Sector público

Madrid City Council has launched an initiative to demonstrate the potential of open data: the first edition of the Open Data Reuse Awards 2025. With a total budget of 15,000 euros, this competition seeks to promote the reuse of the data shared by the council on its open data portal, demonstrating that they can be a driver of social innovation and citizen participation.

The challenge is clear: to turn data into useful, original and impactful ideas. If you think you can do it, below, we summarize the information you must consider to compete.

Who can participate?

The competition is open to practically everyone: from individuals to companies or groups of any kind. The only condition is to submit a project carried out between September 10, 2022 and September 9, 2025 and that uses at least one dataset  from the Madrid City Council's open data portal as a base. Data from other public and private sources can also be used, as long as the  Madrid City Council datasets are a key part of the project.

Of course, projects that have already been awarded, contracted or financed by the City Council itself are not accepted, nor are works submitted after the deadline or without the required documentation.

What projects can be submitted?

There are four main areas in which you can participate:

• Web services and applications: refers to projects that provide services, studios, web applications, or mobile apps.
• Studies, research and ideas: refers to projects of exploration, analysis or description of ideas aimed at the creation of services, studies, visualizations, web applications or mobile apps. Bachelor's and master's degree final university projects can also participate in this category.
• Proposals to improve the quality of the open data portal: includes projects, services, applications or initiatives that contribute to boosting the quality of the datasets published on the Madrid City Council's open data portal.
• Data visualizations: you can participate in this category with various content, such as maps, graphs, tables, 3D models, digital art, web applications and animations. Representations can be static, such as infographics, posters, or figures in publications, or dynamic, including videos, interactive dashboards, and stories.

What are the prizes?

For each category, two prizes for different economic endowments are awarded:

Figure 1. Prize money for the first edition of the 2025 Open Data Reuse Awards. Source: Madrid City Council.

Beyond the economic prize, this call is a great opportunity to give visibility to ideas that take advantage of the transparency and potential of open data. In addition, if the proposal improves public services, solves a real problem or helps to better understand the city, it will have great value that goes far beyond recognition.

How are projects valued?

A jury will evaluate each project by assigning a maximum score of 50 points, which will take into account aspects such as originality, social benefit, technical quality, accessibility, ease of use, or even design, in the case of visualizations. If deemed necessary, the jury may request further information submitted to the participants.

The two projects with the highest score will win, although to be considered, the proposals must reach at least 25 points out of a possible 50. If none of them meets this requirement, the category will be declared void.

The jury will be made up of representatives from different areas of the City Council, with experience in innovation, transparency, technology and data. A representative of ASEDIE (Multisectoral Association of Information), the association that promotes the reuse and distribution of information in Spain, will also participate.

How do I participate?

The deadline to register is September 9, 2025 at 11:59 p.m. In the case of natural people, the application can be submitted:

• Online through the City Council's Electronic Office. This procedure requires identification and electronic signature.
• In person at municipal service offices.

In the case of legal people, they may only submit their candidacy electronically.

In any case, the official form must be completed and accompanied by a report explaining the project, its operation, its benefits, the use of the data, and if possible, including screenshots, links or prototypes.

You can see the complete rules here.

Valencia City Council has launched a call to reward projects that promote the culture of open information and open data in the city. Specifically, it seeks to promote the culture of government transparency and good governance through the reuse of open data.

If you are thinking of participating, here are some of the keys you should take into account (although do not forget to read the complete rules of the call for more information).

What do the prizes consist of?

The awards consist of a single category that encompasses projects that demonstrate the potential of the reuse of public open data , and may also include private data. Specifically, applications, technological solutions, services, works, etc. may be presented. that use public data from the city of Valencia to benefit the community.

The requirements that must be met are the following:

• To present an innovative character and highlight its impact on improving the lives of people and their environment.
• Be current  and be implemented in general, in the territorial area of the municipality of Valencia. The final projects of bachelor's, master's or doctoral theses can have been carried out at any university, but it is mandatory that they refer to and base their research on areas of transparency in the city of Valencia.
• Use inclusive and non-sexist language.
• Be written in Spanish or Valencian.
• Have a single author, which may be a legal entity or association.
• Be written in accordance with the terms and conditions of the call, and articles previously published in journals may not participate.
• Not have received a subsidy from the Valencia City Council for the same purpose.

Who can participate?

The contest is aimed at audiences from wide sectors: students, entrepreneurs, developers, design professionals, journalists or any citizen with an interest in open data.

Both natural and legal persons from the university field, the private sector, public entities and civil society can participate, provided that they have developed the project in the municipality of Valencia.

What is valued and what do the prizes consist of?

The projects received will be evaluated by a jury that will take into account the following aspects:

• Originality and degree of innovation.
• Public value and social and urban impact.
• Viability and sustainability.
• Collaborative nature.

The jury will choose three winning projects, which will receive a diploma and a financial prize consisting of:

• First prize: 5,000 euros.
• Second prize: 3,000 euros.
• Third prize: 2,000 euros.

In addition, the City Council will disseminate and publicize the projects that have been recognized in this call, which will be a loudspeaker to gain visibility and recognition.

The awards will be presented at a public event in person or virtually in the city of Valencia, to which all participants will be invited. An opportunity to engage in conversation with other citizens and professionals interested in the subject.

How can I participate?

The deadline for submitting projects is 7 July 2025. The application can be made in two ways:

• In person, presenting the standard form and Annex 1 of the declaration of responsibility.
• Digitally through the Electronic Office, where an online application form (which includes the responsible declaration) will be completed.

