Transparency International Ukraine’s Transparent Cities program has introduced a methodology for ranking 80 cities based on their level of open data disclosure, as part of the annual Open Data Pulse 2024 survey.
The initiative aims to enhance the transparency and accountability of local governments, minimize opportunities for abuse and corruption, and improve both the quantity and quality of open data. The city ranking will assess how actively municipalities use open data in management, decision-making, developing services for citizens’ daily lives, and ensuring effective recovery and restoration efforts.
“The partnership between DTA and TI Ukraine brings together expertise in open data development and extensive experience in evaluating cities’ transparency. For the first time in Ukraine, the developed methodology will enable a systematic assessment of how cities manage open data, identify existing challenges, and support municipalities in implementing data-driven solutions,” said Nadiia Konashchuk, Open Data Lead at the Digital Transformation Activity.
“Open data enables local authorities to make more effective management decisions, supports business development, and provides citizens with improved services that simplify their daily lives. The Open Data Pulse pilot study will allow us to evaluate the actual state of open data at the local level in 2024, identify key challenges, and outline directions for future development,” explains Olesia Koval, Transparent Cities Program Manager.
The ranking will include 80 cities from 18 regions of Ukraine, excluding cities currently under occupation or affected by active military operations. Analysts will separately review certain municipalities in the Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Mykolaiv regions; however, these will not be included in the ranking.
The assessment will be based on 35 indicators designed to evaluate:
- open data policy – the regulatory framework governing city council operations, availability of the city’s Open Data Portal, and the completeness of the open data section on the official city council website;
- publication of open data – availability of data sets included in the list approved by the municipality and required for mandatory publication under the Regulation;
- open data quality – the timeliness and accuracy of updates for each resource according to the structured data set file, with publication requirements outlined in the Regulation and List;
- open data impact – the use of datasets in various services, promotion of open data initiatives by city councils, and public engagement in their publication.
Analysts will check datasets published on the Unified State Web Portal of Open Data, as well as regional or city portals.
The program will begin sending questionnaires to city councils and collecting data for research in December. The direct assessment of cities will take place from January to March 2025. The presentation of the pilot assessment is scheduled for spring 2025.
The methodology was developed with the support of the Ministry of Digital Transformation of Ukraine and with assistance from the Support for Digital Transformation project, funded by USAID and UK Dev. The project implementation partner is Transparency International Ukraine.
Transparency International Ukraine is an accredited representative of Global Transparency International. Since 2012, TI Ukraine has been helping Ukraine grow stronger. The organization takes a comprehensive approach to the development and implementation of changes for reduction of corruption levels in certain areas.
TI Ukraine launched the Transparent Cities program in 2017. Its goal is to foster constructive and meaningful dialogue between citizens, local authorities, and the government to promote high-quality municipal governance, urban development, and effective reconstruction. In 2017–2022, the program annually compiled the Transparency Ranking of the 100 largest cities in Ukraine. After the full-scale invasion, the program conducted two adapted assessments on the state of municipal transparency during wartime. In 2024, the program resumed the creation of the transparency ranking for 100 cities and launched a new study, “Open Data Pulse: Ukrainian Cities Ranking.”
The program produces high-quality analytics on various aspects of government-citizen interaction, as well as transparency and accountability in Ukrainian cities. This includes, in particular, processes such as decolonization, housing policy, and more.
The partnership between DTA and TI Ukraine brings together expertise in open data development and extensive experience in evaluating cities' transparency. For the first time in Ukraine, the developed methodology will enable a systematic assessment of how cities manage open data, identify existing challenges, and support municipalities in implementing data-driven solutions.
Nadiia Konashchuk
