Lack of Open Data in Kosovo’s Government Public Domains

Author: Xhorxhina Bami

1. Introduction

The main institutions of providing open data in Kosovo are the Agency of Statistics and the Central Bank, however, they often lack data of particular fields. The data are either outdated or non-existent. In addition the Kosovo government has established a project to create a central governmental open data portal. The information in this portal, however, is very limited and outdated as well. Therefore, the government of Kosovo is not complying with open data principles, therefore violating its laws and its citizens’ right to be informed.

The analysis will provide understandable definitions of open data, its importance and principles, by also taking into account Kosovo’s legal framework including: LAW NO. 2003 / 12 Law on Access to Official Documents. By elaborating the principles of Open Data, an evaluation of the lack of appropriate legal framework regarding open data in Kosovo will be considered.

Moreover, the analysis will elaborate on the limitation of open data in Kosovo’s governmental portals by giving examples on the last data updated on particular fields. Another issue emerges here, the data discrepancy. Considering that Kosovo’s government open data is highly decentralized, often discrepancies can be seen in particular fields in different institutions’ public databases. It is important for open data on each field important to citizens but also other stakeholders who do not have internal access to these databases, to be updated and not have major differences from one institution to the other.

Kosovo data is also not integrated in many international databases, such as COMTRADE of the UN, for example, and even the data in EUROSTAT, which is EU international database and includes Kosovo, usually is updated very late and often does not have data before 2017. Therefore, many international studies omit Kosovo. A data analysis on the limitations of open data in Kosovo will provide explanation on the damage done on Kosovo’s development and also reputation due to lack of public information.

2. Analytical Framework

2.1. Open Data Definition and Principles

Open Data is a new term developing and becoming even more important recently as part of the freedom of information principles. According to a 2005 definition from Open Knowledge Foundation[1], Open in the concept Open data refers to “anyone can freely access, use, modify, and share for any purpose (subject, at most, to requirements that preserve provenance and openness)”. According to this definition, differently considered as the Open Definition, Open Data have two main characteristics- open work and open licenses, each having several features/ requirements of its own.

[1] For more information go to http://opendefinition.org/

First, the open work refers to “an item or piece of knowledge being transferred” following the Open Definition, by fulfilling several requirements such as: open license or status- with license being “the legal conditions under which the work is provided” and status referring to a public domain, meaning “the absence of copyright and similar restrictions, whether by default or waiver of all such conditions”; access- the user must be able to obtain and download all the information necessary in a particular field “at no more than a reasonable one-time reproduction cost”; machine readability- possible to be read in any type of electronic software such as PC, laptop, phone, tablet and so on, despite of their upgrades; and open format- provided in software with no monetary or other restrictions of any sorts.

Second, the open license refers to legal conditions “compatible with other open licenses” and in compatibility with the following requirements: a) required permissions and b) acceptable conditions. The a) required permissions of an open license, according to the Open Knowledge Foundation, include free use; possibility to redistribute- “including sale, whether on its own or as part of a collection made from works from different sources”; right to modify; right to separate the data based on the user’s/ stakeholder’s need; right to compile; non-discrimination; propagation- no pre-conditioned need to agree on legal terms on redistribution rights, to those who decide to use the open data; application to any purpose; no charge.

The b) acceptable conditions refer to certain exceptions made to following the a) required permissions requirements: right to give attribution; integrity- “require that modified versions of a licensed work carry a different name or version number from the original work or otherwise indicate what changes have been made”; share-alike; notice- maintenance of copyright notices; source- citation, providing access to the original source or the version having been modified; prohibition to give technical restriction when using, sharing, or modifying; and non-aggression or further permissions for the public.

The main source of open data is usually the government of a country considering that the government has the availability, access, means, and the resources or at least access to resources and aid to gather relevant data. In order for governments to provide open data and follow their requirements, often a set of policies is established that according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD, promote “transparency, accountability and value creation by making government data available for all”. Open Government Data, OGD[1], is basically the public institutions providing “use, reuse, and free distribution of datasets” to their citizens and also foreign stakeholders to the datasets they produce regularly by, hence, increasing their transparency and accountability. Along with the governmental open data portals, international ones exist as well such as European Union, EU, Open Data Portal, EUROSTAT, or COMTRADE or the United Nations Organization, UN.

