The Global Data Barometer values the contributions of its thematic partners that shared their wealth of knowledge and experience in the development of the thematic modules. One such partnership is between the GDB and Open Ownership (OO) in the design of the company information module.
The module was developed to identify countries with policies and practices that promote the centralised collection and publication of company registration and beneficial ownership information. Additionally, the module tracks the existence of products or services that use open company data to support due diligence. We recently had a conversation with Tymon Kiepe and Louise Russell-Prywata who highlighted that OO strives to encourage transparency through disclosure of beneficial ownership data in user-friendly and open formats.
Open Ownership supports governments to make high-quality beneficial ownership data available, and work with governments, businesses and citizens to use the data.
Q: Can you provide a brief summary of the work that you do?
Open Ownership enables beneficial ownership disclosures which are accurate, well-structured, complete and machine-readable, in a bid to drive the global shift towards transparency over who owns and controls companies. We support governments to make high-quality beneficial ownership data available, and work with governments, businesses and citizens to use the data. This reduces risks such as corruption and tax evasion, and builds trust and development opportunities. To achieve this we focus on three interconnected priorities;
- Technical assistance to implement beneficial ownership transparency
- Technology and capacity to use beneficial ownership data
- Research and generating an evidence base to support policy making
Since 2017, OO has worked with almost 40 countries to advance implementation of beneficial ownership reforms, as well as supporting the creation of over 15 new central and sectoral registers. OO has developed the world’s leading data standard for beneficial ownership information, co-founded the international Beneficial Ownership Leadership Group, and built the world’s first transnational public beneficial ownership register.
Q: How does the GDB matter for the work that you’re doing?
The work the GDB does is useful for us because it captures the state of open data reforms globally. The raw data is a database with references to legislation in a large number of countries that can inform our work. The Barometer provides an assessment which we can use to target specific countries for more in-depth research.
Some of the data we have reviewed have put aspects of implementation in a number of countries on our radar. For example, it has made us aware of different legislation in different countries that we weren’t previously actively tracking which can provide lessons for our work.
Q: What do you think is currently missing from the data ecosystem in your area?
We are particularly interested in comprehensive libraries and robust real world evidence of the impact and utility of beneficial ownership data across multiple jurisdictions, as more beneficial ownership data is being shared online.
Q: How would you like to see the areas currently covered by the GDB being developed in the future?
It would be interesting to see how an increase in data leads to use and impact over time, and differences in impact—where data is open versus where data is public with restricted use.
Some of the data we have reviewed have put aspects of implementation in a number of countries on our radar. For example, it has made us aware of different legislation in different countries that we weren’t previously actively tracking which can provide lessons for our work.
Q: Do you have ideas for topics or thematic issues you’d like to see in future editions of the GDB?
We contributed to the consultation on potential high value datasets for the public sector information directive for the EU. While our engagement was limited to “companies and company ownership”, the following themes were also assessed to have a high potential for economic and social value; geospatial, earth observation and environment, meteorological, statistics, and mobility. Aspects of the potential economic value of data reuse in these areas can also be relevant for company ownership.
Q: What key recommendations would you make to governments and organisations working in your field to improve data availability, governance, capacity building and use?
We have developed the Open Ownership Principles for effective beneficial ownership disclosure as a guiding framework for governments to maximise the potential for data use and impact. The main recommendation is that generating useful data requires thinking from a very early stage about all different aspects: legal, systems and data, and consulting (potential) data users throughout the implementation process.
Q: What are some of the challenges, frictions and tensions around improving data availability, governance, capacity building and use across the areas you work in?
Beneficial Ownership data includes personal data, and the biggest point of contention is the transparency vs. data protection/privacy debate. Many countries have shown that beneficial ownership transparency can be implemented in compliance with data protection and privacy legislation—with appropriate safeguards in place for the potential risks arising from the publication of personal data.
Q: How would you like to see data being used to address urgent societal issues in the future? And what are the most significant obstacles to this being realised?
The list of policy use cases for beneficial ownership data is forever growing. With companies being a big part of the transition to a greener, more sustainable, equal and just world, we think transparency in company ownership and corporate accountability will be crucial. One of the biggest challenges is reforms being implemented well for data to be used by a wide group of users for impact. Currently we see a lot of jurisdictions implementing beneficial ownership transparency to the letter of the law rather than the spirit.
Photo cred: Open Ownership