Abu Dhabi launches new open data platform to improve public services

The platform offers more than 550 open data sets across 10 sectors

Abu Dhabi's new data platform is expected to help companies and citizens make better decisions based on the accurate data. Victor Besa for The National.

Abu Dhabi launched an open data platform on Tuesday to facilitate the exchange of open data by the public and private sectors with users, start-ups and academic institutions.

The platform offers more than 550 open data sets across various sectors related to agriculture, the environment, health, transportation, the economy, tourism, education, energy, and technology. An open data platform allows users to easily access publicly available information.

Abu Dhabi Open Data is launched by the Department of Government Support in Abu Dhabi in partnership with 23 other government entities including Abu Dhabi Police, Department of Economic Development and Department of Health among others.

Established in October last year, the Department of Government Support includes the Abu Dhabi Statistics Centre, Human Resources Authority, Abu Dhabi School of Government and Abu Dhabi Digital Authority.

Ali Rashid Al Ketbi, chairman of the Department of Government Support, said providing access to data "will create social and economic benefits and help [public and private enterprises] make better decisions based on the accurate and rich information provided by the platform".

The platform also aims to improve the competitiveness of Abu Dhabi in international indices of open data, while increasing the transparency through reliable and updated data, the Department of Government Support said. It will improve cooperation between all government entities as well and will help them make informed decisions.

Abu Dhabi Digital Authority rolled out the open data initiative last year under Abu Dhabi’s accelerator programme Ghadan 21. In October, it signed an agreement with California-based technology firm Hewlett Packard Enterprise to accelerate the execution of data management programmes in the Emirates.