The societal impact of open data in Latin America 

In Latin America, the open data movement has allowed the rise of a civil and technological community formed by groups that re-use open data to develop digital solutions that meet the needs of citizens. In fact, this region has made substantial progress in the openness of information; nevertheless, more effort and collaboration among governments, communities, society and private sector is still needed to find data-based solutions for current problems.

This is the case of Uruguay; in February the population has the opportunity to choose the healthcare provider they wish. This program, called Movilidad Regulada, began in 2009 to prevent the monopoly and bad practices of these entities. So, last year the Uruguayan government launched an open data platform where users can view and compare the different national healthcare providers according to different indicators, related to the compliance with welfare goals, level of user satisfaction and human resourcing.

Though open data alone does not drive any change, publishing it on accessible platforms and re-using it contribute to improve the quality of life through more transparent processes. The openness of public sector information creates better informed societies which, as in the previous case, allow citizens to make better decisions in different social aspects: health, education or business, among others.

In relation to the business area, the platform Mi Negocio was launched in Mexico to help Mexican entrepreneurs enter into the business world. This tool helps them find the procedures and requirements to meet in order to set up, operate and make their business grow. Moreover, users also have the opportunity to create customized alerts to renew permits or even to denounce bad practices of public bodies.

In order to carry out this initiative, the commitment of two national organizations was needed: the Mexican Competitiveness Institute and Cívica Digital, a private entity that creates digital solutions to public problems. Together, six municipalities were trained to open up and share their data on the platform. Unfortunately, once the training was completed, some municipalities changed their minds and left the project. As a result, Mi Negocio was no longer a public service to be coordinated and managed by small groups which keep this project alive. 

This example shows the need for different stakeholders -civil society, private sector and public sector- to join synergies to make open data initiatives work properly and be useful for the whole society. However, in many occasions civic groups are responsible for projects with greater social impact. Caminos de la Villa is an example of this fact. This portal locates on a map the poorest neighbourhoods in Argentina thanks to the data produced by the communities -schools, institutions, health centres, NGOs... - so that members can stay informed about changes in their area. In this way, less developed areas gain visibility and prominence and public bodies know the real situation and they can take actions to improve the quality of life of the population.

Open data has allowed Latin America to build a bridge between civil society, government and the private sector to create better and smarter cities. Each small community arising from this movement and re-using public sector information will be part of the positive change and empowerment of citizens and public entities through open data. After all, such is the success of open data in Latin America that it has become one of the most active regions of the world as regards open data.