The Ministry of Health tops the rankings of the most open central public authorities with 112 sets of data published on the common portal of public governmental data – www.date.gov.md. It is followed by the Ministry of the Interior (with 90 sets of data), the National Bureau of Statistics (86), the Ministry of Economy (50), and the Ministry of Education (31). The rankings were compiled by the Independent Journalism Center within the Open Governance for an Informed and Active Society Project.
The study covered 41 public institutions. The results were presented in a news conference at IPN. Study author Dumitru Lazur said that another eight ministries and public institutions published between 11 and 19 sets of data, while 23 institutions – between two and nine sets of data. Five central administrative authorities published no set of data on www.date.gov.md until now. These are: the Medicine Agency, the Accreditation Center for Product Conformity Assessment, the National Public Health Center, the National Blood Transfusion Center, and the Customs Service.
According to Dumitru Lazur, the portal hasn’t yet become a common ‘front-office’ of open data possessed by the governmental institutions. Most of the ministries and central administrative authorities continue to publish sets of open data on their own websites. The information on www.date.gov.md is seldom used by journalists and civil society representatives in writing articles and carrying out studies, being considered not very useful in treating subjects of public interest by 44% of the respondents.
The author recommended identifying clear criteria for setting the full range of governmental data that must be opened by every institution separately, while the coordinators of open governmental data should be taught data collection, systematization and publication techniques and criteria.
Independent Journalism Center director Nadine Gogu said the access to information is a problem in Moldova even if there is appropriate legislation. If the governmental data is published, the journalists will be able to make good articles and investigations.
Olga Crivoliubic, director of the Good Governance Program of Soros Foundation Moldova, said the rankings were compiled based on a report that assessed the process of opening public governmental data in 2012 in the context of the implementation of the Action Plan on Open Governance, including their accessibility and utility degrees for civil society and the mass media.
The Open Governance for an Informed and Active Society Project is implemented by the Independent Journalism Center (CJI) and the Association for Participatory Democracy “ADEPT” in the period between March 2013 and March 2014, with financial support from Soros Foundation Moldova within the Good Governance Program.
The portal www.date.gov.md was created in 2011 to ensure transparency in the decision-making process and the people’s participation in governance.
