for citizens and companies: the generation of quality data will continue to be promoted in the different ministries and agencies, so that they can be integrated into the AGE's centralised catalogue of reusable information.
• Evolution of the datos.gob.es platform: work continues on the optimization of datos.gob.es. This measure is part of a continuous enrichment to address changing citizen needs and emerging trends.

In addition to this specific heading, measures related to open data are also included in other sections. For example, measure 3.5.5 proposes to transform the Public Sector Procurement Platform into an advanced tool that uses Big Data and Artificial Intelligence to strengthen transparency and prevent corruption. Open data plays a central role here, as it allows massive audits and statistical analyses to be carried out to detect irregular patterns in procurement processes. In addition, by facilitating citizen access to this information, social oversight and democratic control over the use of public funds are promoted.

Another example can be found in measure 4.1.1, where it is proposed to develop a digital tool for the General State Administration that incorporates the principles of transparency and open data from its design. The system would allow the traceability, conservation, access and reuse of public documents, integrating archival criteria, clear language and document standardization. In addition, it would be linked to the National Open Data Catalog to ensure that information is available in open and reusable formats.

The document not only highlights the possibilities of open data: it also highlights the opportunities offered by Artificial Intelligence both in improving access to public information and in the generation of open data useful for collective decision-making.

Promotion of open data in the Autonomous Communities and Cities

As mentioned above, the IV Open Government Plan also includes commitments made by regional bodies, which are detailed in line of action 10 on Open State, many of them focused on the availability of public data. 

For example, the Government of Catalonia reports its interest in optimising the resources available for the management of requests for access to public information, as well as in publishing disaggregated data on public budgets in areas related to children or climate change. For its part, the Junta de Andalucía wants to promote access to information on scientific personnel and scientific production, and develop a Data Observatory of Andalusian public universities, among other measures. Another example can be found in the Autonomous City of Melilla, which is working on an Open Data Portal.

With regard to the local administration, the commitments have been set through the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP). The Network of Local Entities for Transparency and Citizen Participation of the FEMP proposes that local public administrations publish, at least, to choose from the following fields: street; budgets and budget execution; subsidies; public contracting and bidding; municipal register; vehicle census; waste and recycling containers; register of associations; cultural agenda; tourist accommodation; business areas and Industrial; Census of companies or economic agents.

All these measures highlight the interest in open data in Spanish institutions as a key tool to promote open government, promote services and products aligned with citizen needs and optimize decision-making.

A tracking system

The follow-up of the V Open Government Plan is based on a strengthened system of accountability and the strategic use of the HazLab digital platform, where five working groups are hosted, one of them focused on transparency and access to information.

Each initiative of the Plan also has a monitoring file with information on its execution, schedule and results, periodically updated by the responsible units and published on the Transparency Portal.

Conclusions

Overall, the V Open Government Plan seeks a more transparent, participatory Administration oriented to the responsible use of public data. Many of the measures included aim to strengthen the openness of information, improve document management and promote the reuse of data in key sectors such as health, justice or public procurement. This approach not only facilitates citizen access to information, but also promotes innovation, accountability, and a more open and collaborative culture of governance.

Once again, Spain joins the celebration of Open Government Week (Open Gov Week), an international initiative promoted by the Open Government Partnership (OGP) that promotes the fundamental principles of amodern, citizen-friendlyadministration.

This edition, which will take place from 19 to 25 May 2025, brings together public administrations from around the world with the aim of promoting the values of open government: transparency, accountability, citizen participation and institutional integrity.  To achieve these objectives, open data is a key element, as access to and re-use of public information is the foundation of open government..

Since Spain joined this alliance in 2011, it has demonstrated a firm commitment to the principles of open governance: it has been recognised on multiple occasions for its active role in the organisation of activities, being one of the States that promotes the most events during this week at an international level.  In addition, this year our country holds the co-presidency of the Steering Committee and on 7, 8 and 9 October the IX Open Government Partnership Global Summitwill be held in Vitoria-Gasteiz.

In this post, we look at the agenda of events organised in Spain as part of Open Government Week. Among the hundreds of activities that will be held, we have focused on those related to access to information, open data and technological innovation.

What is Open Government Week?

Through workshops, information days, guided tours, talks and presentations, this action seeks to bring the workings of the institutions closer to society as a whole, foster understanding of public services and promote direct citizen participation.

 The programming will include a diverse range of events, including:

• Institutional advertising campaign.
• Hackathon and innovation competitions.
• Debates and round tables.
• OPEN DAYS
• Launch of virtual content.
• Seminars and workshops.
• Participatory processes and citizen consultations.

