What is open data?

Institutions collect data every day: how many businesses open, where schools are, how much public projects cost, how air quality changes. For years this data sat in drawers or closed systems. Open data is the simple idea of giving it back to the public in a form people can actually use.

Definition#

Open data is data that anyone can access, use, modify and share freely, for any purpose. The only condition usually attached is crediting the source and keeping the data open when you pass it on.

The most widely used definition comes from the Open Knowledge Foundation's Open Definition and rests on three pillars:

• Availability and access: the data is available as a whole, free of charge or at minimal cost, ideally as a download from the internet.
• Reuse and redistribution: the licence allows using it, combining it with other data and sharing it again.
• Universal participation: nobody is excluded. There are no restrictions like "non-commercial use only" or "for research only".

Public does not always mean open#

A lot of data is public but not open. The difference is in the form:

	Public data	Open data
Format	often PDF, images or web pages	CSV, JSON, XML or an API
Access	one record at a time, searched by hand	full download or programmatic access
Licence	often unclear	clearly stated (e.g. CC BY, CC0)
Reuse	difficult or forbidden	allowed, including commercially

An annual report scanned into a PDF is public. The same table as a CSV file, with a licence that allows reuse, is open.

What good open data looks like#

• Complete: the whole dataset, not a selection.
• Machine-readable: structured formats like CSV or JSON, not scanned text.
• In open formats: files that open without paid software.
• Up to date: with a publication date and regular updates.
• Documented: with an explanation of fields, units and codes (e.g. NACE codes).
• Clearly licensed: so users know exactly what is allowed.

What open data is not#

Open data is not about private information. Personal data such as personal ID numbers, home addresses or health records is protected by law and is not published. Open data is mostly about institutions, services, the economy and the environment, or data the law makes public on purpose, such as the business register.

Where to find open data in Kosovo#

• The open data portal (opendata.rks-gov.net): datasets from ministries, municipalities and agencies.
• Kosovo Agency of Statistics (ASK): population, economy, labour market.
• The business register (ARBK): each company's name, legal form, status, activities and more.
• Municipalities: budgets, procurement and decisions, each published in its own way.

Business register data is among the most used, because every contract, invoice and partnership starts with the question "who is this business?". That is also why the European Union treats business registers as high-value datasets that member states must publish free of charge.

Who uses open data#

• Citizens: to check a business before trusting it (how to check a business).
• Businesses: to find suppliers, customers and partners, or to research a market.
• Journalists and civil society: to follow public money and company ownership.
• Researchers and students: for economic and social analysis.
• Developers: to build new apps and services.

Kerko and open data#

Kerko is built on public business data. We collect it, clean it and make it searchable by name, owner, municipality or activity, free for everyone. The sources we use are listed on Data sources, and business search works without an account.

Next, we explain what open businesses are and what businesses gain when their data is available to the public.