PUTRAJAYA: The newly-launched OpenDOSM NextGen portal will be a key first step towards accelerating the country’s economic recovery while facilitating a more transparent government, said Rafizi Ramli.
The Economy Minister said the public open-data portal provides an easy-to-understand insight into current trends affecting the country, potentially improving the public’s overall social and economic awareness.
“By compiling, sorting and presenting data from various agencies into easy-to-read charts and numbers, the portal essentially serves the role of a data analytics team in a big company, where raw data from multiple branches is simplified into single charts for easy consumption by upper management.
“Except in this case, the upper management is essentially any person with an Internet connection, in addition to the service itself being free and accessible to all.
“This will empower members of the public and businesses with the knowledge and capability to make smarter, well-informed ‘value creation’ decisions while also making them less financially and socially vulnerable.
“This is in line with our goal to digitalise our country’s economic sector to form an effective platform for sharing and for it to be a reference for all,” he said during his speech at the launch of the OpenDOSM NextGen portal here yesterday.
He also stated that the portal is part of the government’s initiative to become more transparent – a data-driven government that instils public trust through decision-making based on publicly available information and easily understandable data from the portal.
“By referencing the data on the portal, the public will be able to understand the reasoning for any future projects or policies we implement, thus improving the public’s overall economic literacy,” he said.
According to the Chief Statistician of the Statistics Department Malaysia (DOSM), Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin, in addition to a cleaner, user-friendly interface, various system improvements and new features make it even more effective than the previous version of the OpenDOSM portal, which was launched last April.
“The statistics are stored in a centralised pipeline data system, which is constantly updated on a monthly basis, ensuring that the data presented is always up-to-date and accurate.
“The portal has also been integrated with DOSM’s KAWASANKU and the Health Ministry’s KKMNOW which further improve the comprehensiveness and effectiveness of the portal’s functions through the addition of vital demographic and medical data,” he said of the database that now provides information in a machine-readable format.
