Author(s): Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship
Resource Type: Case studies
Countries: Jordan
SDG: GOAL 16. Peace and Justice Strong Institutions
Keywords: Access to Information, Administrative Reform, Transparency, Open Data
Development and Promotion of Open Government Data in Jordan
Source in Arabic: ESCWA-OECD Case Study - Open Government Data, Jordan
This activity falls under addressing the areas of transparency and citizen participation in decision-making and raising public awareness of the importance of open government data. It includes efforts to promote the concepts and importance of open data amongst government employees, and share information on the methods to prepare, publish, and update open data sets on the open government data platform.
It relies on issuing the necessary regulations and legislations, and convening workshops for raising awareness, training and follow-up. Despite starting in 2016 to promote the publishing of open government data, regulatory and legislative framework and its implementation by government entities continue to be the biggest challenge to access government data published within an institutional process by all institutions.
Implementation: 2018-2020
Contributor
Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship
Purpose
This activity aims at addressing the weakness in dissemination and prior disclosure of government data and, which affects the citizen’s right to access information and limits public knowledge of government work and subsequently the society’s desire to participate in the decision-making process. It also seeks to solve the problem of inconsistency in information resulting from the lack of a reliable source that shares information with people who are either interested or need it for their work, study, research and decisions related to investments, especially for entrepreneurs; and this affects economic development in general.
Functions
Preparations for all activities was through the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship and in collaboration with the Joint Committee on Open Government Data that includes representatives from the public and private sectors, civil society and academic organizations, and with experts in open data through international and non-governmental organizations.
Based on the principle of transparency and for strengthening participation and consultation with partners and stakeholders, the Ministry held open consultations on the legislative framework for open government data before sending it to the Council of Ministers for adoption. Subsequently, the Council issued instructions to government entities to publish their open data on the relevant platform. Also, a plan was developed and implemented for raising awareness on the importance and mechanisms for publishing open government data, targeting all stakeholders and in consultation and partnership with representatives from various sectors. A policy for government data classification and management was also prepared for 2020, in consultation with representatives from the public and private sectors and stakeholders.
Clients
Users who benefit from the open government data platform are all persons who access it to get data for any purpose and at any time.
Outcome
Before the start of this activity in 2017, only three government entities had their data published on the platform, and the number increased to reach 28 government entities that publish and update their data on the platform. The open data published on the platform reached 300 data sets, which was expected to reach 500 by the end of 2020. The platform shows the number of contributing entities and published data sets.
Impact
It is expected that 35 government entities would be trained to publish open government data, after the completion of the second phase of the activity, which may further increase the number of open data sets on the platform.
Challenges
- Need to enhance the knowledge of employees on open government data.
- Need to prepare and issue legislations and systems related to open data concepts, with the training plans and programs for employees.
- Need for human resources and experts with sufficient qualifications.
- Lack of a technical platform with updates on international practices on open data.
- Lack of allocation of financial resources to open government data.
