International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET) Volume 9, Issue 4, April 2018, pp. 1333–1343, Article ID: IJCIET_09_04_150 Available online at http://iaeme.com/Home/issue/IJCIET?Volume=9&Issue=4 ISSN Print: 0976-6308 and ISSN Online: 0976-6316 © IAEME Publication Scopus Indexed OPEN GOVERNMENT DATA IN KOSOVO AND CROWDSOURCING Isak Shabani and Qazim Tairi Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Prishtina “Hasan Prishtina”, Prishtina, Kosovo ABSTRACT With the development of information technologies, open data released by central and local governments and crowdsourcing means are emerging in Kosovo. Technological equipment, mobile devices are inseparable from the daily use, and their capabilities continue to advance rapidly. Different Application, internet access almost everywhere has impact the way of storing information and communicating but also the fundamental nature of social interactions. The period of innovation and creativity has made many traditional business models both in production and in distribution have to transformed, or if they do not respond the transformation, their business may have failed in a short time. Large institutions, serving society for generations, are challenged to keep pace as we evolve as a digital society. Education, health care, defense, and public safety are at the forefront, but all governments are challenged to balance the traditions and values they were designed to uphold while adapting to lead in a digital environment. In this paper, we will explain the importance of open government and crowdsourcing, and examines the role that e-government plays in driving the open data phenomenon. Online and open government's presence makes services and standards for supporting helps governments to understand better the needs, wishes and beliefs of citizens, and create better and more socially rooted policies. Keywords: e-Government, e-Participation, Open government, Open information, Open dialog, Crowdsourcing, Open data Cite this Article: Isak Shabani and Qazim Tairi, Open Government Data in Kosovo and Crowdsourcing, International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology, 9(4), 2018, pp. 1333–1343. http://iaeme.com/Home/issue/IJCIET?Volume=9&Issue=4 1. INTRODUCTION Nowadays the society has changed a lot. The epoch of information and technology has made the life easier. For long time it has been widely recognized that representative democracy, in which citizens representatives identify needs and problems of society and design public policies and services for addressing them, should be combined with continuous citizens involvement. This is based on an understanding of the growing complexity and multi- http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJCIET 1333 [email protected] Open Government Data in Kosovo and Crowdsourcing dimensionality of social problems and needs, which necessitates the exploitation of citizens extensive knowledge on them. This gave rise to a new model of democracy, which is termed “participatory democracy”, and combines decision making by citizen’s representatives with citizen’s participation, with the latter not replacing but supporting and enhancing the former [3]. Many governments all over the world have shown consistent interest in and made considerable efforts for enabling the participation of citizens in the formulation of public policies through various mechanisms. Three main motivations of government for this: • To produce better quality policies (proportionality and fairness), • Build trust and gain acceptance of policy-making processes (awareness and consensus-building) and • To share responsibility for policy-making (inclusion and participation). The development and increasing penetration of information and communication technologies (ICT), and the Internet, provides an efficient and inclusive channel for the extensive application of the above principles. This gave rise to the development of electronic participation (e-participation). The first generation of e-participation was based on the development and operation of official government e-participation spaces, in which electronic discussions of various levels of structure were, conducted [3]. Government agencies are increasingly interested in exploiting the capabilities provided by the information and communication technologies (ICT), and especially the Internet, for engaging the citizens in their public policymaking processes, and this has lead to the gradual development of the e-participation domain. This offers to governments highly important capabilities to collect valuable information, knowledge, ideas and opinions from large number of citizens on the complex problems and needs of modern societies, which can be quite useful for designing better quality policies, and, at the same time, to build trust and gain more acceptances of their policies [5]. It was highly government-controlled, as the owner government agencies defined and controlled the topics and rules of these electronic discussions taking place there. For the reason that the use of these official e-participation spaces by the citizens has been, in general, limited, the emergence of the new Web 2.0 enables the gradual emergence of a second generation of e-participation, taking place in popular social media where citizens choose to discuss and generate content, which is characterized by less government control and more citizens control [3, 5]. In this new paradigm of e-participation government agencies post content (e.g. short or longer text, images, video) to various social media on their policies under formulation or implementation, and then collect and analyze citizens interactions with it (e.g. views, comments, likes/dislikes, retransmissions, etc.). Therefore, in this second generation of e- participation governments continue defining and controlling the discussion topics to some extent (through making postings and initiating discussions on the topics they choose), but do not control the rules of the discussion (which are the ones defined by the social media) [3, 5, 7]. Governments produce huge amounts of information that are only now being recognized as national assets. Public Sector Information (PSI) plays a fundamental role in the provision of public services. Over the past decade, governments have launched policy initiatives to promote the reuse of PSI—from developing open license models to establishing regulatory frameworks and making “open data” available on government websites. Companies that tap into this information can apply newfound knowledge to better understand customers, create products and services to meet demand, and discover new markets. Governments have the http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJCIET 1334 [email protected] Isak Shabani and Qazim Tairi opportunity to use this information to improve transparency, efficiency, and service delivery to citizens [1]. Figure 1 Open Government: Empowerment through information access In this paper we will describe the convergence of PSI and technology, and examines the role that e-Government plays in driving the open data phenomenon. 2. OPEN GOVERNMENT Open government is a principle that gives citizens the right to access the documents, data, and proceedings of government to allow for greater transparency. It reflects the necessary balance between freedom of information and protection of privacy legislation in many jurisdictions [1]. In an information economy, data is the raw material for new products and services. Governments around the world have articulated their commitment to facilitating a more open approach to governing. The Open Government Partnership (OGP) was launched in September 2011, when the eight founding governments (Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Norway, Philippines, South Africa, United Kingdom, and the United States) endorsed an Open Government Declaration. The declaration outlines a voluntary, multilateral mandate to “promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governance”. The OGP is a dynamic global movement that promotes open government, free dialogue, and sharing among governments, civil society, and private sector organizations. President Obama and the White House were also willing and supportive about the Open Government. President Obama about this issue said “My Administration is committed to creating an unprecedented level of openness in Government. We will work together to ensure the public trust and establish a system of transparency, public participation, and collaboration. Openness will strengthen our democracy and promote efficiency and effectiveness in Government.” One of the countries most committed to open government is Canada. In this point, we will take as a model country, with the goal to effort to foster greater openness and accountability, to provide Canadians with more opportunities to learn about and participate in government, to drive innovation and economic opportunities for all Canadians and, at the same time, to create a more cost-effective, efficient, and responsive government. Canada’s approach to open government is described as a “three-legged stool” based on Open Data, Open Information, and Open Dialogue. 2.1. Open Data Open data is information that is accessible, available in digital machine-readable format, and reusable under open license terms. The full Open Definition breaks this down into the following characteristics [9]: http://iaeme.com/Home/journal/IJCIET 1335 [email protected] Open Government Data in Kosovo and Crowdsourcing • Availability and access: Data should