Featured events in the 2025 edition

During this edition, numerous activities have been scheduled throughout the territory, focusing on the presentation of key projects and initiatives of the Administration. Below are some representative examples of the spirit of the Week, arranged by organising bodies:

• Ministry of Finance:
  
  • Online presentation of the Central Treasury Archive content search portal (Monday 19 at 12.00h): through an online conference, access to the portal, the search modalities and the open accessible content it offers will be explained.. Some of the most outstanding online documents from the archive's collection will also be presented. Finally, other actions of the Archive relating to the Ministry's Document Management Policy will be disseminated for your information.
• Ministry of Culture:
  
  • Spain is Culture (always available):  The Ministry of Culture provides the public with a large amount of useful information accessible from the Spain is Culture portal. On the occasion of Open Government Week, they wanted to highlight this.

• National Institute of Public Administration:
  
  • Stories of public innovation" conference (Tuesday 20 May): a day to discover how innovation is transforming the Administration. It will be possible to learn about the work of INAP's Public Innovation Laboratory (LIP) and HazLab, a citizen participation laboratory, together with other projects that promote change from different administrations to build a more open, collaborative and closer Administration. Sign up here.

• Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID):
  
  • Workshop "Cooperation: a team effort" (Tuesday 20, 11:30 a.m.):  through a cloud challenge, participants are invited to reflect on leadership, cooperation and teamwork, fundamental values in the development projects led by AECID. There are 20 places available, register here.

• Government of Navarre:

• Café with data (Monday 19):  Training session on data quality and the benefits of metadata for publication in portals.

• Diputació de Barcelona:
  
  • Workshop online "Where is the border between transparency and data protection?" (Monday 19 at 09.30h): the webinar will be given by Carles San José, consultant and trainer for the public sector in matters of transparency, data protection and administrative procedure in general. Entry:
    • Public employee.
    • General registration.
  • Webinar "I can't make a living! Be transparent or die trying" (Monday 19 at 11.30h): aimed at public staff, this is a virtual workshop on the importance of opening up data in administrations.
    • Public employee.
    • General registration.
  • Workshop on data spaces: what they are and how to make the most of them (Thursday 22nd at 10.00h):
    • Public employee.
    • General registration.
  • Webinar "Open data and mobility: take advantage of the use of Big data" (Thursday 22nd at 12.00h): how to take advantage of the mobility data that the Ministry of Transport makes available to the public for the analysis of road flows throughout the country.
    • Public employee.
    • General registration.

• Online workshop "Master AI: become a prompts specialist" (Friday 23rd at 09.30h): this webinar is aimed at discovering how to communicate with generative AI tools to obtain more accurate results.
  • Public employee.
  • General registration.
• Webinar "Public open source models of AI" (Friday 23 at 11.30h): this online seminar will present ALIA and its precedent AINA, as well as their uses.. Sign up!
  • Public employee.
  • General registration.

• Madrid City Council: It organises a series of activities that highlight the use of open data in different sectors such as mobility or urban safety.
  • Madrid Calle 30 (Tuesday 20, 09:30h): visit to the M-30 tunnels and its control centre. Attendees will learn about the datasets published on the M-30, how the information is managed and updated, and how citizens and the private sector can access, reuse and add value to this data.
  • Air quality and meteorological data (Tuesday 20, 13:00h): visit to an air measurement station and explanation of how environmental data are collected to help make urban policy decisions.
  • Municipal Police (Thursday 22nd, 09:30h): visit to the control centre, where incidents, operational coordination and public safety actions are managed.
  • Urban installations: lighting, tunnels and ornamental fountains (Friday 23rd): a sample of how the operation of essential urban services is managed in real time through the municipal control centre.
  • Game with data on social networks: Madrid City Council will share games and challenges on social networks related to the open data on its portal throughout Open Government Week.

An agenda with more than 400 events all over the country

These are just some of the events planned, but there are many more.  We encourage you to consult the full calendar of activities available during the Week on the Open Government portal and to share your experiences and proposals.

Open Government Week is not just an institutional showcase, but a meeting place where the Administration listens, explains and learns from citizens. The diversity of scheduled events - ranging from education to security, social inclusion to victim care - reflects the public sector's commitment to getting closer to the day-to-day realities of society.

