70,395 data cases were published… 17%↑ compared to last year
Data that is not in open format also increased
“Focusing on releasing data than for practical use
urgent mandatory data management guide
It was found that 9,199 data cases among opened public data to be in difficult file formats such as HWP and PDF for practical use. It is about 13% of the total number of released public data. It is pointed out that improvement is necessary as the purpose of opening public data is for ‘practical use’.
As of the 8th, the number of released public data was 70,395, which is up 16.97% from August last year (60,182). However, data in formats that are difficult to use also increased during the same period.
Open format is a software (SW) file format that can be processed individually or internally check, modify, convert, extract. This format gives no limit to how they can they be used since they can be modified for different programs, and does not cost extra. CSV file format is an example.
Jin-Im Jeong, director of The Center for Freedom of Information, said, "The goal of public data is to practically use public data, and for this purpose, machine-readable and easy-to-access information are important principles. If the data is not in open format, it is difficult to say they are publicly available.”.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety recommends data registration in open format or more compatible format. According to the Public Data Management Guidelines of The Ministry of the Interior and Safety, public institutions must maintain public data in a machine-readable form and provide it in an open format so that users can use public data efficiently.
However, the management guidelines are ‘recommendations’ rather than ‘rules’. It is not mandatory. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety should manage administrative public institutions through inspections and recommendations. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety is managing the annual public data provision operation status evaluation as a related indicator by including whether to use an open format for the data, but this also does not have a penalty.
Jae-ho Myung, Vice President of En-core, explained, “It is not important for now that how and who are using public data. It is only focused on performance of releasing the public data.”
He continued, “The management is so divided that it has a structure that Ministry of the Interior and Safety nor Ministry of Science and ICT is responsible for any of it. Mandatory management guidelines are urgently needed.”
By Staff Reporter Hye-mi Kwon hyeming@etnews.com