Noticia
One of the main objectives of the European Union is the creation of a Digital Single Market, where member states can share data in a safe and simple way, without high costs. To achieve this objective, the European Union have carried out different activities, such as the European General Data Protection Regulation or the communication "Building a European data economy", published in January 2017, where the main data-access challenges were described for the first time.
In April, the European Commission launched a new communication with the name "Towards a common European data space", where new measures were collected to drive effective use of data throughout the region:
- A revision proposal of the European Directive on the Reuse of Public Sector Information
- An updated of Commission Recommendation on access to and preservation of scientific information.
- A staff working document: guidance on sharing private sector data in the European data economy. We will focus our attention on this last document.
The importance of sharing private sector data
The European Commission has prepared a working document that includes the fundamental principles to drive access to private sector data, taking into account the current technological, economic and social context. Nowadays, companies manage a large amount of data. Some of these data have been created automatically by machines based on emerging technologies such as Internet of Things or Artificial Intelligence.
These data can be used with different objectives, in different sectors, beyond the owner company. This is known as the non-rivalrous nature of data, making it possible for the same data to support a range of new products or services or new methods of production. Therefore, it can become more valuable and efficient for companies to share more data they hold with other companies so that the value resulting from the data can be exploited to the maximum.
For this, collaboration and data exchange formulas are important to guarantee a save and quick data availability. These mechanisms can be aimed at 2 types of public: on the one hand, other private companies, which can reuse information to optimize their business and even generate new products and services; and on the other hand, public administrations, which can improve their efficiency or make better decisions based on data. We will see each one of these cases:
Business-to-business (B2B) data sharing
The document determines a series of principles for data sharing between companies, such as transparency, shared value creation or respect for each other's commercial interests, ensuring undistorted competition.
Taking into account these principles, there are different formats to facilitate B2B data sharing, from an open data approach to data monetisation on a data marketplace. The approach to be adopted depends on the specific interests of each company. For example, providers of services that would like to make use of an ecosystem of third party application developers in order to reach the final customers will chose an open data approach. Tom tom or Airbus are some of the European companies that have chosen this approach.
The document also addresses the legal aspects of data sharing. The design of the relevant contract terms for data usage or licensing agreements requires special attention to comply with existing legislation. In addition, a series of considerations should be taken into account, such as what data shall be made available, who can access and (re-)use the data or what technical means are necessary to guarantee security.
Business-to-Government (B2G) data sharing
In this case, the principles are very similar to B2B data sharing: proportionality in the use, transparency, protection of trade secrets, etc.
The document highlights the following formulas for B2G data sharing:
- Data donorship: formula used by Mastercard's Data Philanthropy, as a form of corporate social responsibility. Mastercard shares anonymized data that can be used to carry out specific investigations, as well as reports of conclusions leveraging in-house expertise.
- Prizes: B2G collaboration can also set up prizes that would encourage companies specialised in data analytics to find solutions to a particular public interest challenge. For example, Horizon Big Data Technologies.
- B2G data partnerships: Public sector bodies can enter into arrangements with private companies, which include the mutual sharing of data, in compliance with the current directive. This can also bring benefits for the private company, as it will be able to draw insights from the correlation of the private and public sector data. As an example, the document includes a study carried out jointly by Statistics Belgium and Eurostat that showed the potential of mobile network data from a private company to estimate population density.
- Intermediaries: In cases when there is no previous relationship between a company and a public sector body, an intermediary can be tasked to obtain insights necessary for public interest purposes.
- Civic data sharing: Individuals may be encouraged to authorise public sector bodies to process their personal data which were previously processed by a private company.
The text ends with some technical and legal considerations to improve these collaborations. Among the technical measures, the authors highlights the example of Center for Big Data Statistics (CBS), a data platform created in the Netherlands to collect public and private sector data for the creation of high-quality data visualizations.
Next steps
A group of experts will analyze the principles and mechanisms of B2G data sharing, taking into account this document. The final objective will be to provide a series of recommendations on future policies and funding initiatives.
Noticia
Open data and information reuse policies have traditionally been associated with public sector entities. It is logical that it should be they who encourage this kind of initiative, insofar as they are financed through public funds, if we also take into account that it is a fundamental consequence of the legislative framework promoted by the European Union and endorsed by Spanish legislation.
One of the main measures which European standards that apply to public sector concerns tend to adopt is the delimitation of its subjective scope, as happens singularly in public procurement, and also as regards the reuse of information. This is intended to clarify which parties are obliged to comply with its forecasts and provide greater legal certainty to their practical application.
This regulatory model has been followed in Spain by the state legislature, which has included within the subjective scope of application of its provisions only entities with public legal personality. Since the reform that took place in 2015 in relation to the legal regime of the public sector, there are private entities "linked to or dependent on the public administration" that, for certain purposes, are subject to the administrative rules. This consequence does not affect regulation on the re-use of information, although they are expressly considered as public sector, albeit institutional, since the entry into force of said legal modification.
Public Private Integration
Apart from the debatable question of the desirability of extending the target parties for rules on reuse, the fact is that nothing prevents open data projects and initiatives from taking a further step along these lines. In this sense, the emergence of the Internet of Things and big data show a paradigm shift based on the permanent and generalized interconnection of devices and sources of information that do not always come from parties belonging to the public sector. In fact, they usually originate in users and other private entities that provide multiple services related to the information and communication society, although not exclusively. Even if, in many cases, they refer to actions and activities that take place in public on the street or using public goods, as is the case with telephone services.
These players are not bound by rules on access and re-use initially designed to be applied in the context of the public sector. However, it would be very useful for infomediaries to be able to integrate the body of data generated by the aforesaid private parties in the treatment they carry out according to open data standards and, in particular, in an automated manner. Difficulties and potential legal barriers may be greater in the private sector, especially if we take into account the reluctance to share information with potential competitors in the same market. This is an important challenge that should lead to the establishment of minimum legal conditions shared by the various operators and parties involved in order not to miss out on the opportunity offered by public-private integration in this area .
We are faced with an essential legal debate, if we are to take advantage of the potential added value of reuse beyond strict compliance with legal obligations. In particular, if it is hoped to promote better services with a genuine - and differential - added value based on the integration of data from both the public and private sectors. For this, it is necessary to align the opening up of data in the private sector with the policies and initiatives that for years have been promoted for the public sector, and in particular as regards the technical conditions in which data would be accessible. In this challenge, beyond the existing regulatory framework, it is up to the public authorities to lead this necessary commitment by facilitating and promoting not only the openness but also the interconnection of data that are necessary so that useful services can be offered adapted to the needs of the users, regardless of whether they are in the power of a public or private entity.