The re-use of public sector information and industry 4.0

The promotion of digitalisation in industrial activity is one of the main axes for tackling the transformation that the Spain's Digital Agenda 2025 aims to promote. In this respect, several initiatives have already been launched by public institutions, including the Connected Industry 4.0 programme, through which the aim is to promote a framework for joint and coordinated action by the public and private sectors in this field.

Apart from the debates on what Industry 4.0 means and the challenges it poses, one of the main requirements identified to assess the maturity and viability of this type of project is the existence of "a strategy for collecting, analysing and using relevant data, promoting the implementation of technologies that facilitate this, aimed at decision-making and customer satisfaction", as well as the use of technologies that "allow predictive and prescriptive models, for example, Big Data and Artificial Intelligence". Precisely, the Spanish Artificial R+D+I Strategy gives a singular relevance to the massive use of data that, in short, requires its availability in adequate conditions, both from a quantitative and qualitative perspective. In the case of Industry 4.0 this requirement becomes strategic, particularly if we consider that almost a half of companies' technological expenditure is linked to data management.

Although a relevant part of the data will be those generated in the development of their own activity by the companies, it cannot be ignored that the re-use of data from third parties acquires a singular importance due to the added value it provides, especially with regard to the information provided by public sector entities. In any case, the specific sectors in which industrial activity takes place will determine which type of data is particularly useful. In this sense, the food industry may have a greater interest in knowing as accurately as possible not only weather forecasts but also historical data related to climate and, in this way, adequately planning both its production and also the management of its personnel, logistics activities and even future investments. Or, to continue with another example, the pharmaceutical industry and the industry linked to the supply of health material could make more effective and efficient decisions if they could access updated information from the autonomous health systems under suitable conditions, which would ultimately not only benefit them but also better satisfy their own public interests.

Beyond the particularities of each of the sectors on which the specific business activity is projected, in general, public sector entities have relevant data banks whose effective opening in order to allow their reuse in an automated manner would be of great interest to facilitate the digital transformation of industrial activity. Specifically, the availability of socio-economic information can provide undeniable added value, so that the adoption of decisions on the activity of companies can be based on data generated by public statistics services, on parameters which are relevant from the perspective of economic activity - for example, taxes or income levels - or even on the planning of the activity of public bodies with implications for assets, as occurs in the field of subsidies or contracting. On the other hand, there are many public registers with structured information whose opening would provide an important added value from an industrial perspective, such as those which provide relevant information on the population or the opening of establishments which carry out economic activities which directly or indirectly affect the conditions in which industrial activity is carried out, either in terms of production conditions or the market in which their products are distributed. In addition, the accessibility of environmental, town planning and, in general, territorial planning information would be an undeniable asset in the context of the digital transformation of industrial activity, as it would allow the integration of essential variables for the data processing required by this type of company.

However, the availability of data from third parties in projects linked to Industry 4.0 cannot be limited to the public sector alone, as it is particularly important to be able to rely on data provided by private subjects. In particular, there are certain sectors of activity in which their accessibility for the purposes of reuse by industrial companies would be of particular relevance, such as telecommunications, energy or, among others, financial institutions. However, unlike what happens with data generated in the public sector, there is no regulation that obliges private subjects to offer information generated in the development of their own activity to third parties in open and reusable formats.

Moreover, there may sometimes be a legitimate interest on the part of such entities to prevent other parties from accessing the data they hold, for example, if possible intellectual or industrial property rights are affected, if there are contractual obligations to be fulfilled or if, simply for commercial reasons, it is advisable to prevent relevant information from being made available to competing companies. However, apart from the timid European regulation aimed at facilitating the free circulation of not personal data, there is no specific regulatory framework that is applicable to the private sector and therefore, in the end, the possibility of re-using relevant information for projects related to Industry 4.0 would be limited to agreements that can be reached on a voluntary basis.

Therefore, the decisive promotion of Industry 4.0 requires the existence of an adequate ecosystem with regard to the accessibility of data generated by other entities which, in short, cannot be limited solely and exclusively to the public sector. It is not simply a question of adopting a perspective of increasing efficiency from a cost perspective but, rather, of optimising all processes; this also affects certain social aspects of growing importance such as energy efficiency, respect for the environment or improvement in working conditions. And it is precisely in relation to these challenges that the role to be played by the Public Administration is crucial, not only offering relevant data for reuse by industrial companies but, above all, promoting the consolidation of a technological and socially advanced production model based on the parameters of Industry 4.0, which also requires the dynamisation of adequate legal conditions to guarantee the accessibility of information generated by private entities in certain strategic sectors.