Ukraine’s Open Data Decree marks its 5th anniversary
Evaluating progress of the decree by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine
Five years ago, the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine passed Decree No. 835, paving the way for the development of a robust Ukrainian open data sphere. The Decree increases transparency in the procedure for making government data available and indicates which datasets governments are expected to publish on a regular basis. This led to the creation of the Ukrainian National Open Data Portal and spurred the development of new innovative products and services.
Kateryna Onyiliogwu, the lead of the Open Data Team and TAPAS Project (Transparency and Accountability in Public Administration and Services), looks back on the five years since the Decree’s inception and states that the opening of data has made it possible for businesses to create services for automatic, fast monitoring and verification of contractors. For example, citizens can now make use of open data for daily decisions, such as ordering appliances from a new supplier or buying an apartment from an unknown developer after a couple of clicks. A practical example is the service OpenDataBot – a service for monitoring registration data of Ukrainian companies. The team behind OpenDataBot are active members of the open data community and it is often through their requests that more new government data is opened.
Moreover, the Decree has led to advances in the open data realm and greatly benefits different areas. This includes:
- The environmental sector through opening up air and water quality data;
- Construction by providing verification of contractors;
- Healthcare by making data on healthcare institutions spending available; and
- Urban governance by opening data from central and local government agencies.
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