Thanks to these initiatives, the bond of trust between public authorities and citizens is strengthened, favouring a more collaborative, fair and efficient public administration

The Sistema Nacional de Publicidad de Subvenciones y Ayudas Públicas (SNPSAP) is a tool that contributes to the transparency, dissemination and re-use of data related to public subsidies and grants. This system centralises all the information on calls for applications and concessions of subsidies and public aid approved by the General State Administration, the autonomous communities and local entities.

Origins of the project

We have to go back to 2014 to find the beginning of this project. That year saw a reform of the 2003 General Law on Subsidies (Law 38/2003) with a huge impact in two significant respects:

• On the one hand, the National Subsidies Database, which had been created by the aforementioned Law in 2003, became available for full consultation by the managing bodies of subsidies and grants of all public administrations and those others legally authorised.

• Moreover, the National System of Publicity of Public Subsidies and Grants was created as a public website, with free and unrestricted access for all citizens. This complied with the requirements of publicity and transparency of all public subsidies and aid granted in Spain, especially calls for applications and awards, with identification of the beneficiaries. This space began operating on 1 January 2015, offering data from the state administration. The following year it was extended to regional and local administrations, thus covering the entire spectrum of the public sector.

Initial data formats and functionalities

From its origin, there was a serious support for the re-use of data for the society that originates it. Already initially the website allowed  downloading of data in different formats (CSV, XLSX and PDF) that allow their reuse, although limiting the size of the downloads to 10,000 records for performance and technical capacity reasons.

In addition, a alert subscription mechanismwas available from the outset. A citizen or company could - and can - register as many alerts as they need so that the system automatically notifies them when any call of interest to them is published, sending them a link to it. The tedious need to consult the dozens of official newspapers published in Spain on a daily basis to find out about calls for grants and subsidies was thus eliminated at a stroke.

A project in constant evolution to cope with growth

Regulatory developments in the field of aid and subsidies in the European Union, and Spain's accession to the United Nations Open Government Partnership initiative, shaped the growth of the website in successive years, increasing the offer of specific data views (State aid and minimis, large beneficiaries, political parties, etc.), which made it easier for citizens and data reusers to access them.

At the dawn of the pandemic, the system was already supporting 1.3 million visits per year, serving 3.3 million pages of grants and calls for proposals. This posed a challenge in terms of performance, as volumes never foreseen in the initial technical designs were achieved. A deep technological reform was needed to support the high demand for information and service level.

The reform was approached not only from a technological point of view, but also taking into account:

• The new features established in the Royal Decree 130/2019 regulating the National Grants Database.
• The socially demanded need to enable a API-REST interface for downloading information in reusable JSON format to overcome technical limitations.

Characteristics of the current platform

The new website was put into production at the end of November 2023, offering multiple views of calls for proposals (520,000 as of December 2024), grants (27,700,000), State aid awards (5.000,000), grants of minimis (3,190,000), strategic grant plans (1,341), very serious infringements (4), grants to parties (7,580), and grants to large beneficiaries (145,000).

All this information is accessible today via screen, downloadable in PDF, CSV, XSLX and API-REST interface formats in JSON and XML, being freely reusable by infomediary companies and citizens, with no restrictions other than those established by law.

Figure 1. Capture of the website of the National System for the Publicity of Public Subsidies and Grants (SNPSAP).

Since it went into production 11 months ago, the new system has received 7.5 million visits from citizens and businesses. And through the API-REST interface, thousands of downloads are made daily, making a powerful contribution to the dissemination of "raw" subsidy information for reuse by society for all kinds of analyses, studies, etc. In addition, an average of 35,000 e-mail alerts are issued daily to citizens and companies to inform them of new calls for subsidies.

Advantages of SNPSAP

The social dissemination and reuse of all this information eliminates asymmetries and frictions in the markets, and allows operators and citizens to work more efficiently and productively, resulting in higher levels of welfare for society.

The publication of open data allows citizens and organisations not only to know how public funds are distributed, but also to identify new opportunities. This system ensures that all individuals and organisations have equal access to information, regardless of their size or resources, contributing to a more equitable distribution of public support.

The Open Government Guide for Public Employees is a manual to guide the staff of public administrations at all levels (local, regional and state) on the concept and conditions necessary to achieve an "inclusive open government in a digital environment". Specifically, the document seeks for the administration to assume open government as a cross-cutting element of society, fostering its connection with the Sustainable Development Goals. 

 It is a comprehensive, practical and well-structured guide that facilitates the understanding and implementation of the principles of open government, providing examples and best practices that foster the development of the necessary skills to facilitate the long-term sustainability of open government.

What is open government?

