International Open Data Indexes

Open data  indexes and Barometers are intended to reflect the international ranking of countries in their implementation of open data policies. Although it is practically impossible to measure exactly the level of openness, there are certain initiatives that give an overview of the interest in open data in the different countries of the world. In recent months, some of these indexes have been published, which, although they value different aspects related to open data, have the same purpose. How many global indexes are currently being produced in the world on open data? Do they reflect different realities? What methodology do they employ? What countries are analyzed? In this article we provide a description of the four most important indexes and some of their peculiarities.

Open Data Barometer (ODB) – World Wide Web Foundation

On June 1 the latest Open Data Barometer, prepared annually by the World Wide Web Foundation since 2013, was published. The Open Data Barometer assesses the policies and practices of open data that are being developed by 115 countries worldwide. Specifically, the Web Foundation measures how Governments make their data available to their citizens based on three main sources of information: evaluation questionnaires completed by experts, government self-assessments and other data from international databases.

The ODB analyzes three blocks of indicators aimed at measuring the progress of open data initiatives, implementation of open data programs and impact of open data in business, politics and civil society. It also analyzes the existence and quality of 15 sets of key data at national level (from government budgets, the census, public spending and public transport timetables, to crime statistics, environment or public contracts ...), the data refresh rate, accessibility, possibility of reuse, whether free of charge, type of license, interoperability, and so on. In short, more than 150 researchers and government representatives who make possible the production of a report which includes a set of conclusions on the general state of the open data sector in the world.

Informe anual European Data Portal  

On March 4 - World Open Data Day - the European Public Data Portal released its annual report in which it analyzes the level of maturity of the open data ecosystem in Europe. In the second edition of the report, the portal evaluates 31 countries (the 28 members of the European Union plus Norway, Switzerland and Liechtenstein). According to this report, the state of open data across Europe has improved overall but it also highlights significant discrepancies between countries, as well as political, legal and technical barriers.

In order to identify the level of a country's maturity two blocks of indicators are set, aimed at measuring the maturity of open data throughout Europe: the availability of open data and the maturity of data portals. The first assesses a variety of  aspects of open data policies in each state and to what extent each country carries out actions to measure the social and economic impact of data reuse. The second analyzes the level of maturity of the open data portals, measures the usability of the platforms, as well as the ease of data reuse and data access.

Global Open Data Index (GODI) – Open Knowledge Foundation

The Global Open Data Index, better known as GODI, is produced by the Open Knowledge Foundation. On 15 June, OKF published its global index of open data for 2017 which analyzes 94 countries and territories in the world. Through this index ten categories of data are analyzed. To measure the openness of these ten data types, Open Data Index bases its rating on responses to a questionnaire that includes questions about the format, openness, update rate or periodicity of publication of the data. The scores for each of these are added to create a final ranking where the level of openness of each national dataset is also displayed. This collaborative  initiative is open to any citizen who wants to become a country analyst.

Índice OURData Index – OCDE

The OURData Index (Open, Useful, Government Re-usable Data) analyzes the situation of open data in 28 countries belonging to the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development). The OECD OURData Index evaluates the efforts made by governments to implement open data in three critical areas: openness, usability and reuse of government data. The index data comes from member countries and focuses on government efforts to ensure the availability and accessibility of public sector data and to encourage greater reuse. The index is based on OECD methodology and the guidelines of the G8 OGD (Open Goverment Data) Charter. The OECD OGD analysis includes: business information, records, patent and trademark information, public bidding databases, geographic information, legal information, weather information, social data and transport information.

Experts point out that such studies should not be considered an accurate reflection of the real situation, because they are partial analyses selecting specific criteria and metrics, providing an incomplete picture of the open data ecosystem. Nonetheless, such indexes or rankings are useful for interested citizens, civil organizations and groups, and for politicians and data publishers. These rankings are especially helpful for those fields where open data is still an incipient subject.