Plans set for open data policy

Dar es Salaam. The government is set to introduce a policy on open data that would allow accessibility to citizens through a single window.

Launching a two day workshop on developing a data roadmap for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on Friday, the permanent secretary in the ministry of Foreign Affairs, East Africa, Regional and International Co-operation, Dr Aziz Mlima, said that the main objective of the policy was to enhance access government data in the friendliest way.

Dr Mlima, who represented the chief secretary John Kijazi, said the move was in line with the government’s determination to develop strong a SDGs platform based on open data capable to show data gaps and challenges facing the implementation process.

“The open data policy is waiting for the government’s approval. The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and other government agencies have formed a task force to develop strategies for implementation so as to guide access of publicly held data,” he said.

He said after the government had joined the Open government partnership in 2011, a lot has been done, including issuing of guidelines on open data in 2015.

According to him, guidelines are important tools for directing ministries, government departments and agencies (MDA’s) to provide the government portal with important data to fulfill regular upgrading purposes.

Dr Mlima said as the United Nations General Assembly was expected to adopt 230 global indicators proposed by the Inter-Agency Expert Group on SDG’s (IAEG), the government was aware that not all indicators underpinning the 17 SDGs would equally fulfil national contexts of all countries in the world.