On October 25, BIRN Kosovo hosted a conference to launch the report “Data-Driven Governance: Strategies for Open Data in the Western Balkans”, examining open data availability and digitalization across the region. The event gathered 27 participants, including 15 women, and provided a platform for discussions on key findings and challenges.

Xheneta Murtezaj, researcher at BIRN Kosovo, highlighted the main findings, noting that while donors significantly support open data initiatives, many platforms stagnate after donor funding ends due to a lack of institutional commitment.

The report, based on extensive research, maps thousands of e-services and over 3,000 open data sets, supported by more than 50 interviews. It identifies challenges such as data leaks, privacy breaches, inconsistent policy enforcement, and inadequate cyber-attack responses, all of which hinder progress in the region.

A panel discussion moderated by Dorentina Kastrati featured experts from various sectors, including Arbian Arifi (Agency for Information and Privacy), Agron Ibishi (Regulatory Commission for Public Procurement), Plator Avdiu (KDI), and Besfort Guri (FLOSSK).

Panelists emphasized key issues, such as the need for centralized state open data portals, data interoperability across sectors, and concerns about privacy violations, as seen in the Gjakova municipality case. While some progress has been made, such as advances in e-procurement since 2016, open data remains largely limited to specific sectors in Kosovo.

This conference was part of the “Open Data and Digitalization in the Western Balkans” project, supported by the Open Society Foundation Western Balkans and implemented by BIRN.