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ODpolicy-Qatar Background: http://www.ictqatar.qa/en/documents/document/public-consultation-draft-open-data-policy

Q. 1: Do you agree that the proposed Open Data Policy is a good initiative For the State of Qatar, which will bring about the benefits identified in this paper?
x YES
NO
Comments:
    I am sure the Policy is a great initiative. Yet what needs to be carefully examined is the national legislation relative to public integrity and transparency -- as it has precedence over any policy pledge, it needs to be compliant with the surge to increased governmental transparency and inclusiveness reflected in the OD Policy paper.
If ‘NO’, please explain:

Q.2: Do you think the proposed Open Data Policy has addressed all the key requirements?
YES
x No
Comments:
If ‘NO’, please explain:
    I am not sure what "the key requirements" encompass exactly. I haven't identified a clear mention of the licensing framework to be applied to the released data. I haven't identified neither any recommendations regarding the format. There is no global consensus regarding what a machine-readable format exactly is; yet the Policy document and its Appendix 7 leaves room for XLS/XLSX to be the default format (while completely omitting to mention ODS) and indicates no guidelines for the handling of PDF-enclosed data (these always pop up).

Q. 3: Do you agree that the policy targets set for the Government Agencies are reasonable and achievable within the timeframe outlined?
YES
x NO
Comments:
If ‘NO’, please explain:
    A blind guess would deem that the release of three datasets per agency is achievable within a one-year timeframe. Yet, it is unclear how many agencies are targeted in the Policy paper. One crucial element has not at all been taken into account: the readiness at the govt/public sector level is very low. Thus, practically speaking, I fail to envision how a single operator per agency will manage to train civil servants of the given Agency, promote the concept of Open Data, establish a policy that adequately reflects the given Agency's needs and internal processes, set up a website in both English and Arabic, identify the datasets to be released, etc. in the given timeframe. In brief, although setting up clear time-bound milestones is a good way to get things done, I am under the impression that this may very well turn out to be too constraint given the readiness of the target institutions.

Q. 4: Should the central Open Data portal (“data.gov.qa”) operate as a central data warehouse or an index providing link to individual Agency’s Open Data page where the Agency maintains its Open Data?
x YES
NO
Comments: 
    The answer is actually 'yes' in the beginning, and 'no' in the mid- and long-term. As a matter of fact, a national portal to centralize all released datasets is a handy approach -- so long as these datasets are not that numerous. Depending on the evolution and the pace at which release happens, it may be increasingly difficult to centralize all datasets in one national portal. The latter may as well be irrelevant in the case of local institutions. Overall, I believe that the institutions' willingness to get involved into the process and the smoothness of such a process will be the best indicators -- but for these to be evaluated, the process has to be engaged.
If ‘NO’, please explain:

Q. 5: Open Data should be provided free of charge where appropriate, to encourage its widespread use. However, where is it not possible, should such data be chargeable and if so, what are such datasets and how should they be charged to ensure they are reasonable?
YES
x NO
Comments:
If ‘NO’, please explain: 
    One of the greatest barriers to access to information is the cost imposed on the public for access. Even very low, the need to pay to access data is a serious obstacle to access. Thus, if the data is provided at a cost, it is not Open Data anymore as by definition, Open Data is data accessible at no cost for everyone. The Policy paper does a great job emphasizing that the data has to be provided at no cost (see 4.2 i; 4.4 ii; Appendix 6, 'Pricing Framework' indicator). 

Q. 6: We are proposing for a Pilot Project involving Government Agencies as Datasets owners and the private ICT companies or indviduals. Would you, your company or Governemnt Agency be keen to participate in the Proposed Pilot Project? And If so, what role would you like to play?
x YES
NO
Comments:
    Although I am not a Qatari national, I am able to contribute expertise on both the policy-making and outreach fronts. 
If ‘NO’, please explain:

Q. 7: In your opinon, what are some of the roles that the government can play to further stimulate innovation and in the use of Open Data? What is the best way to achieve this?
x YES
NO
Comments: 
    The government must ensure that the national legislation will not burden/prevent Open Data related innovation. The government must also enforce new legislation, in line with the shift towards Open Data, and provide room for training and outreach. Last but not least, the government should pay extra attention to the restructuring of its Agencies -- such a shift will necessarily happen thanks to a shift to Open Data to be used between the different Agencies.
If ‘NO’, please explain:

Q. 8: What government datasets do you think are the most important and useful to be opened up?
x YES
NO
Comments: 
    Pollution levels, energy consumption, governmental spending, contracting and procurement (call for tender, future tenders, etc.), local budget, national budget (planned and spent), education and health related datasets (performance, prescription of public institutions), transport and infrastructures, company registrars, etc. These are both relevant for the population and allow for an improvement of the public sector transparency and government accountability.
If ‘NO’, please explain: