Antigua to Establish Open Data Readiness Unit | CARIBARENA ANTIGUA

The Government of Antigua and Barbuda believes data should be treated as a valuable asset that ought to be made available to the public, instead of keeping it trapped in governments open data initiative.  The move follows the release of findings on Thursday, from an Open Data Readiness Assessment, carried out by officials from the World Bank, the International Development Research Centre of Canada, and the Caribbean Open Institute.  Overall the assessment found that Antigua and Barbuda is in a position to move forward quickly with an Open Data initiative.  Minister of Telecommunications, Science and Technology Dr. Hon. Edmond Mansoor said that the recommendations and action plan put forward by the ODRA team will also be adopted and replicated regionally.  'From a public policy perspective, information that is held by governments should be freely available to use and reuse by the public, so that it can be turned into useful applications, support transparency and accountability, and make the sharing of data between public sector partners more efficient.'  Dr. Mansoor said.  Dr. Mansoor added the Government of Antigua and Barbuda will apply to the World Bank for funding under their Trust Fund for Statistical Capacity Building (TFSCB) to assist with implementation.  ICT Operations Officer at the World Bank, Anat Lewin pointed out that by putting out an ODR initiative, Antigua and Barbuda would not only lead the Caribbean in the supply of Open Data, but it could also use its first-mover advantage to harness the skills and enthusiasm of people throughout the region to generate data applications which would benefit Antigua and Barbuda ..."