As a part of the Action Plan for the implementation of the Open Government Partnership 2014 – 2016 and in order to strengthen the process of opening data in the Republic of Croatia, the Youth Academy for Open Data was organized by the Information Commissioner and the Croatian Society for Open Systems and Internet, with the support of the City of Pula and the Student Centre of the Juraj Dobrila University in Pula and the Open Government Partnership Initiative, as well as many other partners and sponsors from 28 August to 3 September 2016 in Pula.
The Academy, whose central theme was the use of open data for sustainable local development, under the expert guidance of Croatian and foreign experts in the field of open data, sustainable development and transparency of the public sector, was attended by 24 youths (16-30 years of age) from Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, France, the United Kingdom and South Africa, who through a series of educational and team activities over a period of six days worked on ideas for socially beneficial projects linked to the development of local communities, based on the use of public administration’s open data. This year’s Academy is a continuation of the initiated project of local government sensitisation and of the development of innovative solutions as part of the Open Government Partnership, which was opened through the organization of the successful Open Data Summer Camp held in late August of 2015 in Rovinj.
The projects created using open data were presented on Thursday 1 September 2016 at the so-called pitching forum held at the Juraj Dobrila University in Pula, at which a number of experts from the public, private and civil sector voted for the best project and held consultations with each team in order to enhance project feasibility.
After the participants presented their ideas on how to create applications for mobile phones as well as the platforms that use different public administration open data, clearly showing how properly used existing public administration data may bring better and improved services in the daily life of the local community, as well as the development of existing services and the fostering of sustainable development, team TINJA was declared as the winner. Their application of the same name on the cost-effectiveness of introducing renewable energy sources and on the possibility of connecting the unemployed with employers in that sector won them a trip to Paris to the Open Government Partnership’s Global Summit, where they will have the opportunity to present their project and thus get the chance to attract potential investors and other interested parties.
In addition to the pitching forum, the central event at the Academy was the Workshop on Open Data for Local and Regional Governments, where representatives of the cities of Pula, Pazin, Buzet and Vodnjan, the Municipality of Medulin and the County of Istria, the State Administration Office in the County of Istria, the Istrian Development Agency and the City of Rijeka together with Academy participants discussed the websites of the mentioned bodies as well as the possibility of opening the data that they hold and collect. On that occasion, the importance of opening data was recognised, as were its potential and benefits for developing the economy, for the tourist offer, for the increase employment, etc. which, for the local community, may result from this process. Also presented was the developmental path of the City of Rijeka’s open data portal, whose public announcement is expected soon, as well as the Croatian County Association’s project on open budgets.
http://academy.codeforcroatia.org/
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