Open data For improved land governance Land Portal Foundation lisette.mey@landportal.info

Land portal foundation The Land Portal is a free online resource that gives access to data and information related to land governance Land Portal website brings information from various sources together and publishes according to Open Data principles

Land portal foundation Addressing fragmentation of information Local and global sources presented on same level Dealing with controversy Different data types and sources Allowing user to compare and challenge information themselves Addressing enormous wealth of information Open data principles Need help of machines to digest all information Land Portal website brings information from various sources together and publishes according to Open Data principles

OPEN DATA & LAND GOVERNANCE Focus on Open Data because we believe increasing access to information, ultimately leads to better land governance practices. Creating just and equitable land policies is very difficult Evidence-based policy is key phrase Show that you are basing decisions on verifiable data. Allow others to check what you did.

Open data in the Policy cycle ISSUE AWARENESS MONITORING DEBATE DESIGN

Sounds great in theory, but… How do I find this data? How do I know whether it is reliable? If information providers publish according to Open Data principles these issues are solved..

Share information that ensures access and re-use 1) Publish your information

Share information that ensures access and re-use 2) Consider licenses

Share information that ensures access and re-use 3) Structure your information Create information about your information: “metadata” Make sure users & machines know what your information is about and where it comes from (reliability!)

Share information that ensures access and re-use 4) Use standards to classify information Geography Resource types Date of publication Topical keywords

Topical keyword standard landvoc Assigns machine-readable code to land-related concepts A code can hold certain information: Definitions (one or more) Translations Synonyms (and translations of synonyms) Related terms (and more specific relationships) Scope notes And more.

Topical keyword standard: landvoc Uploaded document in database tagged with ‘slums’ Connecting terms through code (back end of database): User queries database with a term, e.g.: informal settlements kampungs townships c_9001019 SLUMS favelas ghettos

Topical keyword standard landvoc Enriching this standard with help of partners Adding translations Adding synonyms to reflect local usage of terms Refining concepts relating to particular domain E.g. Habitat for Humanity enriched urban tenure terms. Interested to join the LandVoc editorial community?

Be the change you want to see in the information landscape! Moving forward Have you published your information? Have you specified the license for this information? Have you applied (some sort of) structure to your information? Are users able to check for the provenance and quality of your information? Are you making use of standards to classify your information? Be the change you want to see in the information landscape! Full potential of open data can only be reached if you publish information.

Land Portal Foundation lisette.mey@landportal.info Thank you! Land Portal Foundation lisette.mey@landportal.info