Once data has been collected, it has to be checked/edited for consistency and structured for easy access. Datasets should be grouped by topic or theme and described with both keywords and brief explanations for users to be able to find. Part of this organization is the use of a taxonomy or classification scheme. Taxonomies guide thinking about the data by establishing broad categories, sub-categories, and members. These categorical relationships between different sets of information can be diagrammed as trees, with category members branching off from categories.

The following taxonomy has been developed by Open Development Mekong partners for collective use. There are 16 top-level categories, which are shown below along with second-level subcategories:

• Agriculture and fishing
• Aid and development
• Disasters and emergency response
• Economy, trade and investment
• Energy
• Environment and natural resources
• Extractive industries
• Government
• Industry (other)
• Infrastructure
• Labor
• Land
• Law and judiciary
• Population and censuses
• Social development
• Urban administration and development

For different countries, there will be attention on different sub-categories, as determined by organizational and national priorities. However, this taxonomy can guide both the understanding of areas of development (by showing the larger picture) and the organization of data that is collected (such as tagging). A process for proposing changes to this taxonomy will be established so that refined conceptualizations can be documented.

For the full version of the taxonomy (all levels instead of just the top two), see the “Files” section of this wiki, or download the Xmind software to be able to use the interactive version of this illustration.