Public Sector Information

Public Sector Information - Raw Data for New Services and Products

Public sector information is data produced and collected by public bodies (digital maps, meteorological, legal, traffic, financial, economic and other data). Most of this raw data could be re-used or integrated into new products and services which we use on a daily basis, such as car navigation systems, weather forecasts, financial and insurance services.

Re-use of information means that individuals or legal entities can copy, publish and disseminate it for commercial and non-commercial purposes.

Public sector information has great economic potential. According to a survey conducted by the European Commission in 2006 (MEPSIR study), the overall market size for PSI in the EU is estimated at EUR 27 billion.

In 2003, the EU adopted the Directive on the re-use of public sector information. It has introduced a common legislative framework regulating how public sector bodies should make their information available for re-use in order to remove barriers such as discriminatory practices, monopoly markets and a lack of transparency. On the 7 May 2009 the Commission published a review of the application of the Public Sector Information Directive encouraging Member States and Public sector Bodies to take proactive measures to promote reuse.

All 27 EU Member States had notified the Commission that they had finished implementing these rules into national legal order. Read about PSI rules in each Member State.

Latest news and further information

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What's new

16 November 2009 - Conclusions of the 25 September meeting on PSI portals: Technological, organisational and financial aspects of PSI portals do not represent a real issue. There is enough knowledge, technology and good practice available on which to build PSI portals. Open-source tools enable setting up a PSI portal with relatively low costs. Read the minutes of the meeting.
10 November 2009 - Javier Hernández-Ros, the Head of Access to Information Unit, is the ePSIplatform PSI Guest Blogger in the month of November. The ePSIplatform project is funded under the European Commission’s eContentplus programme. Its goal is to stimulate action, report developments and monitor progress towards a stronger and more transparent environment for the growth of national and European PSI re-use markets. The aim of the blog is to stimulate debate and discussion about the latest news, opinions, and strategies related to PSI re-use.

25 September 2009 - The European Commission organised a meeting on the public sector information portals. The first part of the meeting focused on existing portals and portals underway from some of the Member States. The representative from the PSI Alliance presented the "reusers' wishlist" as concerns the PSI portals. The second part of the meeting addressed technological, financial and organisational challenges. Agenda. Presentations: United Kingdom, Spain, Belgium, Italy, PSI Alliance, ePSIplatform, European Commission

31 August 2009 - Minutes of the 12th PSI Group meeting.

5 August 2009 - "Reactions" to the European Commission's Communication on the review of the PSI Directive.

1 August 2009 - The invitation phase concerning the Ex-ante advertising for the negotiated procedure for a service contract of a value below or equal to 60.000€ (A study: "Public Sector Information (PSI): Identification of potential Exclusive Agreements") for Germany - France - Italy - Poland - Spain are now closed.

25 June 2009 - Commission steps up legal action against Poland for incorrect transposition of EU public sector information rules.

16 June 2009 - Presentations of the 12th PSI Group meeting are published.

7 May 2009 - The Commission has carried out a review of the application of the Public Sector Information Directive. It adopted today the Communication on Re-use of Public Sector Information - Review of Directive 2003/98/EC. Accompanied by a Staff working document. Press release.

What's New Archive

Next events

Monitoring the implementation and application of the PSI Directive in the Member States.

Analysing markets and stimulating the exchange of good practises.

Scrutinising in particular exclusive agreements.

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