Outline

Datasets that are fit for publication as Open Data need to be identified as well as the requirements of both the internal and external stakeholders. Open Data publication plan should be developed taking into account needs of the relevant stakeholders as well as the potential benefits, risks and costs of publication of the datasets.

Challenge

How to manage publication of Open Data?

Public sector bodies hold a large number of various datasets. However they also operate under budgetary and various other constraints that prevent them from making every potential dataset available for re-use at once.

Solution

Develop an Open Data publication plan that balances the requirements and the known constraints. Open Data publication plan should contain all the necessary tasks to implement the Open Data initiative and it should be supported by a roadmap for publication of the selected datasets.

Why is this a Best Practice?

This best practice aims at balancing the requirements and needs of the relevant stakeholders with the available resources by planning of the data release and other necessary steps that takes into account the demand for data, the potential benefits and risks associated with the publication of the identified datasets as well as the estimated costs of the publication.

How do I implement this Best Practice?

An analysis of the available datasets should be performed, needs and requirements of both the internal and external stakeholders should be understood and the Open Data publication plan should be developed. Publication of Open Data should be in line with the strategic aims of the organization, with the relevant policies such as the national Open Data strategy and it should meet the demand of the potential users of the data. Therefore the requirements of both internal and external stakeholders should be identified and analysed. Open Data publication plan should contain all the necessary tasks to implement the Open Data initiative. With regard to the datasets planned to be published as Open Data a release roadmap should be developed. Release of the datasets should be prioritised taking into consideration the requirements of the stakeholders as well as the results of the analysis of the datasets, i.e. the identified benefits and risks and the cost/effort estimates. Progress should be tracked against the Open Data publication plan. This plan should be also regularly reviewed and updated.

Implementation steps could be summarised as follows:

  • Obtain the top management support.
  • Appoint a person responsible for development of the Open Data publication plan.
  • Secure cooperation of the departments involved in the Open Data initiative.
  • Identify requirements of both internal and external stakeholders. Voice of every group should be treated with due regards.
  • Develop Open Data publication plan balancing the requirements and the known constraints.
  • Develop Open Data release roadmap based on the dataset priorities.
  • Set up a review process for the Open Data publication plan.

Where has this best practice been implemented?

Country Implementation Contact Point
Austria Open Government Data Implementation Model Bernhard Krabina
Spain Basque Country PSI re-use assesment Martin Alvarez-Espinar
Finland Helsinki Region Infoshare Pekka Koponen, Forum Virium Helsinki.

References

Local Guidance

This Best Practice is cited by, or is consistent with, the advice given within the following guides:

Contact Info

Jan Kučera, University of Economics, Prague (Czech Republic).

Issue Tracker

Any matters arising from this BP, including implementation experience, lessons learnt, places where it has been implemented or guides that cite this BP can be recorded and discussed on the project's GitHub repository