The first edition of the global data barometer have just been released yesterday, a zoom webinar took place yesterday to introduce results of this first edition and talk about this amazing new experience. I was honored to work in this edition as researcher with two regional hubs : The Center for Continuing Education (CCE) at Birzeit University for the golf countries, and LDRI Kenya for North African countries. 109 countries have been surveyed in this edition to get the state of data for public good around the world !
The results in my opinion was very fair and reflect the reality of the data economy in the world. To be honest the research was much harder than previous barometers, as I worked previously in the ODB with the web foundation. In the GDB there are much more work and research, more details and more detailed modules !
There are always recommendations to improve the barometer, and I think most complains that I heard was about the political integrity module. Overall, the barometer for those who don’t know it is organized around four pillars or core areas of assessment: governance, capability, availability, and use and impact. The barometer include two core modules which correspond to data governance and capability, in addition to five thematic modules that examine data for the public good related to money, property, and power. The other two pillars of the Barometer, availability and use and impact, are assessed through the thematic modules.