In both cases, in addition, an explanatory report of the project will have to be presented. This document will contain the description of the project, its objectives, the actions developed and the results obtained, detailed in a maximum of 20 pages. It is also necessary to review the additional documentation indicated in the rules, necessary according to the nature of the participant (natural person, legal entity, associations, etc.).

For those participants who have doubts, the email address sctransparencia@valencia.es has been enabled. You can also ask any questions on the 962081741 and 962085203 phones.

You can see the complete rules at this link.

Imagine you want to know how many terraces there are in your neighbourhood, how the pollen levels in the air you breathe every day are evolving or whether recycling in your city is working well. All this information exists in your municipality's databases, but it sits in spreadsheets and technical documents that only experts know how to interpret.

This is where open data visualisation initiativescome in: they transform those seemingly cold numbers into stories that anyone can understand at a glance.  A colourful graph showing the evolution of traffic on your street, an interactive map showing the green areas of your city, or an infographic explaining how the municipal budget is spent. These tools make public information accessible, useful and, moreover, comprehensible to all citizens.

Moreover, the advantages of this type of solution are not only for the citizens, but also benefit the Administration that carries out the exercise, because it allows:

• Detect and correct data errors.
• Add new sets to the portal.
• Reduce the number of questions from citizens.
• Generate more trust on the part of society.

Therefore, visualising open data brings government closer to citizens, facilitates informed decision-making, helps public administrations to improve their open data offer and creates a more participatory society where we can all better understand how the public sector works. In this post, we present some examples of open data visualisation initiatives in regional and municipal open data portals.

Visualiza Madrid: bringing data closer to the public

Madrid City Council's open data portal has developed the initiative "Visualiza Madrid", a project born with the specific objective of making open data and its potential reach the general public , transcending specialised technical profiles. As Ascensión Hidalgo Bellota, Deputy Director General for Transparency of Madrid City Council, explained during the IV National Meeting on Open Data, "this initiative responds to the need to democratise access to public information".

Visualiza Madrid currently has 29 visualisations that cover different topics of interest to citizens, from information on hotel and restaurant terraces to waste management and urban traffic analysis. This thematic diversity demonstrates the versatility of visualisations as a tool for communicating information from very diverse sectors of public administration.

 In addition, the initiative has received external recognition this year through the Audaz 2,025 Awards, an initiative of the Spanish chapter of the Open Government Academic Network (RAGA Spain).The initiative has also received external recognition through the Audaz 2,025 Awards.

Castilla y León: comprehensive analysis of regional data

 The Junta de Castilla y León has also developed a portal specialised in analysis and visualisations that stands out for its comprehensive approach to the presentation of regional data. Its visualisation platform offers a systematic approach to the analysis of regional information, allowing users to explore different dimensions of the reality of Castilla y Leónthrough interactive and dynamic tools.

This initiative allows complex information to be presented in a structured and understandable way, facilitating both academic analysis and citizen use of the data. The platform integrates different sources of regional information, creating a coherent ecosystem of visualisations that provides a panoramic view of different aspects of regional management. Among the topics it offers are data on tourism, the labour market and budget execution. All the visualisations are made with open data sets from the regional portal of Castilla y León .

The Castilla y León approach demonstrates how visualisations can serve as a tool for territorial analysis, providing valuable insights on economic, social and demographic dynamics that are fundamental for the planning and evaluation of regional public policies.

Canary Islands: technological integration with interactive widgets .

On the other hand, the Government of the Canary Islands has opted for an innovative strategy through the implementation of widgets that allow the integration of open data visualisations of the Instituto Canario de Estadística (ISTAC) in different platforms and contexts. This technological approach represents a qualitative leap in the distribution and reuse of public data visualisations.

The widgets developed by the Canary Islands make it easier for third parties to embed official visualisations in their own applications, websites or analyses, exponentially expanding the scope and usefulness of Canary Islands open data. This strategy not only multiplies the points of access to public information, but also fosters the creation of a collaborative ecosystem where different actors can benefit from and contribute to the value of open data.

The Canarian initiative illustrates how technology can be used to create scalable and flexible solutions that maximise the impact of investments in open data visualisation, establishing a replicable model for other administrations seeking to amplify the reach of their transparency initiatives.

Lessons learned and best practices

By way of example, the cases analysed reveal common patterns that can serve as a guide for future initiatives. The orientation towards the general public, beyond specialised technical users, emerges as an opportunity factor for the success of these platforms. To maintain the interest and relevance of the visualisations, it is important to offer thematic diversity and to update the data regularly.

Technological integration and interoperability, as demonstrated in the case of the Canary Islands, open up new possibilities to maximise the impact of public investments in data visualisation. Likewise, external recognition and participation in professional networks, as evidenced in the case of Madrid, contribute to continuous improvement and the exchange of best practices between administrations.

In general terms, open data visualisation initiatives represent a very valuable opportunity in the transparency and open government strategy of Spanish public administrations. The cases of Madrid, Castilla y León, as well as the Canary Islands, are examples of the enormous potential for transforming public data into tools for citizen empowerment and improved public management.

The success of these initiatives lies in their ability to connect government information with the real needs of citizens, creating bridges of understanding that strengthen the relationship between administration and society. As these experiences mature and consolidate, it will be crucial to keep the focus on the usability, accessibility and relevance of visualisations, ensuring that open data truly delivers on its promise to contribute to a more informed, participatory and democratic society.

Open data visualisation is not just a technical issue, but a strategic opportunity to redefine public communication and strengthen the foundations of a truly open and transparent administration.

