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InDepth

why we’re also establishing a project team not only to establish it’s one of the few. We’re also working with SPREP; we’re sharing
the platform but also to work on advocating for access to data, data sets across our portals. SPREP has been doing data portals
building the right data access agreements with countries and for a bit longer than SPC, which they are deploying in countries
building trust. I think that is a big part of what we are doing. There as well. This comes back to the open data ecosystem we want
are lots of places that have done open data portals and we are to establish, we want to ensure our data is interoperable, our
largely following in the footsteps of other developed countries... systems can talk to each other and that we are working together
but we’re doing this very much with a Pacific flavour which is to establish good data management practices and coordinating
built on trust, understanding of relationships and a shared vision that in countries.
for what this is about, this is not for SPC, it is for our Pacific.
IB: How is it being funded now?
IB: What other challenges are you facing?
Tonga: It is being funded as a project at the moment, but we
Tonga: One is just trying to make data available and accessible. don’t see it as another one-off ‘build a portal’ project. I don’t think
The data is buried in organisational silos, in legacy systems it’s worth doing this project if it’s not seen as an integral part of
and often in formats that are hard to use. And this has been what we are doing here at SPC and that is a shift in mindset that
the result of inconsistent and uncoordinated investment in data we are trying to push, that data management should be part of
infrastructure, so we want to move away from deploying stand business as usual.
alone project-funded portals to establishing a more sustainable
data infrastructure model for the region and embedding good IB: Yes, because we’ve seen a few that have fallen
data management practices within SPC, within our sister CROP over when a program is finished.
agencies and with our member countries.
Measuring impact is a big challenge and probably one of the Tonga: We see it all the time. A program does great work, they
most exciting parts of this program is addressing that challenge. need a website, they set a website up and put their data on there,
We want to engage with our members to explore policy challenges, the project wraps up, the funding runs out and the information,
to give policy makers the evidence they need, we want to estab- the data disappears.
lish a network of data champions and a community of practice
with our members and development partners which will help to IB: How can organisations contribute?
drive the uptake of data for decision making and for innovation.
Tonga: Well we’re looking for help! We’re looking for data, we’re
IB: What about concerns around data sovereignty looking for people, organisations, businesses that want to work
and privacy? with us and believe in making data available to improve the lives
of Pacific islanders. [We’re interested in] anything that’s Pacific
Tonga: Every time you talk about releasing data, someone related. We want the data hub to be the go-to, one-stop shop for
brings it up. And it’s a valid concern. If you’re not prepared to getting access to data sets but also information and knowledge
talk about that and provide some good answers, people will be products about the Pacific. While we might not necessarily host
suspicious and not trust what you are trying to do, so its very it on our platform, we can host the metadata which makes these
important to get in front of it. other data sets discoverable, so they can point you to where the
Embracing open data principles is not just about releasing data data lives.
to the world, it’s also about ensuring you’re respecting the rights
of data owners and protecting their privacy and releasing data in Pacific information portals
a responsible way. I think you can’t have a complete conversation
about open data unless you also talk about this as well. Pacific Data Hub
I think SPC is uniquely positioned to do this. We are an organi- https://pacificdata.org/
sation of the Pacific; we’ve been here for many years and I don’t
think we’re seen as an outside group of people. Pacific Islands Legal Information Institute
PacLII collects and publishes legal materials from
IB: How are you prioritising what data to collect or 20 Pacific Islands Countries on its website.
curate now? http://www.paclii.org/

Tonga: We’ve been reacting to demand so far. We’re in the midst Pacific Aid Map
of developing our strategy and workplan, so yes, we’re mapping The Lowy Institute Pacific Aid Map is designed to
out those priority areas now. But it has taken us a year to get just enhance aid effectiveness in the Pacific.
this far. This is being done internally, almost part-time because https://pacificaidmap.lowyinstitute.org/
the project team have day jobs they are doing, but they are put-
ting love hours into doing this project to get it to where it is now. Pacific Environment Portal
We are funded now with the support of MFAT (New Zealand), https://pacific-data.sprep.org/
we also have support in-kind from ANU (Australian National
University) through their data for development program, this Pacific Climate Change Portal
has allowed the team to expand and throw some resources not https://www.pacificclimatechange.net/
only in developing the platform but developing a data strategy,
looking at data management and looking at really engaging with Statistics for Development
our stakeholders. https://sdd.spc.int/
This is very much a cross division, cross sector project for SPC,

Islands Business, August 2019 37