Industries that can harness natural resources are vital for many of the world’s poorest countries. The abundance of natural resources does not always translate into widespread wealth distribution or growth, and can even exacerbate inequalities, conflict and corruption. For over a decade, greater disclosure of natural resources information and data has been at the heart of efforts to better leverage transparency in the mining sector.
Despite significant progress and dramatic increase in the volumes of publicly available data, most of it remains unused. The emergence of “zombie transparency”– massive but unused amounts of disclosed public and private sector data – threatens to jeopardize the progress in informing and empowering citizens to participate in decision making and may be used as an excuse to roll back existing disclosure efforts.
The world is undergoing a digital transformation, sometimes referred to as the 4th industrial revolution. We are now at a cusp of several unprecedented trends – Internet connectivity and mobile phone use among previously hard to reach populations, increasing accessibility and affordability of big data analytics, cloud computing, and rising levels of digital literacy. These developments make it possible to approach data collection, disclosure and re-use in fundamentally new ways.
1) How is the natural resource sector leveraging existing data to combat zombie transparency challenges?
2) What are some practical examples of purposeful disclosures?
3) What opportunities does the natural sector see in innovative data use?