The guide adopts the most widely accepted definition of open government, based on three axes: 

• Transparency and access to information (vision axis): Refers to open access to public information to facilitate greater accountability.
• Citizen participation (voice axis): It offers the possibility for citizens to be heard and intervene to improve decision-making and co-creation processes in public policies.
• Collaboration (value axis): Focuses on cooperation within the administration or externally, with citizens or civil society organizations, through innovation to generate greater co-production in the design and implementation of public services.

This manual defines these axes and breaks them down into their most relevant elements for better understanding and application. According to the guide, the basic elements of open administration are:

• An integrity that cuts across all public action.
• Data are "the raw material of governments and public administrations" and, for this reason, must be made available to "any actor", respecting the limits established by law.  The use of information and communication technologies (digital) is conceived as a "space for the expansion of public action", without neglecting the digital divide.
• The citizenry is placed at the center of open administration, because it is not only the object of public action, but also "must enjoy a leading role in all the dynamics of transparency, participation and collaboration".
• Sustainability of government initiatives.

Adapted from a visual of the Open Government Guide for Public Employees. Source: https://funcionpublica.hacienda.gob.es/Secretaria-de-Estado-de-Funcion-Publica/Actualidad/ultimas-noticias/Noticias/2023/04/2023_04_11.html

Benefits of Open Government

With all this, a number of benefits are achieved:

• Increased institutional quality and legitimacy

• Increased trust in institutions

• More targeted policies to serve citizens

• More equitable access to policy formulation

How can I use the guide?

The guide is very useful because, in order to explain some concepts, it poses challenges so that civil servants themselves can reflect on them and even put them into practice. The authors also propose cases that provide an overview of open government in the world and its evolution, both in terms of the concepts related to it and the laws, regulations, relevant plans and areas of application (including Law 19/2023 on transparency, the Digital Spain 2025 agenda, the Digital Rights Charter and the General Data Protection Regulation, known as RGPD). As an example, the cases he mentions include the Elkar-EKIN Social Inclusion Plan of the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa and Frena La Curva, an initiative launched by members of the Directorate General of Citizen Participation and the LAAAB of the Government of Aragon during COVID-19.

The guide also includes a self-diagnostic test on accountability, fostering collaboration, bibliographical references and proposals for improvement.

 In addition, it offers diagrams and summaries to explain and schematize each concept, as well as specific guidelines to put them into practice. For example, it includes the question "Where are the limits on access to public information? To answer this question, the guide cites the cases in which access can be given to information that refers to a person's ideology, beliefs, religious or union affiliation (p. 26). With adaptation to specific contexts, the manual could very well serve as a basis for organizing training workshops for civil servants because of the number of relevant issues it addresses and its organization.

The authors are right to also include warnings and constructive criticisms of the situation of open government in institutions. Although they do not point out directly, they talk about:

• Black boxes: they are criticized for being closed systems. It is stated that black boxes should be opened and made transparent and that "the representation of sectors traditionally excluded from public decisions should be increased".
• Administrative language: This is a challenge for real transparency, since, according to a study mentioned in the guide, out of 760 official texts, 78% of them were not clear. Among the most difficult to understand are applications for scholarships, grants and subsidies, and employment-related procedures.
• The existence of a lack of transparency in some municipalities, according to another study mentioned in the guide. The global open government index, elaborated by the World Justice Project, places Spain in 24th place, behind countries such as Estonia (14th), Chile (18th), Costa Rica (19th) or Uruguay (21st) and ahead of Italy (28th), Greece (36th) or Romania (51st), among 102 countries. Open Knowledge Foundation has stopped updating its Global Open Data Index, specifically on open data.

In short, public administration is conceived as a step towards an open state, with the incorporation of the values of openness in all branches of government, including the legislative and judicial branches, in addition to government.

Additional issues to consider

For those who want to follow the path to open government, there are a number of issues to consider: 

• The guide can be adapted to different spheres and scales of public. But public administration is not homogeneous, nor do the people in it have the same responsibilities, motivations, knowledge or attitudes to open government. A review of citizen use of open data in the Basque administration concluded that one obstacle to transparency is the lack of acceptance or collaboration in some sectors of the administration itself. A step forward, therefore, could be to conduct internal campaigns to disseminate the advantages for the administration of integrating citizen perspectives and to generate those spaces to integrate their contributions.

