Fast and open Vilnius inspires other Lithuanian municipalities with smart solutions - today at the largest technology and innovation festival in the region "Login 2017" an open data memorandum was signed between 5 Lithuanian cities. Vilnius shares the good experience of open data with other cities in the country – Vilnius' finances and assets, budget, education, transport and other data are open and conveniently accessible to residents. After signing the memorandum, the cities will undertake to open their municipal data to residents.
"A smart city is not possible without open data. Vilnius is a leader in open data in Europe, implementing the most radical and uncompromising policy of openness. I am glad that other Lithuanian cities are following the example of Vilnius. We will be happy to share our good experiences so that the whole of Lithuania becomes a country of open data", says the mayor of the capital Remigius Šimašius.
The municipalities of Alytus, Kaunas, Klaipėda, and Trakai will use the good experience of Vilnius in successfully opening data, managing it, analyzing it and ensuring the availability of information to city residents. Since 2015, the municipality of the capital has been actively opening various data, from all public procurements of the municipality to Council members' expenses for stationery.
"I want to congratulate all 5 cities, which will become an excellent example for the municipalities not only of Lithuania, but also of other European countries. I am glad that you are moving forward, you want to become even more advanced, more modern, you are implementing new solutions and technologies that help residents to provide much higher quality and faster services", said the Deputy Chairman of the European Commission, Maroš Šefčovičius, who participated in the signing of the memorandum.
Currently, most of the data in the area of finance and property of the Vilnius Municipality is already open - the data on Vilnius city municipalities finances: budgets, income, expenses, creditor indebtedness, loans, etc. on the Vilnius website http://atviras.vilnius.lt can also review the expenses of the members of the Council, as well as all public procurements carried out by the municipality are open to residents. Data from other fields are also published - education, transport, environmental protection, leisure, construction, territories, etc.
"Open data is the key to the transparency of the city government and more active involvement of the residents themselves in public affairs. I hope that Vilnius will set a good example for other Lithuanian cities, and the E. city team of the municipality will be happy to share the solutions and codes they have created with other cities in the country", said Povilas Poderskis, advisor to the mayor of Vilnius on IT issues.
After signing the open data memorandum, the cities undertake to make public as much data as possible to residents, to place it on their own or a common open data portal, to create tools and maps based on open data, and to systematize them conveniently. Cities will not only create convenient tools, but also commit to sharing them – the tools will be open source, meaning they are easily accessible to everyone. Following the example of Vilnius, cities will reduce the administrative burden of municipalities and residents, and the use of paper documents.
The Vilnius municipality is the fastest in Lithuania to modernize the services it provides - it reduces bureaucracy, increases the amount of electronic services, and opens up data for Vilnius residents. Out of 252 different services provided by the municipality, 107 can be performed or ordered online. Last year, the Vilnius municipality was recognized as the best e-management in Lithuania. data, in addition, it was the first municipality in Lithuania to implement an electronic auction system.
