The Welsh Government has produced a guide for the public sector on the publication of open data.
It said the principles could also be applicable to third sector, academic and private sector organisations.
The Open Data Publication Guide has been developed with Data Cymru – a company with a board of directors elected by the Welsh Local Government Association – with the work having been halted by the Covid-19 pandemic then resumed last year.
It explains the main steps of publishing data openly, emphasising the importance of open formats and clear structures to make it easy to use. It also highlights the value of providing good metadata and the need to apply an open licence such as the Open Government Licence.
It also explains how to make the data available through platforms such as DataMapWales, StatsWales and OpenDataWales.
Dataset recommendations
The guide also identifies a number of datasets that it recommends should be published openly, including: organisational charts; senior management pay; Public Sector Equalities Duty data: Welsh language data; freedom of information requests; expenditure exceeding a figure currently at £500; Government Procurement Card transactions; and information on contracts.
“We understand that on the face of it this might look like more work in a time where resources are already stretched,” the Welsh Government said in a blogpost. “However, the guide is not looking to create additional work but support public sector bodies in their responsibility to publish their data openly.
“Hopefully in doing so they will also reap the benefits such as efficiency savings, better data quality and improved decision making.”
