Draft Guidelines for Open Data in Nigeria
o Sources of Data in Nigeria
 Government
 Institutions
 Certain Private Organizations
These Guidelines are for Critical National Data
Government data in Nigeria shall be considered open if it is made public in a way that
complies with the principles below:
1. Complete
All public data is made available. Public data is data that is not subject to valid privacy,
security or privilege limitations.
2. Primary
Data is as collected at the source, with the highest possible level of granularity, not in
aggregate or modified forms.
3. Timely
Data is made available as quickly as necessary to preserve the value of the data.
4. Accessible
Data is available to the widest range of users for the widest range of purposes.
5. Machine processable
Data is reasonably structured to allow automated processing.
6. Non-discriminatory
Data is available to anyone, with no requirement of registration.
7. Non-proprietary
Data is available in a format over which no entity has exclusive control.
8. License-free
Data is not subject to any copyright, patent, trademark or trade secret regulation.
Reasonable privacy, security and privilege restrictions may be allowed.
Compliance must be reviewable.
1. What is Open Data?
Data: For the purposes of these Guidelines, the term “data” refers to all structured information,
unless otherwise noted.
Dataset: For the purposes of this Guideline, the term “dataset” refers to a collection of data
presented in tabular or non-tabular form.
Fair Information Practice Principles: The term “Fair Information Practice Principles” refers to
the eight widely accepted principles for identifying and mitigating privacy impacts in
information systems, programs and processes, delineated in the Nigerian National Strategy for
Trusted Identities in Cyberspace1.
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TBD
Government information: “Government information” means information created, collected,
processed, disseminated, or disposed of, by or for the Federal Government.
Information: “Information” means any communication or representation of knowledge such as
facts, data, or opinions in any medium or form, including textual, numerical, graphic,
cartographic, narrative, or audiovisual forms.
Information life cycle: “Information life cycle” means the stages through which information
passes, typically characterized as creation or collection, processing, dissemination, use, storage,
and disposition.
Personally identifiable information: “Personally identifiable information” (PII) refers to
information that can be used to distinguish or trace an individual’s identity, either alone or
when combined with other personal or identifying information that is linked or linkable to a
specific individual. The definition of PII is not anchored to any single category of information or
technology. Rather, it requires a case-by-case assessment of the specific risk that an individual
can be identified. In performing this assessment, it is important for an agency to recognize that
non-PII can become PII whenever additional information is made publicly available (in any
medium and from any source) that, when combined with other available information, could be
used to identify an individual.
Mosaic Effect: The Mosaic Effect occurs when the information in an individual dataset, in
isolation, may not pose a risk of identifying an individual (or threatening some other important
interest such as security), but when combined with other available information, could pose
such risk. Before disclosing potential PII or other potentially sensitive information, agencies
must consider other publicly available data – in any medium and from any source – to
determine whether some combination of existing data and the data intended to be publicly
released could allow for the identification of an individual or pose another security concern.
Open data: For the purposes of these Guidelines, the term “open data” refers to publicly
available data structured in a way that enables the data to be fully discoverable and usable by
end users. In general, open data will be consistent with the following principles:

Public. FGN MDAs must adopt a presumption in favor of openness to the extent permitted by
law and subject to privacy, confidentiality, security, or other valid restrictions.

Accessible. Open data are made available in convenient, modifiable, and open formats that can
be retrieved, downloaded, indexed, and searched. Formats should be machine-readable (i.e.,
data are reasonably structured to allow automated processing). Open data structures do not
discriminate against any person or group of persons and should be made available to the widest
range of users for the widest range of purposes, often by providing the data in multiple formats
for consumption. To the extent permitted by law, these formats should be non-proprietary,
publicly available, and no restrictions should be placed upon their use.

Described. Open data are described fully so that consumers of the data have sufficient
information to understand their strengths, weaknesses, analytical limitations, security
requirements, as well as how to process them. This involves the use of robust, granular
metadata (i.e., fields or elements that describe data), thorough documentation of data
elements, data dictionaries, and, if applicable, additional descriptions of the purpose of the
collection, the population of interest, the characteristics of the sample, and the method of data
collection.

Reusable. Open data are made available under an open license that places no restrictions on
their use.

Complete. Open data are published in primary forms (i.e., as collected at the source), with the
finest possible level of granularity that is practicable and permitted by law and other
requirements. Derived or aggregate open data should also be published but must reference the
primary data.

Timely. Open data are made available as quickly as necessary to preserve the value of the data.
Frequency of release should account for key audiences and downstream needs.

