ODIN 2016 Features New Coverage and Functionality

Open Data Watch is pleased to announce the release of the 2016 Open Data Inventory (ODIN). The new ODIN results provide a comprehensive review of the coverage and openness of official statistics in 173 countries around the world, including most OECD countries.  Featuring a methodology updated to reflect the latest international open data standards, ODIN 2016 results are fully available online at odin.opendatawatch.com, including interactive functions to compare year-to-year results from 122 countries.

ODIN assesses the coverage and openness of data provided on the websites maintained by national statistical offices (NSOs). The overall ODIN score is an indicator of how complete and open an NSO’s data offerings are. In addition to ratings of coverage and openness in twenty statistical categories, ODIN assessments provide the online location of key indicators in each data category, permitting quick access to hundreds of indicators.

ODIN 2016 Top Scores Reveal Gaps Between Openness and Coverage

In the 2016 round, the top scores went to high-income and OECD countries. Sweden was ranked first overall with a score of 81. Sweden was also the most open site, with an openness score of 91. Among non-OECD countries, the highest rank was Lithuania with an overall score of 77. Among non-high-income countries, Mexico again earned the highest ranking with a score of 67, followed by the lower-middle-income economies of Mongolia (61), and Moldova (59). Among low-income countries, Rwanda received the highest score of 55. ODIN overall scores are scaled from 0 to 100 and provide equal weighting for social, economic, and environmental statistics.

Although most high-income OECD economies placed in the top 50 on overall scores and often had high scores for data openness, many did not provide adequate coverage of all the data categories included in ODIN. This was particularly noticeable in the cases of the Netherlands, Canada, and even Sweden which, with better coverage, might have had overall scores between 11 and 16 points higher. Large gaps in openness occurred among some of the states of the former Soviet Union. For example, Belarus, Ukraine, and Kazakhstan all had coverage scores that were 20 points higher than their openness scores.

ODIN 2016 Online Shows Impact of Openness Standards

The new ODIN website allows users to compare and download scores for 2015 and 2016. Among the 122 countries included in ODIN 2015, the average overall score increased from 30.5 to 34.7. The average openness score increased from 22.8 to 33.4, while the average coverage score dropped from 38.7 to 36.0.  Based on international standards, openness scores in many countries increased. Data published in XLSX and PDF files were scored as non-proprietary in 2016. Other changes in the 2016 methodology may have small effects on the comparability of scores between the two years.

Ecuador achieved the largest increase in overall ODIN score, going from 24 to 56 and increasing in rank from 85^th to 31^st in the world. Ranked against 2015 countries alone, Ecuador moved to 6th. By overhauling its data portal and bringing together data from other statistical agencies, Ecuador raised its coverage score from 30 to 52. But its big improvement came in data openness. By publishing more data in non-proprietary and machine readable formats and by publishing terms of use that conform to the CC-BY model, Ecuador raised its openness score from 18 to 59. Other countries making large increases in their ODIN scores include Mauritius, Macedonia, and Kyrgyzstan.

ODIN 2016 Promotes Dialogue Between NSOs and Data Users

Open Data Watch believes that providing objective ratings of the coverage and openness of official statistics encourages a dialogue between NSOs and data users within the government and private sectors and can help inform the public about the availability of important statistical series. NSOs and their development partners can also use ODIN as part of a strategic planning process and as a measuring rod for the development of the statistical system. We are grateful for comments and feedback sent to info@opendatawatch.com.