[1] To learn more about OECD Open Government Data project and compare different member states go here https://www.oecd.org/gov/digital-government/open-government-data.htm

The lack of open data but even outdated open data can cause limitations to policy makers, researchers, analysts, businessmen, and even citizens in having a better understanding of particular fields to only be informed of the affairs of the country they live in, for further investment of to reach conclusion and establish recommendations that could lead to proper policies. If datasets of particular periods are missing, it might be almost impossible to establish patterns and trends in a sector. In addition, open data often assist in fighting corruption and crime. One example is the e-prokurimi platform of Open Data Kosovo, which was established in 2015 and provided data on public procurement in different municipalities across the country, which was previously not accessible. Kosovo scored 36 out of 100 in the Corruption Perceptions Index reported by Transparency International[1], in 2019, scoring one point lower than the same time period of the previous year, showing that it is highly corrupted. Open data on public procurement provide transparency on whether particular companies have obtained a contract in a suspicion manner. Despite of several success private stories regarding open data in Kosovo, the OGD needs much improvement although the legal framework can be considered strong.

[1] According to Transparency International “the Corruption Perceptions Index ranks countries and territories based on how corrupt their public sector is perceived to be. A country or territory’s score indicates the perceived level of public sector corruption on a scale of 0 (highly corrupt) to 100 (very clean)”.

2.2 Kosovo Legal and Practical Background

According to Field Missing: Discrepancies and Gaps Plague Kosovo’s Public Data, an analysis by Balkan Investigative Reporting Network, BIRN, regional media platform Balkan Insight,[1] around a decade ago, Kosovo’s institutions, mainly the ones responsible for statistics, mentioned above, managed to create a national committee and agree on standardized data gathering and processing. The purpose was the decrease of major differences on the statistics of the same field published by more than one institution, based on the institutions’ competencies.

[1] This is an article I wrote, as Balkan Insight’s correspondent for Kosovo, regarding the damage done by limited Open Government Data in Kosovo. The article can be read here. https://balkaninsight.com/2020/03/04/field-missing-discrepancies-and-gaps-plague-kosovos-public-data/

However, the OGD in Kosovo do not follow the principles of open data, because they often are outdated, have discrepancies, and are not user friendly mainly due to the decentralization of data. Kosovo does not have a main government portal, which obtains all the open data from each institution. The main institutions responsible for the gathering and processing of datasets in Kosovo are Central Bank of Kosovo, CBK, the Kosovo Agency of Statistics, KAS, and the Customs. In addition to these three, where CBK and KAS process data using different methodology based on the purpose and the field of the data and the Customs publish raw data, every other government institution has its own open data published, causing confusion for the citizens, researchers, and other stakeholders. Kosovo currently has 20 ministries, 9 governmental agencies, and 26 other government institutions,[1] which all have their own specific data, as well as shared ones, causing often difficulty and confusion on where particular data can be found.

[1] These institutions can be found listed here https://www.rks-gov.net/AL/f321/linqet/institucionet-qendrore.

Kosovo does not have a specific regulation on Open Data, however, Kosovo LAW NO. 06/L-081 ON ACCESS TO PUBLIC DOCUMENTS, [1] tackles the field, by indirectly imposing to the Kosovo public institutions the adaptation of open data principles and requirements, leading to the establishment of Open Government Data. According to the Kosovo Law on Access to Public Documents, obliges Kosovo public institutions to publish every public document and data. Kosovo public institutions must so make all the public documents and data available for everyone who requests them, based on this law.

[1] The law was published on 4.7. 2019 and then on the 13th of the same month, 2019, in Kosovo Official Gazzette, abolishing the LAW NO.03/L –215 ON ACCESS TO PUBLIC DOCUMENTS, which had been published on 25.11.2010. The law can be read here https://gzk.rks-gov.net/SearchIn.aspx?Index=2&s=Access+to+Public+Documents+&so=1.

2.3 Previous Assessments

According to several assessments of OGD in Kosovo, the country has plenty of work to do. This report will consider three main estimations which have evaluated open data in Kosovo based on the main principles of open data, by evaluating the quantity of statistics in each field, the availability, and the level of user-friendliness, and also in comparison with other countries in the region: the Open Data Baromete, ODB;[1] the Global Open Data Index;[2] and Open Data Inventory, ODIN.[3]

[1] You can find the conclusions of Open Data Barometer here: https://opendatabarometer.org/4thedition/regional-snapshot/east-europe-central-asia/#wrapper-region-map.

[2] You can find the results of Global Open Data Index here: https://index.okfn.org/place/ko/ .

