The Open Data portal (data.egov.kz) is one of the components of the Open Government, created with the aim of providing interested citizens with full access to various data sets originating from the state bodies of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
According to the Law On Access to Information, open data are public electronic information resources presented in a machine-readable form and intended for further use, re-publication in an unchanged form. In other words, it is information in a machine-readable format, open to general use without any limitations by copyright.
The machine-readable format in which data sets are published is mainly used by developers as a source material for creating various applications and web services. In addition, open data can be used in socio-economic and scientific research conducted by journalists and analysts.
How to find and download sets of open data
To date, the data.egov.kz portal contains more than 3 thousand sets of data, which are placed by the following owners of information:
- Central state bodies of the Republic of Kazakhstan;
- Local executive bodies of the RK (akimats of regions and the city of Nur-Sultan, Almaty);
- Other organizations of the RK.
The published sets can be sorted by the date they were created and updated, and the advanced search engine also works on the site.
Let's consider an example of a page of one of the most popular data sets - the Classifier of Administrative-Territorial Objects (CATO) containing names in Kazakh and Russian languages, types, levels and codes of administrative and territorial objects of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
In the Passport tab indicates a short description of the data set, category, responsible state body, status of relevance, as well as the dates of its placement and updating.
Through the Data tab, you can view them in a normal, tabular form with a list limit of 5, 10, 20 entries per page.
When clicking on the Download button you will be offered to download the entire data set in the following formats with choice: excel, docx, json, xml and csv.
Using the Version tab, you can see the different versions of the specified data set.
What to do if the required data set is not available on the portal
If the data you need is missing or they are out of date, then click on the Leave a request for data block, which is located on the right side of the main page.
You will open a modal window with the choice of request to publish missing data or update existing (outdated, incomplete or inaccessible).
When submitting the request for the publication of new data sets, you are required to indicate the category, title, short description, responsible state authority, and also fill in the fields with justification for the need for publication and a note.
If the necessary data is present on the portal, but they are incomplete or outdated, then send the request for updating, in which you need to select a category, the data set itself and specify the reason.
In order to optimize the process of submitting requests, we recommend that you familiarize yourself with the existing ones, there is a possibility that a similar request has already been received earlier. If such a request is found, the user can vote for him and monitor the status of the performance.
Note that for the submission of requests requires authorization, which requires the registration on the e-government portal eGov.kz. More information about this procedure can be found in the section For the first time on the portal on the e-government portal.
API for developers
Especially for developers on the portal, the ability to use data sets via the API is implemented.
Recall that the API (Application Programming Interface) is a set of ready-made classes, procedures, functions, structures and constants provided by the application, library or system for use in external software products. In other words, the API allows developers to get data directly from systems using predefined commands and ready-made pieces of code.
More information about working with the API you can find out by going to the Description of API subsection.
For today the portal of the open data is integrated with such information systems, as the Address register and the Uniform standard-reference information. For example, Zhilstroysberbank of Kazakhstan JSC uses the address register for checking and clarifying the addresses of its customers.
How to publish your open data set
Sources of open data sets on the portal data.egov.kz can be not only government agencies. Any private or commercial person has the right to publish his data on the portal, provided that they meet certain requirements for the format. These requirements relate to file types, meta-information and data fields. More on this, as well as with examples and templates of files you can find in the subsection Format requirements.
To send a set of data generated according to the requirements, click on the Share Your Data block on the right side of the portal main page. A dialog box appears in which you need to attach the file by specifying the category.
Examples of the successful use of data.egov.kz open data portal
Since the launch of the portal, a lot of events have been conducted aimed at its popularization among the target audience. Open data were used during several hackatons and competitions to develop a variety of mobile applications. Their list is published in the Applications section.
Lecture on the curriculum of the seminar on the Open Government course
