Land Ownership and the State of Open Data

"Key Points The links between the open data and land communities have matured over the last four years alongside a recognition of the centrality of land governance for sustainable development. Benchmarking and measuring open land data is a key area of progress since 2018, but more needs to be done to refine the global benchmarks such as the Global Data Barometer. Open data initiatives need to carefully consider their social, political, and economic objectives due to the different needs and interests of land data producers and users.... The perspective of land data is changing from being primarily about the cadastre17,18 (the official register showing details of ownership, boundaries, and value of property) to increasingly being rooted in land management functions19 and services within the context of sustainable development. This approach, in which open data is not the goal but rather a service-enabling tool,20  is also reflected in the research on Open Data Products (ODPs).21 Since 2018, the Open Data Charter has moved its strategic focus from an “Open by Default” to a “Publishing with a Purpose”22 paradigm. The paradigm shift was also reflected in the 77th Session of the United Nations General Assembly high-level event on “Data With a Purpose”23held on 22 September 2022. This is a much-needed approach as research suggests that open geospatial data portals are significantly underutilised globally24 and that public and private organisations that invest in open data do so in order to seem transparent, rather than to create or add value to it.25  Adding value to open data and focussing on data services is a means to spur innovation and increase the uptake of data, while lowering barriers for a wider audience to access and benefit from the data revolution...."