The document discusses the Land Portal, an initiative that aims to increase access to land governance data and information. It does this through four core services - a central hub, a library of research and publications, an interactive world map showing key land governance data by country, and an open discussion forum. The Land Portal is based on principles of open data, open content, and collaboration. It seeks to connect and link land governance data in open, standardized formats to create an "information ecosystem". The partnership between the Land Portal and Open Development Mekong has worked to transform land data into Linked Open Data and strengthen interoperability between their systems to improve discovery and reuse of information.

1. THE OPEN DATA
REVOLUTION:
transforming the landscape for land governance data
Laura.meggiolaro@landportal.info

2. Objectives of the Land Portal
■ Increasing access to information for all land governance stakeholders, with a
particular focus on those in the Global South, leading to more informed debates and
innovative solutions on land governance at the local, national, regional, and global
levels.
■ Facilitating diffusion and scaling up of best practices on land tenure.
■ Supporting improvements in land rights monitoring.
■ Increasing understanding of the interconnections between land and development
issues.
■ Identifying and addressing land governance information gaps.

3. Four Core Land Portal Services
■ Land Portal Hub – A central entry-point into the Land Portal, providing user registration,
cross-site searches, newsletter subscriptions, and information on news and events.
■ Land Library – Aggregating and indexing key research and publications on land
governance from a wide range of partner organizations, and providing intuitive access to
these resources
■ Land Book – Providing a thematic, regional and country-level overview of key contextual
and actionable land governance information, revealing both trends and gaps in available
information, visualized through an interactive world map
■ Land Debate – An open discussion forum catalyzing and curating dialogues and high-level
debates amongst land experts and practitioners. Hosting a central debate space, and
providing the platform for bespoke thematic, personal or event-specific blogs.

4. Land Portal
Theory of
Change
Although there is a wealth of information and
data online about land governance, their
visibility, accessibility, consistency and
completeness vary enormously.
Linking this information together, actively
addressing gaps in the available information,
and providing a range of ways for the
information to be accessed and shared will
increase the use and usefulness of the
available information. This will turns into
better decision making and policy which is
based upon evidence.

5. An Open DevelopmentApproach
■ Open sources – Using existing open source tools to build the Land Portal.
■ Open content – Licensing content in ways that allow it to be freely redistributed and
remixed through Creative Commons licenses, or placing content in the public domain.
■ Open data – Publishing structured data in machine readable, standardized formats
under open licenses that allow anyone to re-use it.
■ Open culture and collaboration – Ensuring there is capacity for formal and informal
collaboration with partners, and engaging in regular interaction with a wide
community of stakeholders and interested parties.

6. What is Linked Open Data?
■ Linked Open Data is a way of
enriching, connecting, and
linking data in structured,
machine readable and
standardized formats under
open licenses. Linked Open
Data enables the same
content to be represented in
multiple ways in different
places simultaneously.

7. Advantages of Linked Open Data
■ Efficient use of resources Linked Open Data reduces redundancy by building upon
and the work of others rather than replicating existing systems.
■ Increased information quality Linked Open Data encourages the standardization of
metadata and data formats, which makes data more reliable and credible.
■ Creates added value By connecting directly to other data, Linked Open Data allows
users to discover, use and reuse information in new and unintended ways.
■ Identification of gaps in information Linked Open Data allows data errors to be
highlighted and corrected.
■ Enhances transparency Linked Open Data creates the means for citizens and
advocacy groups to hold the private sector and governments to account.

8. WHAT IS AN
INFORMATION
ECOSYSTEM?

11. One way street or an improved
information ecology?
Scattered and Dispersed
Information
Towards an information
ecosystem

13. Building an
information
ecosystem
based on
Linked Open
Data (LOD
Stimulating data collection
and use at the country level
& building the capacity of
our local partners

14. Harmonizing
taxonomy with the
FAO AGROVOC
thesaurus and
translating all terms
into local languages;
Significantly improving
interoperability and
maximizing use of
linked data;
Increase efficiency of
data sharing with
automated technical
solutions;
Sharing and curating
data and information
to make it easily
discoverable and
reusable;
Develop learning
material and data to
illustrate major land
related trends in the
region and in specific
countries;
facilitate partnership
for information
exchange and
stimulate dialogue
among partners;
Enable reuse of
information and data;
Introduce standards
that make data more
reliable and credible.
The Land Portal and Open Development Mekong

15. What specifically has this
partnership accomplished?
■ Technical developments that have transformed Open Development Mekong data into
Linked Open Data, enabling harvesting of content that is publish
■ Strengthened the interoperability of the Land Portal and Open Development Mekong
by harmonizing the taxonomies of both organizations and translating terms and
concepts into local language;
■ Expanded the local network of local partners and promoting and supporting the use of
Linked Open Data.
■ Created a reusableWordPress importer to bring Open Development Mekong data and
information into the Land Portal.