Share-PSI 2.0 Best Practice

Source: Best Practices/Open Data 2.0 - Changing Perspectives

Outline of the best practice

If publication of Open Data is driven only by the external pressures, public administrations might miss the opportunity to seize benefits for themselves. Therefore it is important for public sector bodies to understand their internal needs and priorities regarding their Open Data initiatives and take these needs and priorities into account when selecting datasets for publication.

Management summary

Challenge

Focusing too much on the legal obligations and external pressures to release data for re-use leads to a situation when public sector bodies as data providers often cannot internalize possible benefits from data liberation.

Solution

Governmental bodies thus realize that, besides responding to external pressures, the actual justification for opening data assets is that public bodies could directly reap tangible benefits, resulting in efficiency, effectiveness and hive of public sector innovation. Therefore it is important for public sector bodies to understand their internal needs and priorities regarding their Open Data initiatives and take these needs and priorities into account when selecting datasets for publication.

Best Practice identification

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

Following this practice should help public sector bodies to reap benefits resulting from making data available for re-use, e.g. reduction of data requests and elimination of unnecessary duplication made possible by the fact that information assets are no more trapped into data silos, economies of scope fuelled by collaborative coding among public agencies and software re-use on top of an accessible common data layer, recourse to collective intelligence for the purpose of solving tough governmental problems through data science.

Links to the PSI Directive

Selection

Why is there a need for this Best Practice?

Following this practice would contribute to make a further step towards the obtainment of an outcome-based government whose actions demonstrate a clear link with their results generated (i.e., outcomes) in terms of value that, in turn, could be internalized by the governments (e.g., efficiency, effectiveness) without overlooking the quest for the creation of value for society at large ("public value").

What do you need for this Best Practice?

• An outcome-based mindset
• Cost accounting routines able to quantify advantages that could be achieved thanks to Open Data
• Repertoire of case studies serving as source of inspiration

Applicability by other Member States

Best practice is applicable across the member states.

Contact info

Dr. Michele Osella, Head of Business Model & Policy Innovation Unit @ Istituto Superiore Mario Boella (osella [at] ismb.it; @MicheleOsella)

Related Best Practices

• Best Practices/Cost-benefit analysis of the value of information
• Best Practices/Understand demand for data