"Data are the lifeblood of decision-making and the raw material for accountability," says a new UN report. We couldn't agree more. At a recent workshop with the Independent Expert Advisory Group's lead author, Claire Melamed, participants (including Publish What You Fund, ONE Campaign, Open Data Watch and other partners) reflected on what it would take to bring about a "data revolution" to make the global fight against poverty more effective. One of the main challenges raised was institutional resistance to data disclosure — a barrier highlighted in the Web Foundation's 17-country study of the uses of data in day-to-day governance. To build a true "data revolution", we believe there is need for a paradigm shift to a Right to Data (RTD), drawing valuable lessons from the successful Right to Information movements across the world.
The Freedom of Information (FOI) bill being discussed in the Philippines has included open data provisions with a clause mandating the government to regularly update datasets on the data portal. This was again a result of the Open Data Task Force lobbying with the MPs to shape this provision. While the Full Disclosure Policy mandates the publication of key datasets in an open format online, compliance with the policy is at the discretion of local government; embedding this requirement in a national RTI law would strengthen compliance and would strengthen open data practice.