From “dataset dumps” to services: how the open data sector needs to grow up

Why doesn’t opening thousands of files guarantee transparency? In episode 8 of the “Open Data Chronicles” podcast, Nataliia Chornohub and Maksym Nefodov analyse the ten-year journey of Ukrainian open data: from the “cult of the USB stick” to services that keep businesses going during the war. Find out why data quality now matters more than quantity, and which three registers are critical for the survival of the economy.

Ukraine’s open data sector is entering its second decade. It is a journey that began with USB sticks and personal requests in officials’ offices and is now measured in millions of automated checks. Yet the war and new economic challenges are forcing us to rethink the very concept of openness.

In episode 8 of the “Open Data Chronicles” podcast, Nataliia Chornohub, Head of the NGO “Open Data Association”, and Maksym Nefodov, co-founder of the NGO “Technologies of Progress”, discussed why today’s model of data publication often remains ineffective and how to change that.

Ten years of transformation: from euphoria to pragmatism

According to Nataliia Chornohub, over the past ten years the community has gone through the full range of emotions: from euphoria after the adoption of the law on access to public information to periods of burnout. The main achievement of this period is a culture in which data is seen as a public good and an everyday security tool.

Today, the open data sector means:

• Scale: every month, Ukrainians run more than 7 million checks through specialised services.
• Ecosystem: more than 120 services and anti-corruption initiatives are built on open registers.
• Efficiency for the state: the case of Drohobych shows that opening data dramatically reduces the number of information requests, easing the workload of civil servants.

The problem of “inconvenient” data: imitation instead of a service

One of the sharpest points of the discussion was data quality. Maksym Nefodov aptly noted that we often see “dumps of JSONs or CSVs” — situations where a data holder formally complies with the law but publishes data in a form that is practically impossible to work with.

Why does the system resist?

Opening data is a process that is inherently at odds with bureaucracy.

• Lack of incentives: for an official, opening data means extra work and the risk that someone will find a mistake or signs of corruption in it.
• Fear of criticism: “Nobody ever praises anyone for opening data,” says Nefodov. At best it goes unnoticed; at worst it is used to make accusations.
• Cynical decisions: some managers deliberately ignore the law because they feel no political or legal responsibility for concealing information.

Transparency as a survival strategy in wartime

[note] Nataliia Chornohub stresses that during the full-scale invasion, open data has become a tool of national resilience. When resources are limited and corruption risks are rising, transparency is the only way to keep the trust of international partners and investors.

“If we want to show the world that it is possible to invest in Ukraine even now, an investor must be able to check the facts remotely — literally from their phone in New York,” says Nataliia Chornohub.

Prioritisation: what to focus on now?

The Open Data Association and its partners have identified the 10 most critical datasets with the greatest public benefit. Nataliia highlights three “foundations”:

• The Unified State Register (USR): the basis for checking counterparties for links to the aggressor state or sanctions lists.
• The Register of Property Rights and the Cadastre: needed to confirm the legitimacy of assets and land plots, especially in the context of reconstruction.
• Tax debt data: a real marker of business integrity. “It is important to know whether a company really supports the state through taxes or only declares its intentions,” Nataliia adds.

The future: from quantity to use cases

The main conclusion of the conversation is that we need to move from quantitative indicators (the number of files on the portal) to qualitative ones (building services based on data), following a few key principles:

• Open by Default: the principle should become part of the internal culture of every public authority.
• Service orientation: data should be provided via APIs and in formats convenient for analysis.
• Public demand: the only real counterweight to closing information is active demand from users — business, media and the public.

The full episode of the “Open Data Chronicles” podcast is available at the link.

The Open Data Association continues to advocate for every Ukrainian’s right of access to public information, because in a world where data is the new oil, transparency is our main competitive advantage.