(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Sharing data sets of public and private information will become mandatory in Dubai. A bill in this regard will be made into law later this year.
Benefits of open data sets
Create new businesses and job opportunities
Support development of communication between government, private sector and individuals
Improve efficiency of data source
Innovations
Contribute to economic growth
Raise standard of living
With the exception of private, restricted and classified data and information that threatens national security, all data must be made available in public domains, officials said on Monday. The data will be made available in a centralised platform such as federal websites, or a decentralised manner like in the websites of various government entities, depending on the volume and size of data available. Open data is government, private or individual data that is shared internally or among various sectors partially or completely without restrictions.
Abdullah Madani, Chairman of Dubai Open Data Committee formed in December 2014 to ensure that open access data is readily available for Dubai residents, said: "The committee is outlining a strategy for Dubai's open data policy. After the required research has been done, we will propose a bill on implementing open data and provide an action plan for enforcing it in coordination with all parties concerned."
Madani added that as of now the committee is focusing on amassing large quantities of data and streamlining that data based on quality. Committee members are hoping that stakeholders with access to data will voluntarily submit their data sets for presentation.
Madani spoke to Khaleej Times on the sidelines of the fifth Smart Cities Forum at the Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government (MBRSG), a research and teaching institution focusing on public policy in the Arab world. The forum focused on the topical issue of open data and highlighted the steps the UAE has been taking to make government data and information seamlessly available to people. Joy Bonaguro, chief data officer, City of San Francisco joined the conversation via video conferencing.
"We are hoping there will be huge volumes of data that comes in even before the law has been passed. Even in international best practices, the initial data amassed is always huge in quantity and it is only later that attention is paid to the quality of data," added Madani.
Bonaguro added: "The importance of open data sets in creating workable solutions that can be utilised in everyday life and in emergency situations cannot be emphasised enough. Open data adds intrinsic value with its ability to influence decision making and offers a positive contribution to improving the quality of life of individuals, organisations and society in general."
Challenges in gathering data
However, Madani and Dr Bassem Younes, Director of Strategic Alliances, Mohammed Bin Rashid School of Government, agreed that acquiring open data and presenting it to the Dubai audience will be a challenge. Citing cultural reasons and the fact that Arabs are traditionally not known for divulging information, Madani added that there needs to be a change in existing mindsets of those in positions of power. Steering clear of the challenge, Madani said: "Dubai's open data will play a major role as part of the UAE's innovation strategy. Decision makers can make balanced, creative strategies for their companies based on the data available. However, we are hoping that government entities and private organisations will voluntarily submit their open data sets," said Madani.
Younes said: "Dubai is on the brink of a revolution. With the available data, lawmakers will be able to facilitate predictive analysis in real time." Madani stated that as of now there is no technical requirement to purchase additional servers to store data. "The data we collect will be hosted in the respective entities providing them. However, if the need arises, new servers will be put in place to store the data sets," said Madani. Discussing the issues of private, restricted and classified data, Madani highlighted the challenges related to opening up data and how to improve the processes.
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