A few years ago, Open Data was one of the concepts that appeared to be driving innovation across the Caribbean region, but it seems to have disappeared off our radar. Dr Maurice McNaughton, of the University of West Indies, who has been actively involved in Open Data initiatives across the region, helps us to get to the bottom of what happened to Open Data in the Caribbean, and whether it can be revived.

 

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Just a few years ago, Open Data used to be a popular concept in the Caribbean. There were several conferences and even hackathons – software development competitions – using government-collected data to try to address or solve a variety of issues in our societies. However, in the last two years or so, Open Data seemed to have dropped off the radar…

For those who are new to the concept of Open Data, or just need a quick refresher, Open Data is “data that can be freely used, re-used and redistributed by anyone – subject only, at most, to the requirement to attribute and sharealike” (Source:  Open Data Handbook). Although Open Data can be provided by any organisation, an important source is Government, which tends to generate and/or collect considerable amounts of data, much of which can be made publicly available. Further, Open Data is an important constituent of Open Government, which inherently seeks to foster greater accountability and transparency across governments.

However, in addition to facilitating increased openness, Open Data can be lucrative for countries. Several studies have been undertaken, such as one conducted by Capgemini in 2013, which highlighted the economic value that can be realised through Open Data:

Public administration officials are now beginning to realize the value that opening up data can have. For instance, the direct impact of Open Data on the EU27 economy was estimated at €32 Billion in 2010, with an estimated annual growth rate of 7%

So what is happened to Open Data in the Caribbean?

Dr Maurice McNaughton

To bring the spotlight back on that subject, and to help us to understand what might have happened, in this episode, we are speaking with Dr Maurice McNaughton, Director of the Centre of Excellence for IT-enabled Business and Innovation, at the University of the West Indies’ Mona Campus, in Jamaica.

Dr McNaughton was one of the early advocates of Open Data in Jamaica, and through the Mona School of Business, where the Centre of Excellence is attached, he was also involved in the Caribbean Open Institute, along with many other local and regional initiatives in that area.

Some of the areas we discussed with Dr McNaughton include the following:

  1. What does “Open Data” entail
  2. What happened to Open Data in the Caribbean
  3. Whether the Caribbean Open Institute is still functional
  4. Whether there has been a net improvement in the availability of data, and/or with attitudes in relation to making data publicly available
  5. What is the difference between, and the implication of, a government having an Open Data policy, versus an Access to Information policy
  6. Whether there are any plans to jumpstart the Open Data thrust – whether in Jamaica or in the region
  7. With respect to the Centre of Excellence for IT-enabled Business and Innovation, what it is about, and what services it offers
  8. Some of the projects in which the Centre of Excellence has been involved
  9. Whether there are services or ways in which the Centre of Excellence’s resources, such as its intellectual capacity, can be accessed by individuals or businesses, particularly MSMEs, outside of academia.

 

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Select links

Below are links to some of the organisations and resources that either were mentioned during the episode, or otherwise, might be useful:

 

 

Image credits: jwyg (flickr);  The University of the West Indies 

Music credit:  Ray Holman