Dubai: Data sharing will soon be regulated in Dubai through a new law being drafted by the recently established Open Data Committee, a Smart Cities Forum heard on Monday.
“All available data will be processed and categorised according to their utility and sensitivity. Our idea is to make available to public all unclassified data that is not personal or sensitive to anybody,” Abdullah Al Madani, Chairman of Dubai Open Data Committee (ODC), said.
To streamline the data ODC is currently busy formulating a draft law that will distinguish between various categories of data as well as provides instructions and guidelines on what to share and what not to share.
“We are working on the draft of the law which will be ready by May and once approved we will have legal base on which we can process public and private sector data and reach a consensus on should be shared as well as how and where to access open data,” Al Madani said.
He added that open data is the enabler of any smart city and Dubai is putting efforts in making government as well as private sector data that needs to be shared is seamlessly available to people.
“We want people to come on board and make their data openly available so that it is useful for common people. This will help provide more business and job opportunities as well as developing communication between government and private sector as well as individual,” he added.
The fifth Smart Cities Forum was organised by Mohammad Bin Rashid School of Government (MBRSG), a research and teaching institution focusing on public policy in the Arab world.
Dr Aisha Bin Bishr, deputy director-general, the Executive Office and member of Smart Dubai Executive Committee, opened the forum and commended the role of Dubai Smart Cities Forum in enabling dialogue on the implementation of the emirate’s smart city vision.
Joy Bonaguro, chief data officer for San Francisco, spoke about her experience in standardising the city’s data policies across departments and make the city’s data more user-friendly and accessible.
Bonaguro is also responsible for establishing and managing data coordinators within individual city departments to develop and monitor efforts at compiling open data.
