OPEN DATA POLICY | Policy.ng

A Policy requires federal government agencies to publish data in open formats on the national portal. It targets government bodies as publishers and the public as users. This promotes transparency and innovation in decision-making.

OPEN DATA POLICY

What Is This Policy?

A policy mandating that federal government data be proactively published in open, machine-readable formats on the national open data portal, enabling innovation, transparency, and evidence-based decision-making.

Who Does It Target?

Federal government MDAs as data publishers Technology developers and entrepreneurs using government data Researchers and civil society organisations Citizens and the general public

What Does It Aim to Achieve?

Maximise the value of government-held data by making it freely accessible, drive innovation by enabling developers to build data-driven services, and improve government accountability through transparency.

Key Features

Proactive Publication: MDAs must publish datasets without waiting for requests, following a prioritised data release schedule. Open Formats: Data must be published in open, machine-readable formats such as CSV, JSON, and XML. Licensing: Government data is published under an open licence permitting reuse, including commercial use. Data Quality: Published data must be accurate, timely, and accompanied by metadata for discoverability.

Current Status

Rollout Stage: Active Coverage: All federal MDAs Beneficiaries: Developers, researchers, businesses, and all citizens Funding: NITDA; Federal Government

How to Access

All datasets freely accessible at https://opendata.gov.ng without registration Commercial reuse permitted under the open licence MDAs must designate a data officer responsible for publication compliance Application method: Access data freely at https://opendata.gov.ng

Important Terms

Sensitive, personal, and classified data are exempt from publication MDAs must not charge for access to data that is on the open data portal Data quality problems should be reported to the portal administrator

Official Resources

Website: https://opendata.gov.ng Contact: National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA)

Legal Framework

Operates under the Freedom of Information Act 2011, the National Information Technology Development Agency Act 2007, the Statistics Act 2007, the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, Etc.) Act 2015, and the Nigeria Data Protection Act 2023. Draws on the Open Government Partnership commitments of Nigeria and the International Open Data Charter.