The international open government community is preparing for the 9th Global Summit of the Open Government Partnership (OGP), which will take place in Vitoria-Gasteiz next October.. For three days, government representatives, civil society leaders and policy makers from around the world will exchange experiences, best practices and progress on open government initiatives. The choice of Vitoria-Gasteiz as host city, a medium-sized city but a symbol of sustainability and good urban management, also reflects the commitment of the outgoing presidency of the Spanish Government in the OGP to the integration of open government at all levels of administration, from the municipal and regional to the state level.

A crucial meeting for the open government ecosystem

The OGP 2025 Global Summit comes at a time of a complex global context. Democracy today faces several relevant threats,from disinformation to increasing authoritarianism. This is why the Vitoria-Gasteiz Summit is emerging as a potential global catalyst to revitalise the momentum of open government as a response to these challenges. It is an opportunity to bring the international community together and demonstrate once again that transparency, participation and collaboration remain effective tools for strengthening democracies.

Since its founding in 2011, the OGP has grown rapidly and established itself as a wide-ranging international alliance. It currently brings together some 75 countries and 150 local jurisdictions (representing more than 2 billion people), along with hundreds of civil society organisations, and accumulated more than 4,500 reform commitments embodied in some 300 national action plans during its first decade.

A global summit bringing together so many actors offers an unparalleled forum for sharing learnings, assessing advances and announcing new commitments.

OGP in context: 14 years of open government

After nearly 15 years of existence, the OGP can boast some significant achievements. Since its creation, many countries have adopted access to information laws, open data portals and transparency policies that did not exist before. Innovative initiatives such as citizen participation platforms and collaborative accountability mechanisms have also been implemented. Moreover, the Alliance incorporates an additional accountability component through the independent review mechanism (IRM) that publicly assesses the implementation of these commitments.

However, it is not all victories, as several civil society actors have also been pointing out some limitations and inconsistencies in the current OGP. Thus, according to OGP's own data and its IRM, there is an implementation gap in the commitments made, with multiple projects never getting off the ground, either due to lack of resources or political will. Another important warning sign comes from the deterioration of the democratic environment in some countries, with some regression on critical issues such as the protection of civic space. This also highlights a broader problem: high-level political commitment to open government is not always sustained, and without active leadership, OGP loses relevance.

The balance of the Spanish Presidency of the OGP

Spain holds the OGP co-presidency from October 2024 until the end of September 2025, shared with civil society and academic representative Cielo Magno (from the Philippines). This leadership position is also a unique opportunity to influence the Alliance's priorities and messages at this key moment. From the outset, the Spanish government identified three strategic areas for its co-presidency:

• Putting the citizen at the centre of decision-making.
• Strengthen democracies to make them more resilient.
• Protecting citizens' rights in the digital transformation.

These axes align with some of the current global concerns cited above: the crisis of confidence in institutions, the threat of authoritarianism and the new risks to rights in the digital environment. Spain also declared its intention to promote innovative ideas, taking advantage of technologies such as open data and artificial intelligence as tools to successfully carry out the double transition, green and digital.

Internally, Spain has launched the process called "Consensus for an Open Administration", which brings together civil servants, experts and citizens in 18 working groups to rethink the functioning of government through innovative methodologies and citizen participation. This effort, which is being developed in the Laboratory for Public Innovation (LIP) of the National Institute of Public Administration (INAP), as well as in the HAZLAB laboratory for innovation in citizen participation, seeks to present concrete proposals to improve trust in institutions through openness and collaboration.

The government is also preparing its V Open Government Action Plan (2025-2029), whose public consultation phase received more than 400 proposals from citizens and organisations, multiplying participation by 2.5 times compared to the previous Plan.

The challenge of open government: reforms, scope and obstacles

In response to the above challenges, the OGP has recently launched the Open government challenge. It is an initiative that seeks to channel reforming energies into ten priority areas, seeking common and significant progress in the following areas over the next five years:

• Access to information (transparency and right to know).
• Anti-corruption (public integrity and anti-corruption).
• Civic space (protection of freedoms of association, expression, assembly).
• Climate and environment (transparent and participatory climate governance).
• Digital governance (ethical and open use of data and technologies).
• Fiscal openness (open budgets, transparent procurement and spending).
• Gender and inclusion (gender equality, inclusion of vulnerable groups).
• Justice (open justice, access to justice and transparent judicial systems).
• Freedom of media (protection of independent journalism and truthful reporting).
• Public participation (effective mechanisms for citizen participation in decisions).

Each thematic area is accompanied by a guide with examples of reforms, inspiring use cases and ideas for specific commitments that countries can adopt. The ambition is for these ten areas to concentrate global efforts, encouraging collaboration and avoiding dispersion. The OGP will regularly highlight the most ambitious reforms in each field in order to serve as an example and inspiration for others. In fact, it will also be in Vitoria-Gasteiz where the most promising and impactful reforms submitted by countries to the challenge will be initially recognised through the Open Gov Challenge Awards, which will reward environment, innovation, sustainability and participation in each of the above-mentioned areas.

Digital rights, open data and ethics

One of the most innovative strategic dimensions of the OGP agenda, and one on which the Spanish presidency has also placed special emphasis, is the intersection between open government and digital transformation. In the midst of 2025, it is clear that government openness is no longer limited to transparency portals, but encompasses issues such as ethics in the use of algorithms, protection of Internet rights, responsible data management and citizen participation supported by new technologies. Digital ethics thus ceases to be a niche issue and becomes part of the mainstream open government agenda.

