##OKF Ireland and Open Data Ireland submission to the 1st Irish OGP National Action Plan
Data is the new oil. It is the commodity of the digital universe and the smart economy, growing exponentially as entrepreneurs come up with greater ways to entwine our everyday lives with the digital world. It is estimated that between now and 2020 the amount of data created is set to grow by a factor of 44 as we consume and share more information with the digital world that is all around us. Consider the vast amounts of information we now share on Instagram, Facebook, Gmail and Twitter: Pictures, words, recordings, video - this information will become even greater as a world always connected through mobile apps will begin to eat into the analog world. While the development and collection of personal data will continue to grow, it is public data (data held by government institutions and agencies) that will be the most important open data for two reasons:
- because of its potential to aid accountability and transparency and,
- from its potential to drive significant economic value.
Public data has the ability to be collected, analysed and shared in large data sets. These sets relate to all functions of governments and their citizens. However, in order for this public data to be accessible we need initiatives like Open Data and Open Data champions both on a national, EU and global level.
However, many challenges still remain, particularly around getting the data into the public domain with issues such as privacy, cleansing, accuracy and reusability being of critical importance. It also requires a fundamental change of mindset within government departments and public agencies who often fail to see the benefit of risking the release of large datasets into the public domain.
On behalf of the Open Knowledge Foundation in Ireland, we are seeking one single action within the OGP national action plan That single action is for the Irish government to mandate the establishment of and to ensure that essential financial resources allocated for - an “Open Data Institute” for Ireland, which can
leverage from the Open Data Institute founded in the UK, to catalyse the evolution of an open data culture to create
- economic,
- environmental, and
- social value.
This Open Data Institute (ODI) will be a non-government body that will unlock supply, generate demand, create and disseminate knowledge to address local and global issues. An ODI for Ireland may be established by adopting the charter, which is publicly available for reuse internationally, built by the ODI in the UK. Utilising this charter, Ireland can move forward with an ODI, at a small fraction of the public funding required in the UK, in order to demonstrate, encourage, promote and develop the use of open data by the private sector. The ODI for Ireland will be dedicated to promoting open data for Ireland by: providing linkages to international education programmes established in the UK; offering revenue generating certification training to private sector organisations, who can then administer open data audits for government bodies; providing key active membership of any government transparency board.
It is our request that Minister Howlin takes forward this single action on behalf of the open data community in Ireland (represented by the Open Knowledge Foundation) at the next Open Government Partnership meeting on October 31st 2013.