• Although the black box model is disappearing from the public administration, which is subject to great scrutiny, it has returned in the form of closed and opaque algorithmic systems applied to public administration. There are many studies in the scientific literature -for example, this one- that warn that erroneous opaque box systems may be operating in public administration without anyone noticing until harmful results are generated. This is an issue that needs to be reviewed.
•  In order to adapt it to specific contexts, it should be possible to define more concretely what participation, collaboration and co-creation are. As the guide indicates, they imply not only transparency, but also the implementation of collaborative or innovative initiatives. But it is also necessary to ask a series of additional questions: what is a collaborative or innovation initiative, what methodologies exist, how is it organized and how is its success measured?
• The guide highlights the need to include citizens in open government. When talking about inclusion and participation, organized civil society and academia are mentioned above all, for example, in the Open Government Forum. But there is room for improvement to encourage individual participation and collaboration, especially for people with little access to technology. The guide mentions gender, territorial, age and disability digital divides, but does not explore them. However, when access to many public services, aid and assistance has been platformized (especially after the COVID-19 pandemic), such digital divides affect many people, especially the elderly, low-income and women. Since a generalist guide cannot address all relevant issues in detail, this would merit a separate guide.

Public institutions are increasingly turning to algorithmic decision-making for effective, fast and inclusive decision making. Therefore, it is also increasingly relevant to train the administration itself in open government in a digitized, digitized and platformized environment. This guide is a great first step for those who want to approach the subject.

Content prepared by Miren Gutiérrez, PhD and researcher at the University of Deusto, expert in data activism, data justice, data literacy and gender disinformation. The contents and views reflected in this publication are the sole responsibility of the author.

Open data publishers and reusers have an appointment on May 18 and 19. That is the date chosen by the Ministry of Participation, Transparency, Cooperation and Democratic Quality for the celebration of the International Congress on Open Data and Transparency, promoted through the Observatori Valencià de Dades Obertes i Transparència, together with the University of Alicante, Open Knowledge Foundation and Datause.

What is the agenda?

The event is focused on the past, present and future of open data and its role in solving challenges in fields as important as the environment or the food crisis, among others. Around thirty professionals and experts will participate, linked to data management, activism and communication, both nationally and internationally.

The conference will begin on the 18th at 10.00 and will include the following topics:

May 18:

• Agriculture challenges. The role of open data in driving sustainability, competition and the circular economy will be addressed.
• Experiences of using open data. Practical cases will be shown where open data has played a prominent role.
• Reflections on the use of open data. It consists of a debate between two expert activists in transparency, Renata Ávila (Executive Director of the Open Knowledge Foundation (OKFN) and Miguel Ongil (Founder of #Cuentasclaras).

May 19:

• Retrospective What has happened to date with access to information and open data? This debate will include the participation of the Aporta Initiative, whose representative will tell how the open data ecosystem has evolved and what is the role of datos.gob.es in it.
• The present of the data. This session will review the current situation in the opening and reuse of data.
• From Data to AI. Future trends and the role of open data as a driver of disruptive technologies will be shown.

You can see the full schedule here.

Where is it celebrated? 

The congress can be followed both in person and online. For those who want to attend in person and take advantage of the networking experience, the event will be held in the Blue Cube Auditorium of the Polytechnic City of Innovation at the UPV (third floor of building 8B).

You can also follow online way through YouTube.

Is registration necessary?

Yes. Although access is free, it is necessary to register in advance through this link. In the registration form you must indicate if you will attend in person or remotely.

You have all the information of the event in this link.

If you want to be up to date with all the news from the Department of Participation, Transparency, Cooperation and Democratic Quality of the Generalitat of Valencia, at datos.gob.es we invite you to follow its schedule, as well as his news and novelties section.

In recent months, the Canary Islands data initiative strategy has focused on centralization, with the aim of providing citizens with access to public information through a single access point. With this motive launched a new version of their open data portal, data.canarias.es, and have continued to develop projects that display data in a simple and unified way. An example is the Government Organizational Chart that they have recently published.

Interesting data on the organizational structure and policy makers in a single portal

The Organizational chart of the Government of the Canary Islands is a web portal that openly offers information of interest related to both the organic structure and the political representatives in the Government of the Canary Islands. Its launch has been carried out by the General Directorate of Transparency and Citizen Participation, dependent on the Ministry of Public Administrations, Justice and Security of the Government of the Canary Islands.

From the beginning, the Organization Chart has been designed with the opening of data by default, accessibility and usability in mind. The tool consumes data published on the Canary Islands open data portal, such as the salaries of public officials and temporary personnel, through its API. It also includes numerous sections with information on autonomous bodies, public entities, public business entities, commercial companies, public foundations, consortia or collegiate bodies, automatically extracted from the corporate toolDirectory of Administrative Units and Registry and Citizen Services Offices (DIRCAC).