On the one hand, the expansion of artificial intelligence and automated decision-making in the public sector generates both promise and concern. Promises, because used well these tools can improve the efficiency and personalisation of public services. Concern, because they introduce risks of opacity, discriminatory risks and threats to privacy. This is where open government can add value through proactive measures to ensure digital inclusion and prevent algorithmic discrimination. Some of the suggested model reforms in this area include:

• Registers of algorithms so that citizens know what automated systems their government is using and with what data).
• Human rights impact assessments before deploying AI in the administration.
• Creation of specific complaints mechanisms when an automated decision causes harm.
• Establishment of independent AI oversight bodies.

On the other hand, digital citizens' rights have become increasingly important. Spain, for example, enacted a Charter of Digital Rights that recognises principles such as digital identity, personal data protection, net neutrality and online safety for vulnerable groups. This charter shows the way in which governments can commit to extending classic human rights to the digital realm, and it is to be hoped that other countries will also make commitments along the same lines.

Other critical issues with the increasing digitisation of governments are privacy and data protection. This is where the notion of data governance comes in, which implies clear rules on what data a government opens up, how it anonymises it, how it allows its re-use and how it protects individuals. The opening of data also remains a core component of the agenda, but is now viewed through a more mature lens. After years of open data portals, it is recognised that it is not enough to publish new datasets, but also to ensure their quality, relevance and effective use.

In short, digital rights, data and AI governance, digital ethics and open data constitute a new transversal axis that is gaining increasing prominence in the OGP, partly also thanks to the impulse given by the Spanish presidency. They represent the adaptation of open government to the challenges of the 21st century. Without addressing this digital dimension, the open government ecosystem would risk falling behind technological developments and the other pillars of open government could be undermined by algorithmic "black boxes".

Conclusions: a look towards Vitoria-Gasteiz 2025

The upcoming OGP Global Summit in Vitoria-Gasteiz is therefore seen as a new turning point for the open government movement. Its global relevance lies in the need to reaffirm values and concrete actions of open government in a context where democracy faces serious challenges. We have seen that the OGP comes to this new milestone with several strengths, but also with unfinished business and some uncomfortable questions:

Should tenure criteria be tightened for governments that fail to meet their commitments? How to finance the implementation of commitments in low-capacity countries? Is the real impact on people's daily lives being adequately measured?

The Spanish presidency, for its part, has brought enthusiasm and fresh ideas, with a particular emphasis on citizenship and digitalisation, but also with the ultimate challenge of ensuring that these new principles are translated into concrete actions and results at the global level. The presence of 2,000 international delegates will provide an opportunity to build new coalitions to enable such change. If governments and civil society can agree on ambitious new goals in the digital sphere, OGP will once again have proven its worth as a democratic innovation driver.

The best governments are those that open their doors, their data and their processes to citizens. If this meeting serves to strengthen this conviction and translate it into concrete reforms, it will undoubtedly be the best possible outcome.

Content prepared by Carlos Iglesias, Open data Researcher and consultant, World Wide Web Foundation. The contents and views reflected in this publication are the sole responsibility of the author.

Once again, Spain joins the celebration of Open Government Week (Open Gov Week), an international initiative promoted by the Open Government Partnership (OGP) that promotes the fundamental principles of amodern, citizen-friendlyadministration.

This edition, which will take place from 19 to 25 May 2025, brings together public administrations from around the world with the aim of promoting the values of open government: transparency, accountability, citizen participation and institutional integrity.  To achieve these objectives, open data is a key element, as access to and re-use of public information is the foundation of open government..

Since Spain joined this alliance in 2011, it has demonstrated a firm commitment to the principles of open governance: it has been recognised on multiple occasions for its active role in the organisation of activities, being one of the States that promotes the most events during this week at an international level.  In addition, this year our country holds the co-presidency of the Steering Committee and on 7, 8 and 9 October the IX Open Government Partnership Global Summitwill be held in Vitoria-Gasteiz.

In this post, we look at the agenda of events organised in Spain as part of Open Government Week. Among the hundreds of activities that will be held, we have focused on those related to access to information, open data and technological innovation.

What is Open Government Week?

Through workshops, information days, guided tours, talks and presentations, this action seeks to bring the workings of the institutions closer to society as a whole, foster understanding of public services and promote direct citizen participation.

 The programming will include a diverse range of events, including:

• Institutional advertising campaign.
• Hackathon and innovation competitions.
• Debates and round tables.
• OPEN DAYS
• Launch of virtual content.
• Seminars and workshops.
• Participatory processes and citizen consultations.

Featured events in the 2025 edition

During this edition, numerous activities have been scheduled throughout the territory, focusing on the presentation of key projects and initiatives of the Administration. Below are some representative examples of the spirit of the Week, arranged by organising bodies:

• Ministry of Finance:
  
  • Online presentation of the Central Treasury Archive content search portal (Monday 19 at 12.00h): through an online conference, access to the portal, the search modalities and the open accessible content it offers will be explained.. Some of the most outstanding online documents from the archive's collection will also be presented. Finally, other actions of the Archive relating to the Ministry's Document Management Policy will be disseminated for your information.
• Ministry of Culture:
  
  • Spain is Culture (always available):  The Ministry of Culture provides the public with a large amount of useful information accessible from the Spain is Culture portal. On the occasion of Open Government Week, they wanted to highlight this.

• National Institute of Public Administration:
  
  • Stories of public innovation" conference (Tuesday 20 May): a day to discover how innovation is transforming the Administration. It will be possible to learn about the work of INAP's Public Innovation Laboratory (LIP) and HazLab, a citizen participation laboratory, together with other projects that promote change from different administrations to build a more open, collaborative and closer Administration. Sign up here.

• Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID):
  
  • Workshop "Cooperation: a team effort" (Tuesday 20, 11:30 a.m.):  through a cloud challenge, participants are invited to reflect on leadership, cooperation and teamwork, fundamental values in the development projects led by AECID. There are 20 places available, register here.

• Government of Navarre:

• Café with data (Monday 19):  Training session on data quality and the benefits of metadata for publication in portals.

• Diputació de Barcelona:
  
  • Workshop online "Where is the border between transparency and data protection?" (Monday 19 at 09.30h): the webinar will be given by Carles San José, consultant and trainer for the public sector in matters of transparency, data protection and administrative procedure in general. Entry:
    • Public employee.
    • General registration.
  • Webinar "I can't make a living! Be transparent or die trying" (Monday 19 at 11.30h): aimed at public staff, this is a virtual workshop on the importance of opening up data in administrations.
    • Public employee.
    • General registration.
  • Workshop on data spaces: what they are and how to make the most of them (Thursday 22nd at 10.00h):
    • Public employee.
    • General registration.
  • Webinar "Open data and mobility: take advantage of the use of Big data" (Thursday 22nd at 12.00h): how to take advantage of the mobility data that the Ministry of Transport makes available to the public for the analysis of road flows throughout the country.
    • Public employee.
    • General registration.

• Online workshop "Master AI: become a prompts specialist" (Friday 23rd at 09.30h): this webinar is aimed at discovering how to communicate with generative AI tools to obtain more accurate results.
  • Public employee.
  • General registration.
• Webinar "Public open source models of AI" (Friday 23 at 11.30h): this online seminar will present ALIA and its precedent AINA, as well as their uses.. Sign up!
  • Public employee.
  • General registration.

• Madrid City Council: It organises a series of activities that highlight the use of open data in different sectors such as mobility or urban safety.
  • Madrid Calle 30 (Tuesday 20, 09:30h): visit to the M-30 tunnels and its control centre. Attendees will learn about the datasets published on the M-30, how the information is managed and updated, and how citizens and the private sector can access, reuse and add value to this data.
  • Air quality and meteorological data (Tuesday 20, 13:00h): visit to an air measurement station and explanation of how environmental data are collected to help make urban policy decisions.
  • Municipal Police (Thursday 22nd, 09:30h): visit to the control centre, where incidents, operational coordination and public safety actions are managed.
  • Urban installations: lighting, tunnels and ornamental fountains (Friday 23rd): a sample of how the operation of essential urban services is managed in real time through the municipal control centre.
  • Game with data on social networks: Madrid City Council will share games and challenges on social networks related to the open data on its portal throughout Open Government Week.

An agenda with more than 400 events all over the country

These are just some of the events planned, but there are many more.  We encourage you to consult the full calendar of activities available during the Week on the Open Government portal and to share your experiences and proposals.

Open Government Week is not just an institutional showcase, but a meeting place where the Administration listens, explains and learns from citizens. The diversity of scheduled events - ranging from education to security, social inclusion to victim care - reflects the public sector's commitment to getting closer to the day-to-day realities of society.

Thanks to these initiatives, the bond of trust between public authorities and citizens is strengthened, favouring a more collaborative, fair and efficient public administration

Data reuse continues to grow in Spain, as confirmed by the last report of the Multisectorial Association of Information (ASEDIE), which analyses and describes the situation of the infomediary sector in the country. The document, now in its 13th edition, was presented last Friday, 4 April, at an event highlighting the rise of the data economy in the current landscape.

The following are the main key points of the report.

An overall profit of 146 million euros in 2023

Since 2013, ASEDIE's Infomediary sector report has been continuously monitoring this sector, made up of companies and organisations that reuse data - generally from the public sector, but also from private sources - to generate value-added products or services.  Under the title "Data Economy in its infomediary scope", this year's report underlines the importance of public-private partnerships in driving the data economy and presents relevant data on the current state of the sector.

It should be noted that the financial information used for sales and employees corresponds to the financial year 2023, as financial information for the year 2024 was not yet available at the time of reporting. The main conclusions are:

• Since the first edition of the report, the number of infomediaries identified has risen from 444 to 757, an increase of 70%. This growth reflects its dynamism, with annual peaks and troughs, showing a positive evolution that consolidates its recovery after the pandemic, although there is still room for development.
• The sector is present in all the country's Autonomous Communities, including the Autonomous City of Melilla. The Community of Madrid leads the ranking with 38% of infomediaries, followed by Catalonia, Andalusia and the Community of Valencia, which represent 15%, 11% and 9%, respectively. The remaining 27% is distributed among the other autonomous communities.
• 75% of infomediary companies operate in the sub-sectors of geographic information, market, economic and financial studies, and infomediation informatics (focused on the development of technological solutions for the management, analysis, processing and visualisation of data).
• The infomediary sector shows a growth and consolidation trend, with 66% of companies operating for less than 20 years. Of this group, 32% are between 11 and 20 years old, while 34% are less than a decade old. Furthermore, the increase in companies between 11 and 40 years old indicates that more companies have managed to sustain themselves over time.
• In terms of sales, the estimated volume amounts to 2,646 million euros and the evolution of average sales increases by 10.4%.  The average turnover per company is over 4.4 million euros, while the median is 442,000 euros. Compared to the previous year, the average has increased by 200,000 euros, while the median has decreased by 30,000 euros.
• It is estimated that the infomediary sector employs some 24,620 people, 64% of whom are concentrated in three sub-sectors. These figures represent a growth of 6% over the previous year. Although the overall average is 39 employees per company, the median per sub-sector is no more than 6, indicating that much of the employment is concentrated in a small number of large companies. The average turnover per employee was 108,000 euros this year, an increase of 8% compared to the previous year.
• The subscribed capital of the sector amounts to EUR 252 million. This represents an increase of 6%, which breaks the negative trend of recent years.
• 74% of the companies have reported profits. The aggregate net profit of the 539 companies for which data is available exceeded 145 million euros.