[3] You can find the results of Open Data Watch here: https://odin.opendatawatch.com/Report/countryProfile/XKX?appConfigId=5

The ODB is produced by the World Wide Web Foundation, and aims to uncover the “prevalence and impact of open data initiatives around the world”, evaluating three elements: “readiness for open data initiatives”; “implementation for open data programs”; and the “impact that open data is having on business, politics and civil society”. According to the ODB, Kosovo is listed the 63rd in the world on open data implementation, leaving behind Serbia (68), Montenegro (83), and Bosnia and Herzegovina (100), in the region. Kosovo has scored 47 points in readiness, 21 points in implementation, and only 7 in social impact.

Table 1 Kosovo scores on Open Data Barotemer 2016 evaluations

Kosovo was ranked 35th in the Global Open Data Index of 2015, down from 31st place of the previous year’s measurement and marked as only 43% open. In this calculation, Kosovo left behind Albania (37th) and North Macedonia (69th), considering that other countries in the region, such as Serbia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, were not evaluated because they had not submitted all of their datasets. According to the Global Open Data Index of 2015, Kosovo had dropped because: the government had not made any advancements during 2015; different content on public websites were marked as protected and had copyright notices; Kosovo was missing location datasets and weather forecast, because the Hydro-meteorology Institute published data only for a few days. This Institute continues to do the same thing by publishing data only for five days in a row and then deleting them.

In the 2018, ODIN evaluation Kosovo scored 50 out of 100, being the 7th in Southern Europe, and 70th in the world. According to ODIN Kosovo country report, “the overall score is a combination of a data coverage subscore of 52% and a data openness subscore of 48%”.

According to ODIN, Kosovo scores higher than the region in terms of environmental statistics, which also score the highest levels of coverage and openness. The lowest level of coverage and openness is on social statistics.

Table 2 Kosovo scores in the ODIN 2018 evaluation (out of 100 points)

3. Open Data Kosovo: Obstacles and Limitations

The main limitations of OGD in Kosovo are the data being out of date; no correlation and consistency in different data of the same field between institutions hence there are discrepancies, and the need for capacity building within the institutions. This section of the report will elaborate on each of these limitations.

3.1 Outdated

Access to open data for media and research institutes is considered vital for addressing topics and analysis. Municipal and central government budget transparency increases accountability for the spending of public money. Similarly, updated datasets make it easier for conclusions to be drawn on patterns and create policies for further development and growth.

Table 3 Some of the main categories from the Kosovo Statistical Agency (KAS) in order of when the data was last published

Luis Abugattas, international trade expert operating in Kosovo, had told BIRN’s regional media platform Balkan Insight, that Kosovo domestic businesses are being harmed due to the lack of disaggregated trade data, for example if they consider the need for safeguards. According to World Trade Organization (WTO), a “safeguard” is a limitation of imports by a state in order to protect domestic production. Safeguards are often taken when there is a surge of imports that threatens to cause or causes severe injury to domestic production by displacing it.

“If the business want to request an investigation for safeguards, the law requires the private businesses to support their claim, but they cannot do this without current and disaggregated data at the specific product level. Such data is not public, but need to be requested to Customs and other agencies and in their absence the domestic producers will lose the case” Abugattas had said.

3.2 No correlation and consistency

According to statements given by the GAP Institute for Advanced Studies, to the media, the access to open data is essential for analyzing certain policies, but although the law guarantees such a right, there are still difficulties in collecting data that in the first place should have been published by public institutions themselves. One example of datasets that often is missing in Kosovo, is related to state budget expenditures, that cannot be found online but are very difficult to obtain via Requests for Access to Public Documents.

Often Public Officials, offer to media, research institutes or Civil Society Organizations to show them the documents but not actually provide them with a copy despite of the legal obligations.

Another problem is that often experts need to process the data themselves because they either fail to provide adequate explanation, or they differ from other institutions, which then is time consuming and create flawed analyses. For example, BIRN reported that, in 2017, KAS, reported Prizren to have been visited by around 18,000 visitors (locals and foreigners) whereas 16,000 movie tickets were sold in less than 10 days during Doku Fest, which claim that during the festival Prizren is visited by around “60,000 visitors (including locals)”.

Discrepancies are often seen between KAS and CBK, however, the institutions claim that this happens due to different methodologies based on the purposes of each institution. Nevertheless, the citizens are not fully aware on the differences between the datasets and it is often difficult to choose which one to use.

Moreover, often officials do not provide the media, citizens, civil society, or research institutes with the requested information. Researcher at the Institute for Development Policy, Dardan Abazi, had told Kosovo local media Telegrafi, the right to access official documents is only being respected in principle in Kosovo, because often access is being given in a different document from the one requested.

