Sharing data sets of public and private information will become mandatory in Dubai. A bill in this regard will be made into law later this year.

With the exception of private, restricted and classified data and information that threatens national security, all data must be made available in public domains, officials said on Monday. The data will be made available in a centralised platform such as federal websites, or a decentralised manner like in the websites of various government entities, depending on the volume and size of data available. Open data is government, private or individual data that is shared internally or among various sectors partially or completely without restrictions.

Abdullah Madani, Chairman of Dubai Open Data Committee formed on scientific information (journal articles, conference papers and datasets of various kinds) emanating from publicly funded research. Working with partners, UNESCO works to improve awareness about the benefits of OA among policy makers, researchers and knowledge managers. Through its global network of Field Offices, Institutes and Centers, UNESCO facilitates the development and adoption of OA-enabling policies. In addition, UNESCO engages in global OA debates and cooperates with local, regional and global initiatives in support of OA.

Source communication in December 2014 to ensure that open access data is readily available for Dubai residents, said: “The committee is outlining a strategy for Dubai’s open data policy. After the required research has been done, we will propose a bill on implementing open data and provide an action plan for enforcing it in coordination with all parties concerned.

Madani added that as of now the committee is focusing on amassing large quantities of data and streamlining that data based on quality. Committee members are hoping that stakeholders with access to data will voluntarily submit their data sets for presentation.

Sorce: Khaleej Times