EU: Commission launches open data strategy to boost the economy | ePractice

EU: Commission launches open data strategy to boost the economy | ePractice: 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.

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