All the content of the Organization Chart is published, in turn, in an automated and periodic way, on the Canary Islands open data portal. The Organizational Chart data is published on the Canary Islands open data portal, as well as the remuneration, the organic structure or the registry and citizen service offices. They are updated automatically, once a month, taking the data from the information systems and publishing them on the open data portal. This configuration is fully parameterizable and can be adapted to the frequency that is considered necessary.

From the organization chart itself, all data can be downloaded both in open and editable format (ODT) and in a format that allows it to be viewed on any device (PDF).

What information is available in the Organization Chart?

Thanks to the Organizational Chart, citizens can find out who is part of the regional government. The information appears divided into eleven main areas: Presidency and the ten ministries.

In the Organizational Chart, the resumes, salaries and declarations of assets of all the high positions that make up the Government are available, in addition to the temporary personnel who work with them. Likewise, the emails, the address of their offices and the web pages of each area are also displayed. All this information is constantly updated, reflecting any changes that occur.

Regarding the agendas for the transparency of public activity, which are accessible from each of the files of public positions in the Organizational Chart, it should be noted that, thanks to the efforts, it has been achieved:

• Update the application so that agendas can be managed from any device (mobile, tablet, PC,…), thereby improving their use by the responsible persons.
• Categorize the events that, in addition, are visually highlighted by a color code, thus facilitating their location by the public.
• Publish immediately, and automatically, all the changes that are made in the agendas in the Organization Chart.
• Incorporate more information, such as the location of the events or the data of the attendees.
• Download the data of the calendars in open formats such as CSV or JSON, or in ICAL format, which will allow adding these events to other calendars.
• Publish all the information of the agendas in the Canary Islands open data portal, including an API for direct consumption.

At the moment, the agendas of the members of the Governing Council, the Vice-counselors and the Vice-counselors have been published, but it is planned that the agendas of the rest of the public positions of the Government of the Canary Islands will be incorporated progressively.

The Organization Chart was presented at the International Congress on Transparency, held last September in Alicante, as an example not only of openness and reuse of data, but also of transparency and accountability. All this has been developed by a team of people committed to transparency, accountability and open data, all principles of Open Government, in order to offer better services to citizens.

The Transparency Portal of the Generalitat Valenciana has just announced the course "Open data in local councils: transparency, data protection and openness of information" which will be held online on 18, 21, 25 and 28 May. The course will introduce open data, its benefits and opportunities, as well as its relation to data protection and transparency.

Who is organising this course?

The Open Data and Transparency Observatory is in charge of organising and delivering this training within the framework of the agreement between the Regional Ministry of Participation, Transparency, Cooperation and Democratic Quality and the Polytechnic University of Valencia.

When will this course be held?

The course "Open data in local councils: transparency, data protection and openness of information" will be offered in webinar format and will have a total of 20 hours spread over 4 sessions in the morning (from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm).

What is the agenda?

The programme is divided into 2 blocks, each of which will be covered in two sessions.

BLOCK I. Transparency and data protection.

• 18 May. The first session will deal with the legal regime of transparency. The principles of transparency and publicity will be explained, as well as how the subjective right of access to information works, among other concepts. The day will end with a series of case studies.
• 21 May. The second session will focus on the protection of personal data. It will begin by analysing the general regulatory framework, to then approach the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679/EU and Organic Law 3/2018, on Personal Data Protection and guarantee of digital rights. Finally, the principles of consent, purpose and fair processing will be addressed through practical cases.

BLOCK II. Open Data.

• 25th May. The third session will consist of an introduction to open data and the opportunities in the reuse of public sector information. The difference between open data and transparency, licences and the 5-star quality model, among other issues, will be discussed. In the section on the publication of data, they will focus on the guidelines set out by the Aporta Initiative and the FEMP.
• 28th May. The last session will focus on the re-use of public sector information. The legal framework will be addressed and practical examples will be shown.

You can consult the full programme here.

What do I have to do to attend?

Registration is completely free of charge. You can do it from this link.

If you find this training interesting, don't forget to consult other activities on transparency organised by the Generalitat Valenciana and other institutions in the agenda of activities on the GVA Oberta transparency portal.

In the current economic, social and technological context, where everything changes at high speed, citizens demand agile and flexible services. The influence of native digital companies, adapted to the specific needs of their customers, thanks to the use of algorithms and cutting-edge technological solutions, is forcing traditional companies to transform.

