From raw data to real impact: building accountability through collaboration in the Open Government Partnership

Today I had the opportunity to speak at the #OpenDataDay event at Puglia Region, Italy. My panel was entitled “Open Data: A Dialogue Between Public Administrations and Civil Society.”  The event brought together government representatives, civil society organizations, and technical experts to discuss best practices and ongoing challenges in unlocking public data to foster transparency, accountability, and innovation. Our discussions ranged from exploring practical ways to share open data across various levels of government to finding innovative methods for ensuring these data sets are effectively used by local communities, the media, and academia.

I emphasized how data from publicly funded initiatives—such as Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) and European Cohesion Policy—reflect tangible human stories. Each investment, contract, or project carries the potential to transform neighborhoods, improve lives, and spur innovation within businesses. Monithon’s work relies on gathering highly granular details, often linking multiple administrative “silos,” to assess the effectiveness of these investments in the real world. By using the Codice Unico di Progetto (CUP- Unified Project ID), which is unique to Italy, it becomes possible to merge and analyze information from different sources: PNRR or cohesion funding, business grants through the RNA system, and public procurement data from ANAC. We then publish new open data on the actual results of these projects, creating an evidence base that both governmental bodies and the public can consult. Journalists from outlets like Il Sole 24 Ore and EU project AwareEU frequently leverage these insights, and universities are playing an increasingly active role as civic intermediaries, taking students to project sites to observe what is actually happening on the ground.

At the European level, the drive to harmonize and interconnect public data spans across borders. Tools such as OpenTender standardize procurement data in multiple countries, enabling comparisons and revealing trends that would otherwise remain buried in fragmented national databases. This kind of cross-country collaboration bolsters transparency and provides a much broader platform for monitoring public investments, thereby increasing accountability and ensuring that vital information is not siloed by geography.

The ongoing work of Italy’s C6 Open Government Partnership Working Group has fostered a climate of mutual trust among various stakeholders—technical specialists, civil society groups, and public administrators. This collaborative environment has yielded practical tools to reduce the technical barriers that still hinder many opendata initiatives. OnData, a key member of this group, has been instrumental in making critical datasets easier to access and use, so that anyone with an interest in public investments can visualize and interpret the numbers behind large-scale infrastructure, social programs, and economic development projects (see for example this vademecum on how to merge different government data on projects funded by the PNRR).

Despite this progress, challenges remain. Many different agencies and levels of government still track and define information in ways that do not automatically align. Harmonizing metadata standards and ensuring consistent definitions is essential for connecting one data set to another. There is also a pressing need to determine how best to measure the impact of the commitments. Publishing raw figures does not guarantee they will be used or that they will lead to improved policies or better public services. Meaningful accountability requires not only transparency but an active dialogue between public institutions and citizens, a commitment to share updates regularly, and a willingness to respond to the concerns and insights that emerge from civil society’s use of these data.

The PNRR has greatly increased the availability of public data, including important new details on funding allocations and payments. Yet the ultimate goal is to make sure these resources reach everyone, not just policymakers and researchers with specialized technical expertise. Data are only as powerful as the engagement and context that accompany them. Through continued collaboration, the open data community can expand the circle of people who have the ability and the tools to transform statistical insights into real improvements in communities across Italy—and, increasingly, across Europe as well.