The following visual summarises some of this data:

Figure 1. Source: Asedie Infomediary Sector Report. "Data Economy in its infomediary scope" (2025).

Significant advances in the ASEDIE Top 10

The Asedie Top 10 aims to identify and promote the openness of selected datasets for reuse. This initiative seeks to foster collaboration between the public and private sectors, facilitating access to information that can generate significant economic and social benefits. Its development has taken place in three phases, each focusing on different datasets, the evolution of which has been analysed in this report:.

• Phase 1 (2019), which promoted the opening of databases of associations, cooperatives and foundations. Currently, 16 Autonomous Communities allow access to the three databases and 11 already offer NIF data.  There is a lack of access to cooperatives in a community.
• Phase 2 (2020), focusing on datasets related to energy efficiency certificates, SAT registers and industrial estates. All communities have made energy efficiency data available to citizens, but one is missing in industrial parks and three in SAT registers.
• Phase 3 (2023), focusing on datasets of economic agents, education centres, health centres and ERES-ERTES (Expediente de Regulación de Empleo y Expediente de Regulación Temporal de Empleo). Progress has been made compared to last year, but work is ongoing to achieve greater uniformity of information.

New success stories and best practices

The report concludes with a section compiling several success stories of products and services developed with public information and contributing to the growth of our economy, for example:

• Energy Efficiency Improvement Calculator: allows to identify the necessary interventions and estimate the associated costs and the impact on the energy efficiency certification (EEC).
• GEOPUBLIC: is a tool designed to help Public Administrations better understand their territory. It allows for an analysis of strengths, opportunities and challenges in comparison with other similar regions, provinces or municipalities. Thanks to its ability to segment business and socio-demographic data at different scales, it facilitates the monitoring of the life cycle of enterprises and their influence on the local economy.
• New website of the DBK sectoral observatory: improves the search for sectoral information, thanks to the continuous monitoring of some 600 Spanish and Portuguese sectors. Every year it publishes more than 300 in-depth reports and 1,000 sectoral information sheets.
• Data assignment and repair service: facilitates the updating of information on the customers of electricity retailers by allowing this information to be enriched with the cadastral reference associated with the supply point. This complies with a requirement of the State Tax Administration Agency (AEAT).

The report also includes good practices of public administrations such as:

• The Callejero Digital de Andalucía Unificado (CDAU), which centralises, standardises and keeps the region's geographical and postal data up to date.
• The Geoportal of the Madrid City Council, which integrates metadata, OGC map services, a map viewer and a geolocator that respect the INSPIRE and LISIGE directives. It is easy to use for both professionals and citizens thanks to its intuitive and accessible interface.
• The Canary Statistics Institute (ISTAC), which has made an innovative technological ecosystem available to society. It features eDatos, an open source infrastructure for statistical data management ensuring transparency and interoperability.
• The Spanish National Forest Inventory (IFN) and its web application Download IFN, a basic resource for forest management, research and education. Allows easy filtering of plots for downloading.
• The Statistical Interoperability Node, which provides legal, organisational, semantic and technical coverage for the integration of the different information systems of the different levels of administrative management.
• The Open Cohesion School, an innovative educational programme of the Generalitat de Catalunya aimed at secondary school students. Students investigate publicly funded projects to analyse their impact, while developing digital skills, critical thinking and civic engagement.
• The National Publicity System for Public Subsidies and Grants, which has unveiled a completely redesigned website. It has improved its functionality with API-REST queries and downloads. More information here.

In conclusion, the infomediary sector in Spain consolidifies itself as a key driver for the economy, showing a solid evolution and steady growth. With a record number of companies and a turnover exceeding 2.6 billion euros in 2023, the sector not only generates employment, but also positions itself as a benchmark for innovation. Information as a strategic resource drives a more efficient and connected economic future. Its proper use, always from an ethical perspective, promises to continue to be a source of progress both nationally and internationally.

Open data portals help municipalities to offer structured and transparent access to the data they generate in the exercise of their functions and in the provision of the services they are responsible for, while also fostering the creation of applications, services and solutions that generate value for citizens, businesses and public administrations themselves. 

The report aims to provide a practical guide for municipal administrations to design, develop and maintain effective open data portals, integrating them into the overall smart city strategy. The document is structured in several sections ranging from strategic planning to technical and operational recommendations necessary for the creation and maintenance of open data portals. Some of the main keys are: 

Fundamental principles 

The report highlights the importance of integrating open data portals into municipal strategic plans, aligning portal objectives with local priorities and citizens' expectations. It also recommends drawing up a Plan of measures for the promotion of openness and re-use of data (RISP Plan in Spanish acronyms), including governance models, clear licences, an open data agenda and actions to stimulate re-use of data. Finally, it emphasises the need for trained staff in strategic, technical and functional areas, capable of managing, maintaining and promoting the reuse of open data. 

General requirements 

In terms of general requirements to ensure the success of the portal, the importance of offering quality data, consistent and updated in open formats such as CSV and JSON, but also in XLS, favouring interoperability with national and international platforms through open standards such as DCAT-AP, and guaranteeing effective accessibility of the portal through an intuitive and inclusive design, adapted to different devices. It also points out the obligation to strictly comply with privacy and data protection regulations, especially the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). 