Public administrations are aware of this situation, so they are also changing to better meet citizens’ demands. Open data is one of the resources that public agencies can use to achieve this goal. Thanks to open data, administrations can promote transparency and citizen participation, optimize their resources and improve their efficiency.

Nowadays, we can see some projects that are an example of the role that open data can play in the modernization of public administrations:

Increased transparency

A large number of public institutions - at national, regional and local level- have implemented portals that allow citizens to first-hand know how public administrations carry out their activity. In this way, significant improvements in transparency and accountability are being obtained. This is the case of Presupuestos de Aragón or Lo que tú aportas, created by Valladolid city. Using this tools, citizens can indicate the amount of taxes that they pay and discover how the money is distributed.

The higher availability of information also drives citizens possibilities of directly participating in the system. It is increasingly common to find collaborative platforms focused on specific issues that serve as a tool to enable new communication channels between citizens and governments, facilitating their active participation in policy-making. An example is TIPI, an on-line transparency, information access and accountability tool. Created by civil society, TIPI is focused on monitoring all Spanish parliamentary activity related to 21 thematic areas such as poverty, social justice or sustainable development.

In addition, open data portals also facilitate the work of journalists and media to inform citizens. You can find multiple examples in the data journalism channel of Madrid open data portal.

Efficiency improvements

But open data does not just help improve transparency. Disseminating information about municipal services, for example, helps their promotion and may increase the number of users who enjoy such services. In addition, knowing how these services are used can be used to identify areas for improvement, optimize their operation and better plan resources.

For this reason, different governments have created applications to inform about the municipal services that they offer, as Junta al día, a new information channel to know the most important news about the Junta de Extremadura, or Eventos Smart Coruña that provides an agile access to both public and private cultural information related to the city.

In addition, through the reuse of open data, citizens, companies and organizations can also create different applications that optimize administration and citizens’ relationship. These applications usually integrate information from different sources (local, regional and state), facilitating a global vision. An example is Perfildelcontratante.es, a service of notices about bids, awards, and private projects that promotes the participation of small and medium enterprises in the public procurement processes. In addition, Papelea is a web platform that seeks to help users to speed up their procedures with different public agencies nationwide. Papelea integrates open data from more than 60 local, regional and state administrations, including deadlines, forms to be completed, electronic procedure, date of update or contact information, among others.

Many of these applications or platforms aim to accelerate public procedures, driving self-management, so resources can be dedicated to other value-add activities, such as subasta BOE, which allows citizens to participate in online auctions, or AppValència, which facilitates direct access to virtual  City of Valencia office to consult instances, records, pattern and pending procedures.

Improvement in decision making

Another advantage that public administrations can obtain from the use of open data is the identification of patterns to support decision making. For example, there are interesting experiences using the analysis of people movements in different areas to make strategic decisions for tourism promotion.

In this sense, in recent months, tools have been created to help optimize data collection, such as Málaga City Sense, an open data platform that collects information from the urban environment thanks to citizens’ collaboration and through different devices located in the city. The users act as sensors, generating data through a mobile application that collects information related to temperature, humidity or noise, in an anonymously and safely way. These data are shared with Málaga open data portal and can be used by the authorities to improve decision making.

As we have seen, thanks to open data, public administrations can also obtain direct benefits such as the optimization of their processes and services, the promotion of transparency, the active participation of citizens in public policies or the improvement of decision-making, among others.

An increasing number of public authorities rely on data to promote innovation inside and outside the administration. To continue working along the same lines, it will be necessary to continue promoting collaboration between administrations and citizens to develop and test new solutions or services that will drive a new era of data-driven policies.

The event, framed in the International Congress of Transparency, will take place as a crown jewel of the first day of this congress, on September 30, in Le Grand Café Center of Malaga. The event will offer presentations by journalists, technologists, activists and other expert profiles on this subject, networking and beer for free to attendees.

The XVI edition of Databeers Málaga will take place on Monday, September 30, starting at 7.30 pm, at Le Grand Café Centro, in the heart of Malaga. The capacity will allow to accommodate the usual community of Databeers and any citizen interested in the subject, as well as the numerous people registered in the International Transparency Congress to be held in the city between September 30 and October 2.

Hence, on this occasion the talks, brief and informative, revolve around citizen participation, open data and other topics related to transparency and the so-called Open Government in public administrations:

• The first talk will be given by Juan Romero Raposo, co-founder of one of the pioneer citizen groups in promoting these principles in Spain, OpenKratio. Under the title of “Organizational Paradigms for Open Government”, he will explain how companies and other organizations have been reviewing their organization to adapt it to the open culture and technological and social advances, something that does not always happen when we talk about political organizations.

