Establish an Open Data Ecosystem

The problem

Simply making data available to the public isn’t enough to make that data useful. Citizens are not interested in data: they are interested in services being built with the available data and information. Therefore the establishment of an active open data network is needed, facilitating interaction and communication amongst everybody interested and/or involved in open data and the re-use of information and data. Interaction, collaboration and trainings between a wide range of actors, from NGOs to the private sector to individual citizens is needed to foster the development of new innovative products and services that will help realise the goals of the PSI Directive.

The solution

Open Data Day: Community events, such as Open Data Day, TransparencyCamp EU, hackathons and meetups increase awareness, stimulate public use of government data and contribute to the open data ecosystem. EU governments could consider sponsoring such events to contribute to and better understand this ecosystem. In fact, Transparency Camp EU in 2016 was co-hosted by the Presidency of the Council of the EU.

Open Knowledge Network: The public sector could consider sponsoring and increasing their involvement of groups within the Network. For example, the OpenSpending and CKAN community could be a natural fit because the best practice emphasizes linking with products and services built upon open data. The School of Data is also a natural fit for engagement as they include potential data re-users.

Engaging offline communities: Open data community is often elite, removed from many other community or issue-specific groups. The public sector should seek out groups beyond the usual suspects. The “Build With, Not For” movement provides a model and resources for this outreach.