To promote re-use, the report advises fostering dynamic ecosystems through community events such as hackathons and workshops, highlighting successful examples of practical application of open data. Furthermore, it insists on the need to provide useful tools such as APIs for dynamic queries, interactive data visualisations and full documentation, as well as to implement sustainable funding and maintenance mechanisms. 

Technical and functional guidelines 

Regarding technical and functional guidelines, the document details the importance of building a robust and scalable technical infrastructure based on cloud technologies, using diverse storage systems such as relational databases, NoSQL and specific solutions for time series or geospatial data. It also highlights the importance of integrating advanced automation tools to ensure consistent data quality and recommends specific solutions to manage real-time data from the Internet of Things (IoT). 

In relation to the usability and structure of the portal, the importance of a user-centred design is emphasised, with clear navigation and a powerful search engine to facilitate quick access to data. Furthermore, it stresses the importance of complying with international accessibility standards and providing tools that simplify interaction with data, including clear graphical displays and efficient technical support mechanisms. 

The report also highlights the key role of APIs as fundamental tools to facilitate automated and dynamic access to portal data, offering granular queries, clear documentation, robust security mechanisms and reusable standard formats. It also suggests a variety of tools and technical frameworks to implement these APIs efficiently. 

Another critical aspect highlighted in the document is the identification and prioritisation of datasets for publication, as the progressive planning of data openness allows adjusting technical and organisational processes in an agile way, starting with the data of greatest strategic relevance and citizen demand. 

Finally, the guide recommends establishing a system of metrics and indicators according to the UNE 178301:2015 standard to assess the degree of maturity and the real impact of open data portals. These metrics span strategic, legal, organisational, technical, economic and social domains, providing a holistic approach to measure both the effectiveness of data publication and its tangible impact on society and the local economy. 

Conclusions 

In conclusion, the report provides a strategic, technical and practical framework that serves as a reference for the deployment of municipal open data portals for cities to maximise their potential as drivers of economic and social development. In addition, the integration of artificial intelligence at various points in open data portal projects represents a strategic opportunity to expand their capabilities and generate a greater impact on citizens. 

You can read the full report here.

Today, transparency, innovation and economic development are key to the progress of public institutions. In this context, the Cabildo of Tenerife has undertaken an ambitious open data project that goes beyond the mere publication of information. The aim of this strategy is to ffacilitate access to information, encourage the reuse of data and generate social and economic value for the island.

Through its open data portal, the Cabildo not only promotes transparency and accountability, but also drives innovation in areas as diverse as tourism, transport and the rural environment.

Scope and objectives of the project

The open data portal of the Cabildo de Tenerife publishes datasets of the entire public sector of the island, including all the local councils of the island. In particular, this includes municipalities with less than 20,000 inhabitants, as established in Law 8/2015 on Island Councils. The main objectives of this project are:

• Strengthen the internal and external culture of data use.
• Increase transparency and accountability through data.
• Generate wealth in society through the reuse of information.

In this website you can find open datasets on tourism, transport, culture and leisure and rural environment, among others. In order to offer this information the Cabildo of Tenerife benefits from the collaboration of various bodies such as:

• Transportes Interurbanos de Tenerife (TITSA)
• Tenerife Island Water Board (CIATF)
• Metropolitan of Tenerife
• SINPROMI (Insular Society for the Promotion of People with Disabilities)
• ITER (Technological Institute of Renewable Energies)
• IASS (Insular Institute for Social and Socio-sanitary Care)
• Agrocabildo

Most downloaded and significant datasets

Some of the portal's most downloaded and significant datasets include:

• Network of weather stations, with updates every 10 minutes.
• Influx of recreational areas, such as Punta Teno and Barranco de Masca, with information on the number of vehicles and people, and the itineraries of trails or routes on the island.
• Indicators of economic development and tourist occupancy, including the number of tourists accommodated by category and area.
• Prices of fruit and vegetable products in Mercatenerife.
• Public transport Origin Destination Matrix, which shows the relationships between the places of origin and destination of journeys made on the island.

The Cabildo's open data project is clearly oriented towards compliance with the Technical Interoperability Standard (NTI) for the Reuse of Information Resources and the DCAT-AP model, areas in which it continues to make progress.

Use cases and applications to incentivise reuse

Beyond publishing open datasets, the Cabildo de Tenerife actively promotes their use through the development of use cases and applications. Examples of this work include:

• Development of a urban development plan in the municipality of Santiago del Teide through the reuse of various datasets.
• Project on meteorological data forecasting.
• Tourist places and traffic scorecards. Specifically:
  
  • On tourism: tourist accommodation places by municipality and type, and the occupancy rate by type of accommodation from 1978 to 2023.
  • About traffic: dashboard from Power BI showing the average daily traffic intensity at a station on the island for the years 2021, 2022 and 2023.

On the other hand, in order to promote the reuse of the data on its portal, the Cabildo of Tenerife organises various activities, such as the I Ideas Reuse Competition, in which 25 proposals were received. This competition will be followed by a second edition that will reward the development of applications.

In addition, there are talks and webinars, such as the one organised in collaboration with the Chair of Big Data, Open Data and Blockchain of the University of La Laguna on how to use open data from Tenerife to drive innovation , which you can see again here.

Next steps AI and community building

In order to measure the impact of open data, the Cabildo de Tenerife uses tools such as Google Analytics which allows the analysis of user interaction with the available data. The next big step, as reported by the organisation, will be to implement a virtual assistant with generative AI that will allow:

• Analysing data with natural language.
• Discover trends and correlations.
• Bringing information closer to any citizen.

