|
 In
the second half of 2013 IIS, in partnership with the Development Management
Branch of the Division for Public Administration and Development Management
(DPADM) of the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA),
developed online training course “Open Government for Citizen Engagement”.
The
course based on the Guidelines on Open Government Data for Citizen Engagement
was prepared by Ms. Tatiana Ershova, a consultant for UNDESA in cooperation
with Mr. Vyacheslav Cherkasov, Senior Governance and Public Administration
Officer, and Mr. Deniz Susar, Governance and Public Administration Officer and
edited and improved substantively by Ms. Rizza Escobar and Ms. Victoria Ceban
of the DPADM’s Development Management Branch (DMB). We would also like to
express our appreciation to Ms. Tamta Utiashvili for her substantive support
during the development of this e-course.
The
OGD course focuses on how to open government data and how this can be useful
for citizen engagement. It provides an easy-to-use reference guide that
introduces policy guidelines and best practice recommendations developed by the
international community. This course aims at enabling decision-makers to
design, implement, evaluate, and sustain OGD initiatives for citizen engagement
in their national, regional, local, and cultural context.
Although there is a wide consensus that open government and citizen engagement
spur positive and desirable effects for society, they should not be seen as a
miracle cure to solve all problems. Thus, the course will also explain
limitations and potential risks of OGD, such as data privacy, national security
constraints, conflicts between rights and access to data, and problems of big
data among other issues. It will also discuss what OGD actually can and cannot
do in order to establish a realistic and healthy expectation of management
goals.
Topics of the Course
- Key terms and concepts of OGD and Citizen Engagement
- Benefits, limitations and challenges of OGD
- Tools and methodologies to assess a country's overall OGD readiness
- How to implement an OGD strategy with best practice, recommendations and step-by-step guidelines
- Supporting the OGD Ecosystem, including strategies for outreach and citizen engagement
The online course “Open Government Data for Citizen Engagement” is published on the website of Online Training Center of the United Nations Public Administration Network in English and is
provided free of charge. |
