Open Data

The Commission's work in the area of open data is focussing on generating value through re-use of a specific type of data – public sector information, sometimes also referred to as government data. That is all the information that public bodies produce, collect or pay for. Examples are: geographical information, statistics, weather data, data from publicly funded research projects, and digitised books from libraries.

We support open data for 4 reasons:

• Public data has significant potential for re-use in new products and services;
• Addressing societal challenges – having more data openly available will help us discover new and innovative solutions;
• Achieving efficiency gains through sharing data inside and between public administrations;
• Fostering participation of citizens in political and social life and increasing transparency of government.

See the Communication on Open Data of December 2011.