Open data refers to public sector information or government data that can be readily and widely accessed and reused This data must be available at no more than a reasonable reproduction cost, mainly available for download over the internet, in a convenient and modifiable form. Main reason behind is interoperability – the ability of diverse systems and organizations to work together, allowing for different components to intermix. Opening of public data represents a phase in the development of an idea of public administration transparency, an idea which contributes to the society as a whole. Publishing public data contributes to transparency of public institutions, work efficiency of public administration,as well as to higher involvement of citizens in decision-making processes. By making governments more transparent, open data can provide clear information on how public money is being spent and how different policies are being implemented. Publicly available data can contribute to informing individuals on relevant state matters and contribute to opinion forming. With that, it can boost citizen participation in political life and promote significance of public consultations. Furthermore, open data allows citizens to obtain necessary information without needing to directly contact public administration, resulting in higher efficiency and less workload for public institutions. This can also initiate a long-lasting cooperation among different agencies and institutions in the public sector. Since there is a growing need for open data policy in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the intent of this policy brief is to address this need, assess and analyze the current state in this regard, as well as provide recommendations for further steps on the path towards opening data,relying on WeBER PAR Monitoring Reports for 2019/2020.

The Brief can be downloaded here (in English) and here (in BHS).