Since the beginning of 2016, over 400 Ukrainian government bodies disclosed more than 2,500 data sets on a single state open data portal as compared to 210,000 in Canada, 130,000 in the USA, and 20,000 in the UK. Out of 331 data sets, approved by the Government as priority, only 200 are now presented on this portal.

As eager users of these data, civic activists visualise it to achieve better results in their social initiatives. Firstly, data visualisation is an effective tool to communicate the essence of data in a simple and direct way. In addition, the visual information is much easily digested and it more effectively conveys concepts and ideas to the audience. According to numerous studies, 90% of people perceive information through sight and visual data is perceived 60,000 times faster as compared to textual information.

This is the third event in a series of public meetings aimed to encourage opening and using government data. During the meeting, speakers presented the best practices and tools for data visualisation, its types, examples of projects in the area of visualisation and data journalism for civic activists, journalists, officials, scientists, experts in data analysis, media, and IT specialists.

The workshop was opened with introductory remarks of Oleksii Vyskub, Deputy Head of the State Agency for e-Governance of Ukraine. He dwelt on the progress in the implementation of the 2016 Open Data Development Roadmap.

Oleksandr Krakovetskyi, CEO at DevRain Solutions, presented theoretical and practical aspects of data visualisation, helping participants find the right data visualisation method for different data.

While speaking on the usage of visual data for increasing transparency in Ukraine, UNDP Democratic Governance Expert Diana Zubko emphasised: "Open data is not a goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal."

Speakers' presentations could be found here.

This initiative is supported under the framework of Democratization, Human Rights and Civil Society Development Programme in Ukraine, implemented by UNDP and funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark.