resources and lessons on open data from the world bank

Open Data And Open Development

Resources and lessons from the World Bank

Tariq Khokhar Open Data Evangelist [email protected] @tkb

#IMWG12 Antwerp

September 13th

Open Data in Action: 1

John Snow’s Cholera Map

- Cholera, London, 1854

- Plotted distribution of deaths on a

map (created data)

- Plotted water points and pumps

(combined with other data)

- Saw connection with 1 pump

- Removed the handle (took action)

- Open Data was saving lives in the

19th century. Birth of epidemiology.

Open Data in Action: The 19th Centrury

See http://bit.ly/yn14B0

Open Data in Action: Kenya

Kenya Open Budget Data: Raw numbers, hard to understand…

Government data, visualized by citizens, easier to understand

See: http://bit.ly/zhTQLF

Open Data in Action: World Bank

Combine with other datasets to generate new questions and insights

IEG + Projects Open Data used by AidData researchers - See http://bit.ly/yePUK9

Who’s doing Open Data?

See: http://www.data.gov/opendatasites

• National Governments

• Local Governments

• Scientific Institutions

• International Agencies

• Donors & Aid Agencies

• Academia

• Philanthropies

• Companies

• Non-profits

It’s data that’s technically open

You can search for it and find it easily online

It’s available in an editable electronic format or an API

Open Data: Technically Open

xls, json, txt, csv, xml, html,

doc, API, odt, ods etc. PDF, images (JPG, GIF,

PNG), other proprietary formats.

It’s data that is legally open

You can use it freely

You can re-use it freely

You can redistribute it freely

For commercial and non-commercial purposes

Open Data: Legally Open

Nine Open Data Resources

1) data.worldbank.org

In five languages

By Topic

Indicators

By Country

2) databank.worldbank.org

3) The DataFinder Apps

Blackberry, Android, iPad, iPhone in 4 Languages

4) The Developer APIs

5) Google Search and PDE

6) The Data Catalogs

data.worldbank.org/data-catalog

6) The Data Catalogs

microdata.worldbank.org

7) World Bank Finances

finances.worldbank.org

8) Projects and Operations Portal and Maps

worldbank.org/projects

8) Projects and Operations Portal and Maps

maps.worldbank.org

9) Open Knowledge Repository (OKR)

Open access repository for WB research outputs and knowledge products Interoperable with other repositories and meets OA requirements

Launched in conjunction with WB’s new Open Access Policy

Content available under CC-BY license

openknowledge.worldbank.org

7 Things I’ve Learnt

1. Can’t do open data without data to open up

We started with this:

1. Can’t do open data without data to open up

Rather than this:

2. Free data is not free…

2. But it’s good for the data business

2. But it’s good for the data business

Top 5 site sections of worldbank.org, % of visits per week

3. Being legally open is just as important as being technically open

You are free to use our data for commercial and

non-commercial purposes at no cost…

4. Make it easy for others to use our data

And it will get used…


worldbank.tumblr.com

Others can reach users better

5. We need to help others do Open Data

6. Context is important

Flowchart of how a World Bank project works

7. It’s not what you do, it’s how you do it

What does this chart represent?

1/3 of users come for open data

All World Bank Web Traffic

Open Data


All World Bank Web Traffic: Annually


Traffic to Wikipedia


Traffic to Wikipedia in a month

Take data to where the people are

Dominic McDevitt-Parks said his goal is to "foster collaboration between the Wikipedia community and the National Archives for their mutual benefit--or, in reality:

the benefit of the public, which both projects serve."

The future?

World Bank

?

Thank You

Tariq Khokhar Open Data Evangelist World Bank Data Group [email protected] @tkb

resources and lessons on open data from the world bank

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