Outline
When the user community is asked about what datasets they would prefer for release they often cannot respond because they are not aware of what datasets are available. Therefore an overview of datasets managed by an organisation should be published.
Management Summary
Challenge
There is often a ‘catch 22’ situation when identifying data for release. The public sector asks the user community what data they would like and they will prioritise this for release. However, the user community are often not aware of what exists and therefore cannot respond meaningfully.
Solution
Publish an overview of datasets managed by an organisation.
Best Practice Identification
Why is this a Best Practice? What’s the impact of the Best Practice
The overview when made public gives enough information for users (both public and private sector) to prioritise the most interesting data for release.
Links to the Revised PSI Directive
Why is there a need for this Best Practice?
The user community is not always fully aware of datasets that an organisation can possibly make available as open data, at least not to a full extent. This might prevent the community from providing useful feedback about what datasets it would have preferred for release. Following this practice should improve efficiency of gathering feedback about datasets requested for release.
What do you need for this Best Practice?
The technical requirements are minimal. A simple published spreadsheet and a route through which feedback can be sent should be sufficient. The impact of the practice can be improved when the best practice Categorise openness of data is being followed. This allows potential external users to examine the data categorised as yellow (datasets that could be possibly shared within the public sector but not with the external users) and bring forward arguments about why some of it could be re-categorised as ‘green’ data if they see fit.
Applicability by other Member States
The approach is applicable to any Member State.
Contact Info
Heather Broomfield, Difi (Norway).