Publish existing data following open data guidelines

Identifying existing datasets for priority dissemination is the first step to leveraging open data for action during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rather than focus on collecting new data, national statistical offices should locate existing useful data from traditional and non-traditional sources and publish them while adhering to open data standards to maximize access and usability. This section identifies resources to understand the state of open statistical data in a country, examples of data published by others that are critical to understanding COVID-19, and initiatives underway that use data to stop the pandemic.

Tools to understand the state of open data in your country

• Open Data Inventory (Open Data Watch): A tool for NSOs to discover how complete and open their statistical offerings are. The Open Data Inventory also identifies key datasets and disaggregations for countries to prioritize.
• Open Data Barometer (World Wide Web Foundation): An index focused on the readiness, implementation, and impact of open government data that includes, but is not limited to, national statistics.

Guidance to support NSOs in opening their data

• Guidance on the implementation of open data in national statistical offices (UN Working Group on Open Data): This paper addresses key open data topics of particular relevance to NSOs and provides country examples.
• Open Data Section of National Strategies for the Development of Statistics Guidelines (PARIS21): This chapter of the NSDS Guidelines covers concepts and definitions of openness and how these are increasingly used to promote accountability and transparency of government with a focus on statistical systems, agencies, and their operations.

Examples of useful COVID-19 open data

Global

• The World Health Organization (WHO) publishes in their daily situation reports the global and national tally of COVID-19 cases and deaths..
• The Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) at Johns Hopkins University has a dashboard and data for download site of global cases, including presumptive cases.
• The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) provides a daily data on the geographic distribution of COVID-19 cases worldwide in downloadable form, as well as a situation dashboard with latest surveillance data with case tallies, deaths, and maps of the spread of the virus.

Regional

• The OECD Secretariat is calling for evidence on the release and use of Open Government Data (OGD) in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The live and open repository will reflect the different uses of data as we move through the COVID-19 outbreak.

National

• Australia Bureau of Statistics created a page where they publish all their data products dedicated to measure the impact of COVID-19.
• Statistics Canada publishes a dashboard presenting selected data relevant for monitoring the impacts of COVID-19 on economic activity in Canada.
• The National Health Commission of the People’s Republic of China publish daily updates on key COVID-19 indicators.
• Every day at noon, the US Center for Disease Control publishes detailed data on COVID-19 cases around the country.