On October 8, the Transparent Cities program of Transparency International Ukraine presented indicators of the future methodology for ranking cities by the level of open data disclosure at a meeting at the Data+ communication platform and discussed its draft with open data specialists.
The event was attended by Yanina Liubyva, open data expert of the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine; Nadiya Konashchuk, head of the open data department of the Digital Transformation Activity; more than 50 representatives of city councils and more than 10 independent experts.
“It is crucial for us to develop open data in Ukraine, in particular in terms of territorial communities. Thanks to the expertise of Transparency International Ukraine and the support of the DTA, today we have an opportunity to assess the development of the field at the local level. Each information manager must clearly understand what is happening within the framework of implementing the open data policy, their direction and capabilities. This is especially true during martial law,” said Yanina Liubyva, open data expert at the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine.
Nadiya Konashchuk, head of the open data department of the Digital Transformation Activity, spoke about the importance of open data: “The ranking by the Transparent Cities program is a benchmark in assessing the transparency of cities. We are confident that the ranking results will be very indicative. In addition to assessment, we as a project are ready to cooperate with local self-government, support information audits, training for communities, and development of digital services based on open data to strengthen the entire field in martial law.”
Yuliya Sysoyeva, author of the methodology, spoke about the key changes to the methodology after the discussion with cities, where the main approaches to the study had been presented. Indicators that assessed the compliance of datasets with the recommendations of the Ministry of Digital Transformation were removed. The program decided not to refer to the methodology for conducting an information audit, which the Ministry of Digital Transformation had presented before the full-scale invasion, but only to check the availability of audit results.
In the course of the meeting, Yuliya Sysoyeva and Yanina Liubyva answered questions from representatives of cities and experts in the field of open data regarding the future study and the challenges information managers faced. In particular, many essential points were clarified: the need to adhere to the principle of a “single window”; the importance of publishing all datasets provided for by law; where managers can get assistance with moderation of datasets on the Unified State Web Portal; how to publish historical datasets; the disclosure of urban planning data, etc.
Yanina Liubyva drew attention to the fact that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, no significant changes have been introduced to the legislation in the field of access to public information. The principle of openness by default remains a guiding one in particular for the field of open data. Accordingly, local information managers must publish all sets that are required by law. Sometimes publishing such information in the form of open data might harm national security. Therefore, if harm prevailing over public interest in publication of information is proved and justified, the local self-government body shall publish the results of the “three-part” test with a clear argumentation about the decision made.
TI Ukraine believes that the future Strategy for the Development of the Open Data Field of Ukraine for 2025–2027 shall help resolve these issues. “As a program, we sent our proposals to the ministry to ease this challenge. The Ministry of Digital Development shall define the fundamental principles of decision-making on the closure/non-publication of information in the Open Data Development Strategy and formulate clear, detailed, and public recommendations for information managers,” stated Olesia Koval, head of the Transparent Cities program. “This will help in finding a balance between transparency and security on the one hand and providing a clear framework for information managers on the other hand.”
The Transparent Cities program is grateful to partners and discussion participants for their suggestions and comments. Thanks to the active engagement of all stakeholders, the program will be able to create a high-quality tool for assessing the state of open data publication in cities, which will allow providing recommendations for the successful development of the field.
The methodology presentation is scheduled for November, and in the spring, the program will present the results of the first pilot study Open Data Pulse.
The methodology was developed with the support of the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine, with the help of the Digital Transformation Activity, funded by USAID and UK Dev. The partner in the project implementation is Transparency International Ukraine.
The Data+ communication platform was created by the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine with the help of the Digital Transformation Activity and the support of USAID and UK Dev. The project partner is the Better Regulation Delivery Office (BRDO).