DIGITAL AGENDA : NEW STRATEGY TO PROMOTE USE OF PUBLIC DATA.

In order to fully benefit from the - mainly economic - potential offered by the re-use of data held by the public sector, the European Commission proposed, on 12 December 2011, a new strategy in this field. The aim is to promote a real opening (accessibility and re-use) of information collected by public bodies to users of new communication technologies - businesses, academics, journalists and, more broadly, all EU citizens. This strategy is essentially the revision of Directive 2003/98/EC on the re-use of public sector information, as well as a general communication, and the revision of the Commission's decision on the re-use of its own information (2006/291/EC). This information includes geographical or meteorological data, maps, statistics or even legal data. It is for instance re-used for new products and services, such as mobile applications that use geographical data.

The Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes, said: "According to our calculations, public sector information already generates 32 billion of economic activity each year. This package would double this sum, making it reach around 70 billion".

But strong obstacles remain, the Commission notes. To begin with, there is the lack of precision of the term of this re-use of data and the lack of visibility of public bodies that own these data. Other important barriers: the costly use of some information, as well as the fact that it is accessible in formats that are not always easy to use. Lastly, the Commission singles out the exclusive usage agreements, either signed with commercial actors or restricted to public bodies.

AUTOMATIC RE-USE

Consequently, in its proposal to revise the directive on the re-use of public sector information, the Commission proposes to lay down a principle dictating that public data generated by public bodies will automatically become re-usable. Another proposed...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT