Share-PSI Best Practice: Establish an Open Data Ecosystem

Outline

The establishment of an active open data network, an ecosystem to facilitate the uptake of data and information for re-use.

Management Summary

Organisations are taking giant steps towards freeing up public data with the aim of making it available for everyone to access this data and information, for personal as well as for business use. The uptake of this data and information has not been what was expected, however. Simply making data available to the public isn’t enough to make that data useful. Citizens are not interested in data: they are interested in services being built with the available data and information. Therefore more needs to be done.

Challenge

The open data landscape consists of different actors and users with different needs, challenges, problems, expectations, roles and envisaged opportunities. A strategy to coordinate all of those internal and external actors, stakeholders and interested parties, is needed. Only then can they be convinced to share data and information and make those available for re-use; only then will all involved know what can/must be available in order to realize innovation efforts and new products and services envisaged in the PSI directive.

Solution

An active network is needed, an "open data ecosytem," facilitating interaction and communication amongst everybody interested and/or involved in open data and the re-use of information and data, internal, as well as external to the organisation. Within such a regional, national and international ecosystem, information exchange such as success stories will increase visibility and therefore awareness with regards to the availability of data and information for re-use and the results achieved by doing so. Small infomediary companies could act as intermediaries between all involved parties and with other market segments. Examples can be found in Spain where over 80% of infomediary companies are older than 5 years old and generate approximately 4,500 to 5,500 jobs, mostly linked to ICT: analysis, processing and presentation of information [DH].

Best Practice Identification

Why is this a Best Practice? What’s the impact of the Best Practice

Most open data initiatives in most EU member states have focussed on making sure everything is in place on the supply side of opening up their data and information. Experience in many member states shows that it is not sufficient to just make the data open, i.e. simply making data available to the public isn’t enough to make that data useful. All agree that focusing on bringing about the necessary strategic, legal and technical aspects with regards to the implementation of open data isn’t enough either. Open data requires an approach based on the administration releasing it, the kind of data being released and, perhaps most importantly, its targeted audience. Interaction, communication, contacts with journalists, raising awareness, training, collaboration, discussions etc. is needed to foster the development of new innovative products and services, thereby helping to realise the goals of the PSI Directive such as stimulating economic and business activity and ultimately providing value for society as a whole. Initiating an open and constructive dialogue could be the beginning of an open data ecosystem, giving rise to sustainable business models of solutions making use of Public Sector Information, hopefully in combination with data and information from the private sector. Mostly forgotten, but not less important; this best practice will also achieve efficiency gains through sharing data inside and between public administration, fostering participation of citizens in political and social life and increasing transparency of government.

Links to the Revised PSI Directive

Organisation, Platforms, Dataset criteria, Charging, Re-use, Selection, Discoverability

Why is there a need for this Best Practice?

To get the most out of scarce public resources that are available in our member states.
To increase re-use, by the private and also by the public sector.
To focus the government agencies' efforts on offering the relevant information.
To improve available dataset formats, the information quality and its accessibility.
To promote better national regulations on PSI.
To enhance coordination between public and private sector in PSI re-use.
To bring about real added value to the development of open data in the member states and help communities to enter the open data movement or improve on it.
To use what already exists.
To make use of best practices realised in other member states.
To realise speed, scale of economy, cooperation.

What do you need for this Best Practice?

If member states want to adopt this Best Practice they will have to:

make sure everything is in place to facilitate the implementation of open data (strategy, content, legal and technical);
be willing to adopt a bottom-up approach to implement an open data program;
bing about an open data ecosystem by listening to all stakeholders and interested parties;
dedicate the necessary people and resources in realising this ecosystem;
be willing to share data inside and between public administrations;
establish the necessary follow-up procedures towards continuity.

Applicability by other Member States

The approach is applicable to any Member State.

Contact Info

Noël van Herreweghe, Program Manager Open Data – Government of Flanders in Belgium

References

Spanish Infomediary Sector Characteristics (PDF), M. D. Hernández, Ministerio de Hacienda y Administraciones Públicas. Madrid, Spain. Presented at Share-PSI workshop Encouraging open data usage by commercial developers, December 2014.