Free Access, Public Fees and Prices

published 2013-05-03 11:39
Sustainability of Open Data and PSI initiatives is one of the biggest challenges for governments nowadays. This report analyses the regulations on models of Public Sector Information prizing in Europe and Spain. It also offers recommendations and techniques for establishing a framework for public sector bodies reflecting on the economic sustainability of these initiatives.
Comments

Open Data in Developing Countries

published 2013-02-28 01:00

Open Data seems to be high on the agenda not only in Western countries, but also in developing countries. This report finds that until now the number of open data initiatives in developing countries is still limited, but the coming years will probably see a large increase of open data initiatives in developing countries. Both civil society organisations and external partners of developing country governments are encouraging the use of open data to increase transparency, accountability and citizen participation. Particularly the Open Government Partnership is promoting open data initiatives in developing countries.


Comments

Open Public Sector Information: from principles to practice

published 2013-02-26 17:29

A report by the Australian Information Commissioner on the current status of open access to PSI in Australia. The report contains findings from 191 government agencies, and lists key challenges these agencies perceive as well as priorities for action.


Comments

Europe's Data Catalogues

published 2013-01-30 01:00

Over the past years there has been an explosion of interest in opening up Public Sector Information (PSI) for the public to reuse. At a national level, numerous countries from around the world have established central data platforms. Several European Union member states have set up official national data catalogues as single-entry points to simplify public access to PSI of the country. Examples range from the UK’s data.gov.uk site to the French Government’s data.gouv.fr. There are countless city level initiatives across Europe as well – from Helsinki to Berlin, Paris to Zaragoza. As many open data catalogues as exist now, still even more initiatives will emerge in the next years.

This topic report explains the basic concepts of data catalogues and introduces the technologies used. It showcases recent examples of data catalogues in European member states and pan-European initiatives to ultimately improve access to Europe's PSI. The topic report explores the role and impacts of data catalogues in accelerating PSI reuse.


Comments

Open Data Standardization before publication?

published 2012-12-30 01:00

In this topic report we explore the following question: Is it better to publish data ‘as is’ or to improve the data quality and to publish only afer the data is highly standardized and usable within interoperable environments? On the one hand, we have the argument best formulated by Tim Berners Lee “Raw Data Now”, but on the other hand many data holders prefer to hold the data until they are certain it’s of sufcient quality. This Topic Report discusses a number of ways in which data can be standardized and how these forms of standards benefit the re-use community.

Finally, we conclude that it’s generally preferable to publish now. If the data has sufcient value, we observe that companies and civic groups will standardize the data themselves, and make it available to a wider public, without any cost to the PSB.


Comments