Oman first at the GCC level in open data watch

Muscat: Oman, represented by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) came first at the GCC level and 8th at the West Asia level from among 173 countries round the world in the open data watch.
In the open data report published by the US-based Open Data Watch Organisation, the Sultanate earned 42 points in the open data for 2016.
The global assessment is the only one of its kind, which covers the open data on the e-portals for the national statistical authorities in the various parts of the world. Sweden topped the list, followed by Switzerland, Norway and Poland.
The Open Data Watch Organisation, which assessed the e-portals of the NCSI, issued a detailed report in which it cast light on the performance in the sectoral fields. The report assessed three main sectors namely the social data, the economic data and environmental data, which in aggregate cover 20 topics.
The assessment focused on the openness and comprehensiveness of data. NCSI earned higher marks in terms of availability of economic statistics compared to high-income countries.
The data portal, one of NCSI's portals, has been selected as the best model practices in three categories on the world level namely, the open licence, the public access and options for requesting new data.
It should be noted that the assessment helps in enhancing open data policies and improves access to data. It also encourages dialogue among national statistical organisations and data users.