Post by Rhiannon, Data and geography, Welsh Government
Darllenwch y dudalen hon yn Gymraeg
Whilst we have been rather quiet on open data in recent years, it has remained firmly on our radar. During the Covid pandemic making data openly available was paramount to providing the people of Wales with the information they needed on the issues being faced and decisions being made.
A longer journey than originally planned
Before the pandemic, we collaborated with colleagues in DataCymru to develop a guide that would assist and motivate public sector organisations in Wales to publish their data openly. Some of you may remember attending our open data workshops in early 2020, where we gathered insights on what potential publishers of open data would find beneficial in a guide. We also identified a core set of datasets that all public sector bodies should aim to publish openly as a minimum.
Although the pandemic temporarily halted our progress, we resumed this important work last year with DataCymru. Using the ‘Improving access to Welsh public sector data Community of Practice’, we shared a draft of the guide with the data community in Wales to seek views. DataCymru also conducted a webinar to raise awareness of the guide and provide additional opportunities for feedback.
We are now pleased to be able to publish the Open Data Publication Guide. We believe this guide will serve as a valuable resource for those looking to publish data openly.
Where did we get to in the end?
The guide is primarily aimed at public sector bodies in Wales, but the principles may also be applicable to third sector, academic and private sector organisations.
For the most part, the guide explains the main steps to publishing data openly. It covers the importance of putting data into an open format and structuring it clearly so that data is easy to use. It highlights the value of providing good metadata and the need to apply an open licence such as the open Government Licence (OGL). Being unclear about the permitted use of the data can become a real barrier for users. Finally, it explains how to make data available, promoting potential publishing platforms such as DataMapWales, StatsWales and OpenDataWales.
The guide recommends the following datasets that all public bodies in Wales should publish, and that they should aim to publish them openly.
- Organisational charts
- Senior management pay
- Public Sector Equalities Duty (PSED) data
- Welsh Language data
- Freedom of Information (FoI) requests
- Expenditure exceeding (£500)
- Government procurement card transactions
- Procurement information on contracts
We understand that on the face of it this might look like more work in a time where resources are already stretched. However, the guide is not looking to create additional work but support public sector bodies in their responsibility to publish their data openly. Hopefully in doing so they will also reap the benefits such as efficiency savings, better data quality and improved decision making.
If you have any queries or feedback on the guide, then please feel free to contact us via: data@gov.wales