The Open Data Charter (ODC) – a collaboration between more than 170 governments and organizations working to make data open and freely available while protecting the rights of people and communities – has revealed its first three-year strategy. ODC’s engagement with governments will prioritize climate change, combating corruption, gender equality, and inclusion and diversity.

New areas of focus include data rights and artificial intelligence (AI) as well as understanding open data’s role and impact in this area.

Titled, ‘Sustainable Data for a Changing World: Our Strategy for 2024-2026,’ the report envisions “a world in which governments collect, share, and use well-governed data to respond effectively and accountably to our most pressing social, economic, and environmental challenges.”

Guided by a commitment to justice, environmental responsibility, integrity and transparency, gender equality, and data rights, the strategy underscores the need for:

• Public officials to balance the trade-offs between advancing transparency and accountability through data and protecting the rights of people and communities;
• Citizens to be able to see and influence what governments do and to trust their institutions; and
• People to be able to use openly available data and accountable automated tools to access equitable public services.

In its efforts to encourage a shift towards governments that are “open by default,” ODC will support government reforms “to take small steps that yield quick wins” by articulating policies for global data governance and demonstrating impact.

The strategy emphasizes that while promoting government data openness, it is essential to ensure that the way the data are collected and governed takes into account the right to privacy and the right to access information. In this regard, it highlights the essential role of collaboration with governments and civil society organizations (CSOs) in the implementation of laws, regulations, and open data policies that protect personal data rights.

The Open Data Charter was launched in 2015 in the margins of the UN General Assembly (UNGA). It is guided by an agreed “set of aspirational norms for how to publish data.” Its six principles are: open by default; timely and comprehensive; accessible and usable; comparable and interoperable; for improved governance and citizen engagement; and for inclusive development and innovation. ODC’s key stakeholders include “reformist governments,” field experts, and data practitioners. Published on 9 April 2024, the three-year strategy will lead to ODC’s tenth anniversary. [Publication: Sustainable Data for a Changing World: Our Strategy for 2024-2026] [Op-ed by ODC Executive Director]