On October 25, BIRN Kosovo held a conference to publish a report, “Data-Driven Governance: Strategies for Open Data in the Western Balkans”, which deals with the availability of open data and digitalization in the Western Balkans. A total of 27 participants, 15 of whom were women, attended.
Xheneta Murtezaj, researcher at BIRN Kosovo, opened the conference and presented the main. findings, stating that the research team had “reviewed how data is published, in what format, and whether it is accessible”.
According to Murtezaj, the report reveals that while donors play a crucial role in supporting open data and digitization initiatives, “new platforms often stagnate once donor funding ends, as institutions lack the willingness to push these projects forward independently”.
The report, based on the latest research on open data availability and digitalization in the Western Balkan, maps thousands of e-services and over 3,000 open data sets, including more than 50 interviews exploring key stakeholders’ capacities and engagement in these areas.
The research also highlights negative trends, such as data leaks, privacy breaches, inadequate responses to cyber-attacks and inconsistent policy applications, which pose significant challenges to progress.
The conference continued with a discussion panel moderated by Dorentina Kastrati, editor at BIRN, with panelists including: Arbian Arifi, acting chief of the Department for Data Protection at the Agency for Information and Privacy; Agron Ibishi, an IT expert in e-procurement at the Regulatory Commission for Public Procurement; Plator Avdiu, project manager at KDI and; Besfort Guri, board member of Free Libre Open Source Software Kosova, FLOSSK, an NGO.
According to Arban Arifi, open data “should be available on a state portal, with a designated official in each ministry responsible for updating the portal without the need for formal access requests”.
However, in some cases in Kosovo, municipalities have shared what is private information. For example, Gjakova municipality shared health data when distributing subsidies to people with special needs. The privacy agency fined the municipality, as “health data should not be equated with transparency”.
Avdiu from KDI said a major challenge with open data in Kosovo lies in its lack of interoperability across government sectors.
Agron Ibishi, an IT expert in public procurement, highlighted the advances made in open data since 2016 with the introduction of e-procurement aimed at streamlining processes and increasing efficiency for both contracting authorities and economic operators.
However, Besfort Guri, a board member of FLOSSK, emphasized that open data remains limited to specific sectors in Kosovo.
This public event is part of the “Open Data and Digitalization in the Western Balkans” grant supported by the Open Society Foundation Western Balkan and implemented by BIRN.
To read the full report, click this link.