Poland is seeking to strengthen its strategic approach to the design and implementation of open government data (OGD) policies and initiatives to deliver the economic, social and good governance benefits. These policies can foster a more open and innovative public administration and create more opportunities for citizens and businesses. To support these efforts, the government of Poland invited the OECD to conduct an Open Government Data Review in 2015.

The Polish government’s ambitions for open government data (OGD) are the result of at least three concurrent dynamics over the last few years: a) political vision and leadership from the top of the Polish administration; b) opportunities and pressure arising from EU-related policy developments; and c) advocacy by civil society, encouraged by the positive advances of a few local government authorities opening up their datasets for public re-use. Despite individual steps, efforts so far have largely been sequential and benefitted little from involvement of non-government actors. This has left a vacuum in advancing an OGD agenda whose objectives and potential impacts would be shared and understood by all actors. As a result, Poland currently trails the OECD’s OURdata Index on open, useful, and re-usable government data.

The Open Government Data Review of Poland was undertaken by the OECD to analyse the progress and challenges of open government data in the Polish national context. Based on the OECD methodology laid out in the working paper “Open government data: Towards empirical analysis of open government data initiatives”, the country reviews recommend proposals for action that help countries improve their open government data (OGD) efforts.

This chapter provides an overview of the Polish context for open government data. It describes the actors and conditions that led to the current state of OGD in Poland, highlighting the need to move from compliance orientation towards a whole-of-government commitment to the open government data agenda. The chapter emphasises the need for charismatic leadership and stronger community involvement as core elements to sustain commitment and buy-in across government.

This chapter examines the governance framework and institutional arrangements supporting open government data (OGD) implementation and the current capacity to steer strategy setting and implementation effectively in Poland. It emphasises the importance to create a collective commitment to the OGD agenda across the public sector and around common objectives. This requires a shift of organisational cultures that can only happen if individual institutions share a common vision and co-ordinate as partners for a common agenda instead of feeling obliged to fulfil a legal obligation.

This chapter provides an overview of the Polish context for open government data. It describes the actors and conditions that led to the current state of OGD in Poland, highlighting the need to move from compliance orientation towards a whole-of-government commitment to the open government data agenda. The chapter emphasises the need for charismatic leadership and stronger community involvement as core elements to sustain commitment and buy-in across government.

This chapter provides an overview of how OECD countries utilise the OGD agenda within the broader context of government digital transformation. The chapter maps the efforts and challenges described in previous chapters against good practices in other OECD countries to increase data availability, accessibility and usability; release priority high-value datasets to create demand; and create innovative public service delivery modes. The chapter underscores the need to build capacities within the public sector and in the broader Polish society, as well as to create a system of incentives for the public sector and the wider public to engage in government data re-use.