Sultanate tops Gulf region in open data

MUSCAT: The Sultanate, represented by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) came first in GCC and eighth in West Asia in open data.

At the open data report published by the US-based Open Data Watch Organization, the Sultanate earned 42 points among 173 countries at the open data for 2016.

The global assessment is the only one of its kind, which covers the open data on the e-portals for the national statistical authorities in the various parts of the world.

Sweden topped the list, followed by Switzerland, Norway and Poland.

The Open Data Watch Organization, which assessed the e-portals of the NCSI, issued a detailed report.

The report assessed three main sectors namely the social data, the economic data and environmental data, which in aggregate cover 20 topics. The assessment focused on the openness and comprehensiveness of data.

NCSI terms of earned higher availability of marks in economic statistics compared countries.

The data portal, one of NCSI’s portals, has been selected as the best model practices in three categories on the world level namely, the open license, the public access and options for requesting new data.

It should be noted that the assessment helps in enhancing the open data policies and improves access to data.

It also encourages dialogue among national statistical organizations and data users. to high-income