A new report published this month by the Center for Data Innovation, a data advocacy group in Washington, D.C., ranked these eight nations -- Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States and Russia (which exited the group in 2014) on their committment to upholding five open data principles.
The first three principles were pledges to institutionalize open data by default policies, increase the quality and quantity of open data sets, and to ensure accessibility of data through meta data and open licenses. The final two principles underscored open data efforts for governance and data innovation.
Scores were awarded out of 100 (each principle worth 20 points). The top three were relatively close, however, nations showed notable disparities as seen in the rankings:
- United Kingdom - 90
- United States - 80,
- Canada - 80
- France - 65
- Italy - 35
- Japan - 30
- Germany - 25
- Russia - 5
At the bottom of the list is Russia, rated lowest for its absence — or complete disregard — for freedom of information policies in general. The authors, CDI Director Daniel Castro and Analyst Travis Korte, said the country’s leadership is mired with transparency barriers that “loom large in the shortcomings of its open data efforts.”
“In particular, the country has a long way to go before it lives up to the G8 Open Data Charter’s principles around the principle of 'open by default,' and its efforts to engage with civil society and the private sector to prioritize data releases,” the two said.
For a complete breakdown of points and individual assessments of countries, see the complete report here.