• Next, Victoria Anderica, expert in Transparency, Citizen Participation and Open Government and currently advisor of the Municipal Group Mas Madrid in the City of Madrid, will show the evolution and some of the current challenges of transparency in Spain.
• Then, journalist Iván Gómez, editor of GobiernoTransparente.com, will provide an international vision, on practical cases, of government plans as an accountability tool and active transparency in which open data and visualizations are put into practice.

• Another journalist with extensive experience in open innovation and citizen participation, driving force behind the open government plan of the Basque Country IREKIA, Nagore de los Ríos, will ask whether transparency in administrations today, a decade after having joined these policies after the Obama effect, is in accordance with the new times.

• Next, a vision of social innovation with Matías Nso, director of kuorum.org, who will explain how, according to his words, although "citizen participation allows to design public policies and services better adapted to the needs of each municipality, if we don't use the right tools we can misinterpret the data”.

• The event will close with the presentation, by David Aurusa and Arantza Lozano, of the OpenODS project, developed by two cooperatives, Enreda and Creating Consciousness. It is a comprehensive system that allows, through data, to identify and visualize actions, as well as measure the impact on the achievement of goals and objectives of each organization or institution regarding to the 2030 Agenda.

In addition to the support of the International Transparency Congress, in this edition, Databeers Málaga has ITRS as a sponsor, and collaborators such as photographer Koke Pérez, Diario Sur and Cervezas San Miguel, which, within the framework of its commitment to Malaga economic and social development, supports Databeers Málaga since the beginning of 2018. The place chosen for this, Le Grand Café Centro, is precisely one of the TapStation -spaces with different varieties of draft beer inspired by the style of various cities in the world - that San Miguel has in Malaga.

Registration for the event is, as always, free, but due to the limited capacity it is essential to previously register online.

Databeers Málaga is coordinated and organized by María Sánchez, a Journalism professor and researcher at the University of Malaga and an Innovation technician at the International de Andalucía.

You can learn more about Databeers through this article and the interview we conducted with María Sánchez and Marcelo Soria, organizers of Databeers and Databeers Málaga respectively.

The new school year has already begun. While students are gradually returning to schools, companies and organizations are also recovering their activity. The last quarter of the year is chosen by a large number of organizations to launch events that help us to better understand the universe of open data, bringing us success stories and giving us the opportunity to discuss the future challenges.

In datos.gob.es we have compiled some of these events:

• On September 14, the Tech.Party 2019 is held at the Nave de Madrid. This event brings together more than 30 technological communities with the objective of “sharing knowledge and stimulating critical thinking”. Conferences and workshops will address issues such as blockchain technology, data analysis, artificial intelligence, hacktivism or technological recycling.

• Ten days later, on September 24, the #GIGAPP2019 Workshop: Civic applications and open data to supervise the power will be organized by Medialab Prado. This event will introduce recent Ibero-American experiences related to data opening for public accountability. Attendees will have the opportunity to share and discuss impressions with the creators of these tools.

• Meanwhile, the IV International Congress of Transparency will take place in Malaga from September 30 to October 2. The event will be structured in plenary sessions and seminars. Each seminar will act as a working group where different subjects will be discussed, including active advertising, open data and citizen participation.

• Cáceres will host, from October 23 to 25, the X Iberian Conference on Spatial Data Infrastructures (JIIDE 2019). Under the slogan "Local IDEs, bringing digital information to citizens", technical sessions, workshops and round tables will be held to share and publicize the Inspire Directive and the various activities carried out by local IDEs. Open data and e-administration will also be discussed.

• The Barcelona City Council has launched a new edition of the Barcelona Dades Obertes Challenge, a contest aimed at promoting knowledge and the use of open data in the educational centres of Barcelona. In addition, a new edition of the World Data Viz Challenge Barcelona_Kobe is also expected for the coming months.

• Two of the big conferences that every year close the autumn events season will also take place in the Catalan capital. We are talking about the IoT Solution world Congress and the Smart City Expo 2019. The first one will take place in October 29-31 and it will address blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, e-health and other issues where open data can have a great role. For its part, the Smart City Expo 2019 will be held from November 19 to 21. It will be a mandatory meeting for those interested in cities based on data, 5G and the future of connectivity.

All these events highlight the interest in data and open data in the business and social ecosystem. An interest that continues to grow year by year, with new editions of events already held and the incorporation of new appointments to the agenda, so that all those interested in the subject can continue learning.