Open data for increased transparency in Macedonia
British Embassy supports establishment of open data national portal in Macedonia as part of public administration reform.
Photo credit: Government of Republic of Macedonia
Opening data for citizens to have better insight into government’s work informs them and engages them to influence policies, were the messages sent at today’s launch of the national Open Data portal in Macedonia. Through the portal citizens of Macedonia have a single spot where they could access data about health, social, educational and many more data maintained by state institutions, central and local, used to create policies.
The Open Data portal will enable the public institutions in Macedonia to publish data sets, which would provide citizens better information about the services available to them and allow them to have a say in the ways services and policies are improved. It would also provide opportunities for creative entrepreneurs to use data for income generation. It gives media and civil society evidence for the effectiveness of state institutions and the policies they create and implement.
Our Ambassador Rachel Galloway spoke at the official launch of the national Open Data portal along with Damjan Mancevski, Minister for Information Society and Administration, Robert Popovski, Minister for communications, accountability and transparency, Ljupco Vangelski from the IT Chamber of Commerce and Neda Maleska from Centre for Change Management the organisation implementing the programme.
Ambassador Galloway said:
When a government opens more of the data it holds to the citizens it serves, it demonstrates that it has less to hide. Opening data means accessible government and higher quality services. When citizens have a single place to find information about schools where to enrol their children and how those schools perform, or health professionals and the cost of the services they offer, they have better information about how their taxes are being spent and how the system can perform better for them. This promotes a culture of openness where citizens feel they are included, cared for and citizens perceive governments as effective.
The national Open Data portal offers users opportunities to search, download datasets, query and view data in data-views, data visualisation, search data in similar groups, view cases of data usage for applications and research. The portal is part of the wider programme on modernisation and transformation of the public administration in Macedonia implemented with British support.
The British Embassy Skopje works with Macedonia on various programmes ranging from reforms in public administration and judiciary, efficiency of Parliament, transparency and accountability of institutions, inclusion and diversity, security, strengthening civil society and media. You can find more information about our programme work here.
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