Open Data projects implemented during the pandemic have reminded again to the Eurasian countries governments on the importance of releasing any possible amount of data for free public access. Most of the local virus spread tracking apps have been developed based on the open data use and some of the vaccines against COVID-19 are being developed on the basis of open data. How can Eurasian countries take a historic chance and make open data a significant component of economic growth and social development? These issues were discussed on StrategEast Live session Open Data in Eurasia during COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Juliet McMurren, specialist on open government, SecDev Group, spoke about the results of a study on open data projects aimed at combating the Covid-19 pandemic, conducted by the group jointly with the World Bank. According to Ms. McMurren, during the pandemic, the need to work with open data has been proven by a number of implemented projects, such as the ability to immediately monitor the slightest changes in the labor market, which has become extremely dynamic during the lockdown, and therefore immediately provide assistance to workers in the most affected areas. However, Ms. McMurren noted the downside of open data usage – not in all cases it was possible to maintain complete anonymity in the disclosure of statistics on the spread of the disease.

Kateryna Onyiliogwu, Open Data Team Lead, the USAID / UK aid Transparency and Accountability in Public Administration and Services, formulated the general open data approach required during the current crisis: “If you want to help the economy get out of the crisis, you need the data for decision making.” Speaking about the Ukrainian experience, Ms Onyiliogwu urged not to limit oneself to talking only about medical data. During the current crisis, the significance of completely different data is growing – primarily business and public procurement data. In Ukraine, due to the use of open data by the ProZorro public procurement system, the citizens could see how 3.5 billion hryvnias (about 130 million US dollars) were spent on purchasing masks, gloves and other necessary materials.

Pavel Koktyshev, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Zerde National Infocommunication Holding, spoke about the history of open data usage in Kazakhstan. Since 2016, more than 3.500 databases have been published on the state portal in the country. And the last two years have demonstrated sharp increase of interest in using this data. And today, new data is often no longer provided by the state, but by private companies, primarily cellular communication companies. “The open data approach gives many countries in our region a chance to completely upgrade their infrastructure, and in many countries the government has seen it and is trying to get the most out of its data,” said Mr. Koktyshev.

Answering the question by the panel moderator, Anatoly Motkin, President of StrategEast, on what arguments might motivate the governments of Eurasian countries to open data, Kateryna Onyiliogwu noted that based on her experience, although there is no universal answer to this question, there always comes a moment when the leadership can no longer resist change and is forced to uncover certain data.