On 12 December 2011, the European Commission launched an open data strategy for Europe, in order to realise the economic potential of the large volumes of information collected by the various public authorities and services. The Strategy is expected to boost to the EU's economy by €40 billion each year.

Open data is general information that can be freely used, re-used and redistributed by anyone, either for free or for a marginal fee. Studies conducted on behalf of the European Commission show that industry and citizens still face difficulties in finding and re-using public sector information. However, some Member States, such as France and the United Kingdom, have already adopted policies of open data.

The new strategy aims to enable the exploitation of open data through three measures:

• the Commission will create a new 'data portal' to provide free access to its own data;
• a level playing field will be established for open data across the EU;
• €100 million will be provided to fund research into improved data-handling technologies during 2011-2013.

According to the Commissions' press release, these measures will place the EU as a global leader in the re-use of public sector information, and they will boost the thriving industry that processes raw data into information employed by hundreds of millions of ICT users. This includes smart phone apps, such as maps, real-time traffic and weather information, price comparison tools and more. Other leading beneficiaries of open data will include journalists and academics.

In 2003, EU Directive 2003/98/EC on the re-use of public sector information introduced a first set of measures to make it easier for businesses to obtain access and permission to re-use government-held information. It also initiated a process whereby governmental agencies lowered the fees charged for obtaining the information. The new strategy extends access and widens the coverage of this Directive by:

• Making it a general rule that all documents made accessible by public sector bodies can be re-used for any purpose, commercial or non-commercial, unless protected by third-party copyright;
• Establishing the principle that public bodies should not be allowed to charge more than costs triggered by the individual request for data (marginal costs); in practice this means most data will be offered for free or virtually for free, unless duly justified;
• Making it compulsory to provide data in commonly-used, machine-readable formats, to ensure data can be effectively re-used;
• Introducing regulatory oversight to enforce these principles;
• Greatly expanding the scope of the Directive to include libraries, museums and archives for the first time; the existing 2003 rules will apply to data from such institutions.

The Commission has already agreed the contract for the new 'data portal' through which it will make its own data public. The portal is currently in its 'beta version' (development and testing phase) and has an expected launch date in spring 2012. In time this will serve as a single-access point for re-usable data from all EU institutions, bodies and agencies and national authorities.

Commission Vice President Neelie Kroes said: "We are sending a strong signal to administrations today. Your data is worth more if you give it away. So start releasing it now; use this framework to join the other smart leaders who are already gaining from embracing open data. Taxpayers have already paid for this information; the least we can do is give it back to those who want to use it in new ways that help people and create jobs and growth."

In its Digital Agenda for Europe the Commission identified the re-use of public sector information, alongside fast and ultra-fast internet access, as key to delivering a Digital Single Market.

Further information:

• Original press release - Europa Press Releases Rapid
• European Commission Open Data website
• Commission's Open Data Strategy - Q&As