Belgrade, 21 December 2021 - Dr. Mihailo Jovanović, the Director of the Office for IT and eGovernment, and H.E. Sian MacLeod, British Ambassador to Serbia, have officially launched the first Open Data Hub.

The goal of this hub is to connect individuals, organizations, government institutions, cities, and municipalities in order to promote better development of public services, e-government services and initiatives based on open data.

"At Open Data Hub, we have gathered a group of experts who will continuously provide support to everyone who wants to work with open data. The Open Data Hub aims to inform, educate, and connect talented individuals. It represents the next step towards the smart use of data for high-quality public policies, economic development and the overall progress of society. With the reconstruction of the Ložionica building, this hub will get its space which means we can gather all talents and young innovators under one roof", said the Director of the Office for IT and eGovernment Dr. Mihailo Jovanović.

Open Data Hub platform, available at hub.data.gov.rs, provides learning materials on how to use and publish open data sets, useful information about available funding for open data based initiatives, and resources such as workshops and training sessions available to all users irrespective of their existing knowledge of open data.

“I’m proud that we have assisted the Office for IT and eGovernment from day one and supported their efforts and successes. Previously we worked together on Digital transformation project worth 2 million euros, the development of eBeba service, property registration platform, 100 different economy-oriented services, and many more initiatives. We have started working together on open data from scratch and now we have more than 1200 open datasets. This provides citizens with a better insight into public administration activities but also makes their own everyday activities and jobs much easier. Open data also have their own economic value. The open data industry in the UK has thousands of employees and its value is estimated at 88 billion euros” said H.E. Sian MacLeod, British Ambassador to Serbia.

“If we want the entire society to use all the possibilities provided by open data, it is important to make them available to everyone. With UK government support, UNDP helps to build the open data ecosystem in Serbia in order to enhance the quality of public services and contribute to the country’s economic growth. We believe that Open Data Hub will contribute to the development of new useful services and initiatives based on open data which will improve the everyday life of citizens” explained Jelena Ružičić, Competitiveness & Digital Governance Portfolio Manager at UNDP.

The value of the EU open data market is estimated to grow between 200 and 334 billion euros until 2025 and it will generate up to 2 million new jobs. The same estimates confirm that until now the citizens of the EU have saved 27 million hours in public transportation thanks to open data that power numerous apps and enable people to move through cities in a more efficient way.

Open Data Hub is launched within the “Open data for sustainable development” project, implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in collaboration with the Office for IT and eGovernment (ITE) and supported by the UK Government.