3.3 Need for capacity building

Public officials in Kosovo are not rightfully trained in terms of open data principles and requirements. Often, public officials do not know to use upgraded technology to store the data, such as Excel. In addition, the liaisons for open data have often other obligations as well, therefore, do not prioritize the updating of the websites with public documents.

As mentioned above, Kosovo public officials often do not provide the data in user-friendly format. Moreover, the person responsible for provided public documents, is the official for communication, who often do not know to which document to provide access to because other people are responsible. Inter-communication within different department of the same ministry is lacking.

4 E-government in Kosovo

The Government of the Republic of Kosovo in May 2016, approved the Charter for Data Opening in the Republic of Kosovo,[1] and, among other things, with this decision has obliged the Agency of Information Society, AIS, of the Ministry of Public Administration to develop and manage the Kosovo State Portal for Open Data.[2] The establishment of this Portal started in 2016 and was launched at the end of 2018, hosted by the State Data Center and is managed by AIS.

[1] You can read more here https://mpb.rks-gov.net/ap/page.aspx?id=1,33

[2] The link to Kosovo State Portal for Open Data: https://opendata.rks-gov.net/

AIS has developed the State Portal for Open Data, based on the 2018, Data Opening Readiness Assessment Report, ODRA, with the Ministry of Public Administration, in accordance with the recommendations of the Charter for Open Data[1]. AIS claims the State Portal is continuously populated with data, however, it is still limited and outdated. According to AIS, in late January 2020, the State Portal had published 195 datasets from 13 public organizations / institutions, in computer readable format (Excel, CSV), from the fields of civil service, finance, health, environment, social schemes, public procurement, etc.

[1] “The Open Data Charter is a collaboration between over 100 governments and organizations working to open up data based on a shared set of principles”, promoting policies and practices that “enable governments and CSOs to collect, share, and use well-governed data, to respond effectively and accountably to the following focus areas: anti-corruption, climate action and pay equity”. You can check the Open Data Chrter here: https://opendatacharter.net/who-we-are/ .

Each ministry and agency of the Government of Kosovo is obliged to appoint liaison officers for open data. According to AIS, the main difficulties faced are data identification, inventory or cataloging of data, and among the most important, “cleaning” of data.

Much of the data held by institutions is in inappropriate formats, meaning not very user-friendly and not complying with the open data standards. Institutions mainly have the data in scanned formats, PDF or physical copies. As mentioned above, the data published in the Open Data Portal is required to be in readable formats and the conversion is not a simple process but a long and often complicated one.

Despite that AIS is the manager of the Kosovo State Portal for Open Data, it cannot oblige the institutions to submit their data because the law does so. In addition, AIS does not have a mechanism or any method for verifying the data that could help in avoiding discrepancies and avoid publishing the same datasets more than once. Nevertheless, AIS has developed Electronic Platforms for the interaction of electronic systems, through which the electronic systems of institutions interact and communicate. AIS aims to coordinate and interact with each institution, to automate the process of publishing their data on the portal, in order to eliminate any errors or inaccuracies of the published data.

Although the Kosovo State Portal for Open Data has a well-established website and seems very good in paper, it still need much work to improve, especially considering that each institution publish their own public documents and many fields are empty at the state portal.

5. Conclusions and Recommendations:

Kosovo can be ranked in the middle of the region in terms of following open data principles based on several international assessments. Nevertheless, Kosovo scores very low in regards to the world and needs much improvement in Open Government Data which can be done only by prioritizing the issue.

First, the State Portal for Open Data, should become a priority of each institution to be constantly updated in order to display public documents from each institution where citizens and other stakeholders (researchers, policy makers, investors, journalists, and students) can go to. Agency for Information Society, must have the right to oblige and keep the institutions accountable when they fail to update the respective datasets in the State Portal for Open Data.

Second, Kosovo should create capacity building via training. The institutional officials, responsible for the public’s access to information and public documents should have long term trainings on open data principles and importance. Meaning that, the person responsible to update the State Portal for Open Data as well as providing with public documents upon direct requests, should have at least one year training on open data. The training should be ongoing based on new developments. Moreover, the official should not have other responsibilities.

Finally, a hierarchy should be established. The officials, within institution departments, responsible to update a particular database of a certain institution, should then report to the institution’s official responsible to update the State Portal for Open Data as well as provide access to other public documents upon request. The higher official for State Portal for Open Data update, should then report to a higher official responsible for that particular field within the central government open data portal, in AIS.