This post was written by Ana Brandusescu (Web Foundation) and Danny Lämmerhirt (Open Knowledge International), co-chairs of the Measurement and Accountability Working Group of the Open Data Charter.

Measurability of the Open Data Charter principles

We are pleased to announce the launch of our Open Data Charter Measurement Guide. The guide is a collaborative effort of the Charter’s Measurement and Accountability Working Group (MAWG). It analyses the Open Data Charter principles and how they are assessed based on current open government data measurement tools. Governments, civil society, journalists, and researchers may use it to better understand how they can measure open data activities according to the Charter principles.

What can I find in the Measurement Guide?

• An executive summary for people who want to quickly understand what measurement tools exist and for what principles.
• An analysis of how each Charter principle is measured, including a comparison of indicators that are currently used to measure each Charter principle and its commitments. This analysis is based on the open data indicators used by the five largest measurement tools — the Web Foundation’s Open Data Barometer, Open Knowledge International’s Global Open Data Index, Open Data Watch’s Open Data Inventory, OECD’s OURdata Index, and the European Open Data Maturity Assessment . For each principle, we also highlight case studies of how Charter adopters have practically implemented the commitments of that principle.
• Comprehensive indicator tables show how each Charter principle commitment can be measured. This table is especially helpful when used to compare how different indices approach the same commitment, and where gaps exist. Here, you can see an example of the indicator tables for Principle 1.
• A methodology section that details how the Working Group conducted the analysis of mapping existing measurements indices against Charter commitments.
• A recommended list of resources for anyone that wants to read more about measurement and policy.

The Measurement Guide is available online in the form of a Gitbook and in a printable PDF version. If you are interested in using the indicators to measure open data, visit our indicator tables for each principle, or find the guide’s raw data here.

Do you have comments or questions? Share your feedback with the community using the hashtag #OpenDataMetrics or get in touch with our working group at progressmeasurement-wg@opendatacharter.net.

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