Managed Post-Release. A point of contact must be designated to assist with data use and to
respond to complaints about adherence to these open data requirements.
2. Why Is an Open Data Guideline Necessary For|In Nigeria?
Opening up government data and information are key foundations to enabling engagement
with citizens by using new technologies to connect the public to government and to one
another. Making government data and information available online invites individuals and
organizations to transform data and information into tools and applications that help
individuals, institutions and communities; and to promote partnerships with government to
create innovative solutions to the opportunities and challenges faced by Nigerians.
Increase transparency in Governance
 Further Government goals
 Create economic opportunities for Nigerians
 Additional funding for NITDA to make sure Open Data Initiatives in Nigeria have the
requisite infrastructure

3. The Benefits of Proactive and Relevant Guidelines to Nigeria
Longevity beyond any individual leader’s term
 A wake-up call to spur slow-moving FGN MDAs & Bureaucracies
 Strengthen the Nigerian FOI Act

4. Elements of an Effective Open Data Guideline
 Goals-
 Why are you launching an open data program? What do you hope to achieve?
Share this information in your policy. Be explicit and help people understand the
benefit of spending time and energy on open data.
 Datasets Specify the types of datasets to be included in your portal. You can limit them to
certain areas, such as finance or crime, or be more inclusive. We recommend
including as much data as possible.
 For example, a City regarded as a IT hub’s policy explicitly states that all city data
that does not contain personal information should be on the open data
portal. They have an “open by default” mandate. This means that all public data
is considered “open data” unless it contains personal information about citizens.
This approach makes it easier to get all agencies to publish their data on the
open data portal. Plus, you’ll save yourself time you would have spent answering
the question, “What do I publish?”
 Designated Roles Use your open data policy to designate the roles of specific stakeholders within
your open data program. Another major city, for example, used its policy to
create a working group between department heads and its Chief Data Officer.
The group convenes on a regular basis to discuss how each department is
contributing to the mayor’s open data initiative
5. The Paths to Open Data Guidelines|Policies available for Nigeria to consider individually
or Hybrid
a. Executive Orders
b. Non-Binding Resolutions
c. Internal Regulations
d. Codified Laws
6. What data owners need to do with data
Table 1: Expectations for Data Owners in Nigeria
The FGN Must
Notes
The FGN must take steps to expand public Enforced by NITDA
access to government data by making it
available online unless restricted by law,
contract or policy;
The FGN must re-prioritize and expand
data collection efforts towards those that
enable citizens and sectors to create value
from government data;
FGN-MDAs must adopt NITDA’s open
license for data and ensure data
accessibility through NITDA in accordance
with Nigeria’s Open Data Policy, which
should include the requirement that data
be published in an open machine-readable
format
NITDA must ensure that citizens can give
feedback on, and assessment of, the
quality of published information and
provide input to which data should be
prioritized for publication
7. How the data needs to be published
Nigeria’s Open Data Guideline & Policy2, should include the requirement that data be published
in
an
open
machine-readable
format
3. What type of data needs to be put in the public domain?
To evolve from Stakeholder Engagement & Deliberation
1. Pre Implementation Activities
a. Stakeholder Engagement & Interaction
b. Guidelines Adoption
2. Pre Implementation Activities by the FGN
Prior to adopting the Open Data Charter, Nigeria should release a high-level public
statement (issued by the Head of State, Minister, or NITDA-DG) that articulates the adoption of
the Open Data Charter and defines the following four key elements:
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To be Developed
1. Appointment of a key ministry, department, or agency, including a direct individual, to
serve as point of contact responsible for implementing the Open Data Charter’s
principles.
2. Delivery mechanism(s) through which the Open Data Charter will be operationalized by
the institution. The specific activities, methodologies, tools, and processes of the
mechanism(s) that will be used to deliver the Open Data Charter should be defined.
3. Time-bound actions that outline specific, realistic deadlines by which progress toward
implementation can be demonstrated.
4. Means of verification of the specific actions that will be taken by the institution to track
the progress of the Charter’s implementation.
8. Pre Implementation Guidelines
a. Agencies management of information resources must begin at the earliest stages
of the planning process, well before information is collected or created. Early
strategic planning will allow the Federal Government to design systems and
develop processes that unlock the full value of the information, and provide a
foundation from which agencies can continue to manage information
throughout its life cycle.
b. Agencies shall take the following actions to improve the management of
information resources throughout the information’s life cycle and reinforce the
government’s presumption in favor of openness: