Dear Editor,
Recent decisions in the transportation sector and the subsequent public outcry have made it clear that open government is increasingly becoming a necessity. The goal of open government is to make government documents and other evidence available to the public for awareness, oversight and collaborative decision-making purposes. Closely linked to open government is open data, which explicitly provides the structured data to encourage public data explorations and innovation. In this context, the developers of the Guyana Geoportal (http://www.geoserver.ggmc.gov.gy) should be commended, and other agencies should be encouraged to make their data similarly available.
The insights that can be derived from open data are invaluable. For example, from the Guyana Geoportal server, mining licences data were extracted, processed and integrated with administrative data about the boundaries of protected areas in the country. The resulting map is presented below.
The map shows the spatial distribution of current mining licences and how these concentrate in the central and northern parts of the country. It also shows the precarious situation some of the protected areas may be confronted with in the future. For example, one protected area is almost completely surrounded by mining licences. This pattern also seems to be evolving for two of the three remaining protected areas.
If public decision-making is to be strong and relevant, it is imperative that data in all forms (spatial and non-spatial) be made available for public consumption and interrogation, especially in situations where competing interests may lead to contention. Open government and open data will play a crucial role in achieving this reality.
Yours faithfully,
Shivanand Balram
