Open Data Day 2019: Tracking public money flows

Open​ Development​ Cambodia​ (ODC)​ in​ collaboration​ with​ the​ open​ data​ community​ was​ pleased​ to​ host​ the​ Open​ Data​ Day​ 2019​ on​ March​ 1st​ in​ Phnom​ Penh.​ It​ was​ the​ 4th​ time​ that​ ODC​ joined​ this​ global​ event​ and​ organized​ the​ Open​ Data​ Day​ in​ Phnom​ Penh.​ This​ was​ the​ 9th​ year​ that​ Open​ Data​ Communities​ around​ the​ world​ celebrated​ simultaneous​ events​ in​ their​ respective​ communities​ to​ promote​ open​ data​ in​ development.​ This​ initiative​ provided​ a​ great​ opportunity​ to​ write​ applications,​ liberate​ data,​ create​ visualizations​ and​ analyze​ data​ together​ with​ other​ open​ data​ enthusiasts.

The​ Open​ Data​ Community​ proposed​ four​ different​ topics​ for​ this​ year,​ namely​ Open​ Science,​ Open​ Mapping,​ Data​ for​ Equal​ Development​ and​ Tracking​ Public​ Money​ Flows.​ ODC​ chose​ to​ focus​ on​ “Tracking​ public​ money​ flows”,​ which​ deals​ with​ the​ sources​ and​ destination​ of​ public​ money​ in​ Cambodia,​ paying​ special​ attention​ to​ the​ role​ and​ potential​ of​ open​ data.​ The​ event​ gathered​ around​ 100​ participants​ -​ including​ Open​ Data​ activists,​ Open​ Source​ enthusiasts,​ educators​ and​ members​ of​ Open​ Data​ Communities​ and​ CSOs​ –who​ actively​ engaged​ in​ a​ day​ full​ of​ presentations,​ discussions​ and​ a​ final​ hackathon.

Group photo during the Open Data Day 2019.

The​ Open​ Data​ Day​ was​ designed​ to​ raise​ awareness​ of​ the​ potential​ of​ Open​ Data​ and​ technology​ for​ fiscal​ governance;​ bring​ together​ a​ diverse​ group​ of​ people​ to​ deploy​ technologies​ for​ analyzing​ and​ making​ use​ of​ open​ data;​ and​ use​ open​ data​ to​ produce​ a​ digital​ data​ driven​ story​ for​ public​ budget​ monitoring.

We kicked off the event with a Welcoming Speech by Open Development Cambodia´s Executive Director, Mr. Try Thy, who welcomed participants and looked back to the success of previous Open Data Days. He encouraged the audience to engage in the presentations and implement their ideas in the hackathon session. As a result of the commitment and collaboration between the Open Data community and the ODC team, the Open Data Handbook was translated into Khmer to promote and raise awareness of open data. The full version of the Open Data Handbook is publicly available on ODC’s platform. Mr. Thy also called for more collaborations and partnerships between the Open Data Community.

Our keynote speaker, Mr. John Weeks, representative of ODC´s Board of Director and an Open Source enthusiast, provided the audience with alternatives to mainstream social media platforms. He discussed with participants the downsides of mainstream platforms; they do not charge user fees because “you are the product, they are making money out of you” by extracting very valuable information. He introduced participants to a number of open source social media platforms, that despite unknown to many of us, they offer very similar functionalities to the ones we all use.

In order to lay down the foundations for the next sessions, Ms. Ourn Vimoil, Editor-Researcher at ODC provided a sound introduction to Open Data, including related concepts, implications and relevance. She also introduced ODC and explained how the organization works with Open Data on a daily basis.

The Panel discussion geared around the role of ICT in transparency and accountability in extractive industries. The panel consisted of Mr. Ra Chanroat, Programme Manager for Mining for Sustainable Development at Transparency International Cambodia; Mr. Cheng Kimheng, Extractive Industries Governance Coordinator at Oxfam; and Ms. Thao Chanthearyradh, Editor-Researcher at ODC. The panel was moderated by Mr. Nob Vy, Media Director at Cambodian Center for Independent Media. Panelists went over the strategies to track revenues and stressed the importance of publishing EIA reports online. A participant expressed his concern saying that as EIA reports are from the government, we only hear one side of the story. To that, Ms. Thao Chanthearyradh pointed out that online access to EIA reports are a crucial first step towards opening up more information.

The next session offered participants a space to share their experiences and reflect about the presentations early on the day. The audience provided a number of insightful points and raised questions and challenges they face in their respective fields. The session was facilitated by Mr. Thy Try, who showed the audience the datasets available in ODC´s platform and how such information enhances transparency and accountability.

Mr. Kun Chenda, Online Manager at the Cambodian Center for Independent Media, talked about the steps to write a good article and discussed the role of open data in journalism. He talked from his own extensive experience in writing and telling stories as a journalist. He also shared some pieces of advice with the audience, such as the need to clearly define the topic and use reliable data. This was a very insightful presentation, especially for the hackathon competition later in the afternoon, where participants had to analyze data and tell their own story.

A case study was presented by Mrs. Chy Bormey, Partnership Project Coordinator at ODC. The audience had the chance to see an example of a data driven story of public budget and draw from it ideas for the hackathon competition. An insightful resource shared was the government budget for each Ministry using a very user-friendly data visualization.

Mr. Prum Punwath, Data Researcher and GIS Coordinator at ODC, provided participants with all the information needed for a successful hackathon session. He shared different data sources to look for datasets and tools for producing a data story. In particular, he focused on Infogram, an online program to visualize and share data, which was to be used by the teams to create their data-driven stories.

At this point we reached one of the most awaited moments of the day; the hackathon, in which participants applied their skills and knowledge learned during the sessions. A total of 8 teams conducted research on their chosen topics, analyzed data sets and presented their outputs in the form of a story. After an afternoon of hard work, two teams were awarded by the jury with 300.000 riels each.

Open Data Day 2019 was joined by a large and diverse set of participants. They had the chance to listen to experts working with open data in different fields, raise questions and thoughts during the interactive presentations, and apply their knowledge in the hands-on hackathon. Moreover, participants valued the chance to meet new people and strengthen their networks. Bringing together experts and enthusiasts with such diverse backgrounds contributed to engaging discussions that illustrated how different communities use open data.

Group photo at the end of the Open Data Day 2019.

See you at the next Open Data Day!