Uzbekistan has joined the International Open Data Charter as the 23rd country, becoming the third country in Asia after South Korea and Philippines.

Uzbekistan has joined the International Open Data Charter as the 23rd country, becoming the third country in Asia after South Korea and Philippines.

Ensuring the openness of the activities of State authorities and management is one of the important mechanisms for the democratization of the public administration system in the Republic of Uzbekistan. In the Strategy of Action on the five priority areas of development of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2017-2021, ensuring the openness of the activities of State authorities and management, the introduction of modern forms of providing information concerning the rights, freedoms and legitimate interests of individuals and legal entities is identified as a priority area of reforming the public administration system.

In order to achieve the goals, set in the development of open data in our country, in April 2019, the decree of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan No. PP-4273 “On additional measures to ensure the openness and transparency of public administration, as well as to increase the statistical potential of the country” was adopted.

In accordance with this decree, the State Committee on Statistics was appointed responsible for coordinating the activities of state bodies and organizations in terms of work on the formation, maintenance and updating of the list of open data sets and timely reflection of relevant information on the Open Data Portal of the Republic of Uzbekistan. In April 2019, the Department for Monitoring and Coordinating the activities of the Open Data Portal was created in the structure of the central office of the State Committee on Statistics.

The Open Data Charter is a collaboration between over 150 governments and organisations working to open up data based on a shared set of principles.

The six ODC principles were developed in 2015 by governments, civil society, and experts around the world to represent a globally-agreed set of aspirational norms for how to publish data: 

• Open by default — this represents a real shift in how government operates and how it interacts with citizens. At the moment we often have to ask officials for the specific information we want. Open by default turns this on its head and says that there should be a presumption of publication for all. Governments need to justify data that’s kept closed, for example for security or data protection reasons. To make this work, citizens must also feel confident that open data will not compromise their right to privacy;
• Timely and Comprehensive - Open data is only valuable if it’s still relevant. Getting information published quickly and in a comprehensive way is central to its potential for success. As much as possible governments should provide data in its original, unmodified form;
• Accessible and Usable — Ensuring that data is machine readable and easy to find will make data go further. Portals are one way of achieving this. But it’s also important to think about the user experience of those accessing data, including the file formats that information is provided. Data should be free of charge, under an open license, for example, those developed by Creative Commons;
• Comparable and Interoperable — Data has a multiplier effect. The more quality datasets you have access to, and the easier it is for them to talk to each other, the more potential value you can get from them. Commonly-agreed data standards play a crucial role in making this happen;
• For Improved Governance and Citizen Engagement — Open data has the capacity to let citizens (and others in government) have a better idea of what officials and politicians are doing. This transparency can improve public services and help hold governments to account;
• For Inclusive Development and Innovation — Finally, open data can help spur inclusive economic development. For example, greater access to data can make farming more efficient, or it can be used to tackle climate change. Finally, we often think of open data as just about improving government performance, but there’s a whole universe out there of entrepreneurs making money off the back of open data.

The key reforms in the accession were the high performance of the Republic of Uzbekistan in all available indices and ratings that evaluate open data in the world:

• The Republic of Uzbekistan became the first country in Central Asia to be included in the most comprehensive list of open data portals in the world DataPortals.org.
• According to the UN E-Government Review 2020, Uzbekistan is among the 41 countries with the highest Open Data Index (Very High OGDI) in the world.».
• According to Open Data Inception, Uzbekistan ranks 6th in the world in terms of the number of open data sources.
• Uzbekistan, according to the Open Data Inventory (ODIN) rating, scored 63 points and ranked 44th in the world and 1st in Central Asia, and also rose by 125 positions.

Also, an important guide in improving the effectiveness of the work carried out in this direction was the Presidential Decree “On improving the position of the Republic of Uzbekistan in international ratings and indices, as well as the introduction of a new mechanism for systematic work with them in state bodies and organizations” dated June 2, 2020.