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The International Aid Transparency Initiative will be deciding on the first phase of opening up standardised donor data on July 7th. In a recent futuregov article valuable insights on open data and cultures of openness by David McClure, one of the founders of data.gov are summarised. Open Data, McClure argues, should not just be add on for governments. Open Data will not be able to change much, if the organisational cultures of organisations and governments that free their data do not change correspondingly.

Changes in technology have to be followed by changes in how organisations and governments behave and interact with citizens. By opening up data, citizens themselves can actively contribute and add value to governments and organisations. Opening up data can be a tremendous source of innovation. But in order to benefit from the "wisdom of crowds" the notion of "not invented here" has to be cast aside, David McClure warns. Instead of considering transparency a one-off activity which can leave organisational procedures and cultures intact, governments should develop a culture of openness on an everyday basis.

This comments seem to be particularly relevant in the context of development cooperation. Releasing data does imply the risk of imperfect data, a worry sometimes mentioned by donors with reference to the IATI process. In a new culture of openness, McClure suggests, it is preferable to risk data errors and to admid and correct mistakes when they happen, than to limit the published data only to 100% error-free data. For data to promote accountability and innovation in organisations and governments data needs to be easy to find, easy to understand, easy to use and adapted to the information culture of its target groups. OpenAid strongly encourages the IATI Steering Committee to keep the promises made in Accra 2008 and open up data. But we also hope, that open data will be followed by a culture of openness where all stakeholders in the development process, particularly beneficiaries and citizens are able to provide feedback and make valuable contributions.