With 78 percent of its government data assessed open, the nation’s performance is its best ever in the annual survey. It also makes Taiwan the first outside Europe to place in the top three.
Cabinet spokesman Sun Lih-chyun said this year’s result is particularly praiseworthy as the country finished ahead of the U.K., Denmark, Colombia and Finland in that order. “The rating represents a resounding vote of confidence in government measures and private sector efforts promoting open data over the past year.”
According to Sun, significant achievements in this regard include the release of data on government budget and spending, highway e-toll collections and real estate transactions.
“The government will continue releasing public data for innovative value-added applications by the private sectors and ensure Taiwan is viewed as an international benchmark,” he added.
Similarly bullish on the ranking, Vice Premier Chang San-cheng said the Cabinet expects closer collaboration with local governments in providing big data for commercial use, especially those pertaining to transportation, law enforcement and environmental protection.
Among the index’s 13 key categories used to measure the state of open government data, Taiwan topped eight with 100 percent openness. The biggest improvement was in National Statistics, up from 60th, followed by Election Results, up from 51st; Government Budget, up from 22nd; and National Map, up from 20th.
The other No. 1 finishes were in Legislation, up from 12th; Pollutant Emissions, up from sixth; Company Register, up from fifth; and Procurement Tenders, a first-time index inclusion. A score of 90 percent for Water Quality also saw Taiwan finish at the head of the pack.
Although the nation improved from 15th to eighth in Government Spending, it dropped 39 places to 49th in Location Datasets and ranked 53rd in Land Ownership, with 10 percent openness in all three areas.
OKI is a nonprofit worldwide network promoting the use of advocacy, technology and training to create and share knowledge. The index is viewed as playing a central role in reaching this goal. (SFC-JSM)
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