After the 1980 US national census, 53 state and local governments sued to correct alleged errors in the count, and the US Census Bureau found itself at a crossroads. For years, the bureau had integrated information from paper-based sources to create maps for its census takers, and the procedure was slow and unreliable. An overhaul of the cumbersome system would be a complex and difficult task, and there was a deadline: the next national census would take place in 1990. Robert Marx, head of the bureau’s geography division, decided to take advantage of new advances in computing technology to improve performance. As part of that initiative—known as Topologically Integrated Geographic Encoding and Referencing, or TIGER—the bureau built interagency cooperation to create a master map, developed a software platform, digitized information, and automated data management. Its efforts generated a nationwide geospatial dataset that fed an emerging geographic information industry and supported the creation of online services such as MapQuest, OpenStreetMap, and Google Maps. This case provides insights on overcoming common obstacles that arise in the collection, digitization, and publication of information in accessible formats, which are challenges that affect many open-data reforms.

Pallavi Nuka drafted this case study based on interviews conducted in August, September, and October 2017. Case published February 2018.

In January 2011, mass demonstrations in Tunisia ousted a regime that had tolerated little popular participation, opening the door to a new era of transparency. The protesters demanded an end to the secrecy that had protected elite privilege. Five months later, the president issued a decree that increased citizen access to government data and formed a steering committee to guide changes in information practices, building on small projects already in development. Advocates in the legislature and the public service joined with civil society leaders to support a strong access-to-information policy, to change the culture of public administration, and to secure the necessary financial and technical resources to publish large quantities of data online in user-friendly formats. Several government agencies launched their own open-data websites. External pressure, coupled with growing interest from civil society and legislators, helped keep transparency reforms on the cabinet office agenda despite frequent changes in top leadership. In 2016, Tunisia adopted one of the world’s strongest laws regarding access to information. Although members of the public did not put all of the resources to use immediately, the country moved much closer to having the data needed to improve access to services, enhance government performance, and support the evidence-based deliberation on which a healthy democracy depended.

Tristan Dreisbach drafted this case study based on interviews conducted in Tunis, Tunisia, in October 2016. Case published May 2017.

When Bitange Ndemo became permanent secretary of Kenya’s Ministry of Information and Communications in 2005, he was well aware of the difficulty Kenyans faced when they tried to get information from the government. He knew that easier access to government data on topics ranging from demographics to education could help spur innovation in business and technology and help drive the country’s economic growth. The Official Secrets Act under former President Daniel arap Moi had long prevented civil servants from sharing government data, and for the most part, the trend had continued since the 2002 election of President Mwai Kibaki. But in 2011, Ndemo won Kibaki’s approval to create an Internet portal that would serve as a one-stop shop for government census, economic, health and education data. With Kibaki’s support, Ndemo persuaded other ministries to allow access to the data, and he assembled a volunteer task force of computer programmers, data experts and ministry and World Bank officials to build the website and upload information. After the site—opendata.go.ke­—went online in July 2011, the ministry started taking crucial steps to ensure the system’s effectiveness by training journalists in how to use the data in their reporting, by encouraging software developers to build applications that manipulated the data to explore trends, and by working to streamline the continuing flow of information to the site from government institutions. The case highlights Ndemo’s efforts to open Kenya’s government to the country’s citizens and the world.