High-value datasets

The European Commission’s Directive on open data and re-use of public sector information, known as the Open Data Directive, came into force in July 2019 (http://data.europa.eu/eli/dir/2019/1024/oj). The Directive encourages the EU’s Member States to make as much information available for re-use as possible. It covers data held in the public sector by bodies such as ministries, state agencies and municipalities, as well as organisations funded mostly by or under the control of public authorities (e.g. meteorological institutes). Member States have to implement the Directive into national law by July 2021.

The Directive introduces the concept of high-value datasets. They will be made available free of charge with their re-use having important benefits for the society and economy. These datasets:

• Have a high commercial potential.
• Can speed up the emergence of value-added EU-wide information products.
• Serve as key data sources for the development of Artificial Intelligence.

The Directive identifies six thematic categories of high-value datasets, which include geospatial, Earth observation & environment, meteorological and statistics. In 2021 the Commission will adopt a list of specific high-value datasets following an impact assessment which will include:

• Identifying in every Member State specific datasets that should belong to the list of high-value datasets.
• Analysing the possible impacts of making the high-value datasets available for re-use free of charge on public sector bodies and public undertakings and the markets in which they operate.

For more information, go to: https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/european-legislation-reuse-public-sector-information.

Bob Riddaway