In parallel, the Cabildo of Tenerife will also continue working on new avenues of collaboration with the island's municipalities and other entities, with the aim of expanding the amount and variety of open data available to citizens.

From datos.gob.es, we encourage development and research professionals, students and citizens to explore, reuse and create value with Tenerife's data.

Visit datos.tenerife.es

There is no doubt that artificial intelligence has become a fundamental pillar of technological innovation.  Today, artificial intelligence (AI) can create chatbots specialised in open data, applications that facilitate professional work and even a digital Earth model to anticipate natural disasters.

The possibilities are endless, however, the future of AI also has challenges to overcome to make models more inclusive, accessible and transparent. In this respect, the European Union is developing various initiatives to make progress in this field.

European regulatory framework for a more open and transparent AI.

The EU's approach to AI seeks to give citizens the confidence to adopt these technologies and to encourage businesses to develop them. To this end, the European AI Regulation sets out guidelines for the development of artificial intelligence in line with European values of privacy, security and cultural diversity. On the other hand, the Data Governance Regulation (DGA) defines that broad access to data must be guaranteed without compromising intellectual property rights, privacy and fairness.

Together with the Artificial Intelligence Act, the update of the Coordinated Plan on AI ensures the security and fundamental rights of individuals and businesses, while strengthening investment and innovation in all EU countries. The Commission has also launched an Artificial Intelligence Innovation Package to help European start-ups and SMEs develop reliable AI that respects EU values and standards.

Other institutions are also working on boosting intelligence by pushing open source AI models as a very interesting solution. A recent report by Open Future and Open Source Initiative (OSI) defines what data governance should look like in open source AI models. One of the challenges highlighted in the report is precisely to strike a balance between open data and data rights, to achieve more transparency and to avoid cultural bias. In fact, experts in the field Ricard Martínez and Carmen Torrijos debated this issue in the pódcast of datos.gob.es.

The OpenEuroLLM project

With the aim of solving potential challenges and as an innovative and open solution, the European Union, through the Digital Europe programme has presented  through this open source artificial intelligence project it is expected to create efficient, transparent language models aligned with European AI regulations.

The OpenEuroLLM project has as its main goal the development of state-of-the-art language models for a wide variety of public and private applications. Among the most important objectives, we can mention the following:

1. Extend the multilingual capabilities of existing models: this includes not only the official languages of the European Union, but also other languages that are of social and economic interest. Europe is a continent rich in linguistic diversity, and the project seeks to reflect this diversity in AI models.
2. Sustainable access to fundamental models: lthe models developed within the project will be easy to access and ready to be adjusted to various applications. This will not only benefit large enterprises, but also small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that wish to integrate AI into their processes without facing technological barriers.
3. Evaluation of results and alignment with European regulations: models will be evaluated according to rigorous safety standards and alignment with the European AI Regulation and other European regulatory frameworks. This will ensure that AI solutions are safe and respect fundamental rights.
4. Transparency and accessibility: One of the premises of the project is to openly share the tools, processes and intermediate results of the training processes. This will allow other researchers and developers to reproduce, improve and adapt the models for their own purposes.
5. Community building: OpenEuroLLM is not limited to modelling but also aims to build an active and engaged community, both in the public and private sector, that can collaborate, share knowledge and work together to advance AI research.

The OpenEuroLLM Consortium: a collaborative and multinational project

The OpenEuroLLM project is being developed by a consortium of 20 European research institutions , technology companies and supercomputing centres, under the coordination of Charles University (Czech Republic) and the collaboration of Silo GenAI (Finland). The consortium brings together some of the leading institutions and companies in the field of artificial intelligence in Europe, creating a multinational collaboration to develop open source language models.

The main institutions participating in the project include renowned universities such as University of Helsinki (Finland) and University of Oslo (Norway), as well as technology companies such as Aleph Alpha Research (Germany) or the company from Elche prompsit (Spain), among others. In addition, supercomputing centres such as the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (Spain) or SURF (The Netherlands) provide the infrastructure needed to train large-scale models.

Linguistic diversity, transparency and compliance with EU standards

One of the biggest challenges of globalised artificial intelligence is the inclusion of multiple languages and the preservation of cultural differences. Europe, with its vast linguistic diversity, presents a unique environment in which to address these issues. OpenEuroLLM is committed to preserving this diversity and ensuring that the AI models developed are sensitive to the linguistic and cultural variations of the region.

As we saw at the beginning of this post, technological development must go hand in hand with ethical and responsible values. In this respect, one of the key features of the OpenEuroLLM project is its focus on transparency. Models, data, documentation, training code and evaluation metrics will be fully available to the public. This will allow researchers and developers to audit, modify and improve the models, ensuring an open and collaborative approach.

In addition, the project is aligned with strict European AI regulations. OpenEuroLLM is designed to comply with the EU's AI Law , which sets stringent criteria to ensure safety, fairness and privacy in artificial intelligence systems.

Democratising access to AI

One of the most important achievements of OpenEuroLLLM is the democratisation of access to high-performance AI. Open source models will enable businesses, academic institutions and public sector organisations across Europe to have access to cutting-edge technology, regardless of their size or budget.

This is especially relevant for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which often face difficulties in accessing AI solutions due to high licensing costs or technological barriers. OpenEuroLLM will remove these barriers and enable companies to develop innovative products and services using AI, which will contribute to Europe's economic growth.

The OpenEuroLLM project is also an EU commitment to digital sovereignty that is strategically investing in the development of technological infrastructure that reduces dependence on global players and strengthens European competitiveness in the field of artificial intelligence. This is an important step towards artificial intelligence that is not only more advanced, but also fairer, safer and more responsible.