Sector público

The unstoppable advance of ICTs in cities and rural territories, and the social, economic and cultural context that sustains it, requires skills and competences that position us advantageously in new scenarios and environments of territorial innovation. In this context, the Provincial  Council of Badajoz has been able to adapt and anticipate the circumstances, and in 2018 it launched the initiative "Badajoz Es Más - Smart Provincia".

What is "Badajoz Es Más"?

The project "Badajoz Is More" is an initiative carried out by the Provincial Council of Badajoz with the aim of achieving more efficient services, improving the quality of life of its citizens and promoting entrepreneurship and innovation through technology and data governance in a region made up of 135 municipalities. The aim is to digitally transform the territory, favouring the creation of business opportunities, social improvement andsettlement of the population.

Traditionally, "Smart Cities" projects have focused their efforts on cities, renovation of historic centres, etc. However, "Badajoz Es Más" is focused on the transformation of rural areas, smart towns and their citizens, putting the focus on rural challenges such as depopulation of rural municipalities, the digital divide, talent retention or the dispersion of services. The aim is to avoid isolated "silos" and transform these challenges into opportunities by improving information management, through the exploitation of data in a productive and efficient way.

Citizens at the Centre

The "Badajoz es Más" project aims to carry out the digital transformation of the territory by making available to municipalities, companies and citizens the new technologies of IoT, Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, etc. The main lines of the project are set out below.

Provincial Platform for the Intelligent Management of Public Services

It is the core component of the initiative, as it allows for the integration of information from any IoT device, information system or data source in one place for storage, visualisation and in a single place for storage, visualisation and analysis. Specifically, data is collected from a variety of sources: the various sensors of smart solutions deployed in the region, web services and applications, citizen feedback and social networks.

All information is collected on a based on the open source standard FIWARE an initiative promoted by the European Commission that provides the capacity to homogenise data (FIWARE Data Model) and favour its interoperability. Built according to the guidelines set by AENOR (UNE 178104), it has a central module Orion Context Broker (OCB) which allows the entire information life cycleto be managed. In this way, it offers the ability to centrally monitor and manage a scalable set of public services through internal dashboards. 

The  platform is "multi-entity", i.e. it provides information, knowledge and services to both the Provincial Council itself and its associated Municipalities (also known as "Smart Villages"). The visualisation of the different information exploitation models processed at the different levels of the Platform is carried out on different dashboards, which can provide service to a specific municipality or locality only showing its data and services, or also provide a global view of all the services and data at the level of the Provincial Council of Badajoz.

Some of the information collected on the platform is also made available to third parties through various channels:

• Portal of open dopen data portal. Collected data that can be opened to third parties for reuse is shared through its open data portal. In it we can find information as diverse as real time data on the beaches with blue flags blue flag beaches in the region (air quality, water quality, noise pollution, capacity, etc. are monitored) or traffic flow, which makes it possible to predict traffic jams.
• Portal for citizens Digital Province Badajoz. This portal offers information on the solutions currently implemented in the province and their data in real time in a user-friendly way, with a simple user experience that allows non-technical people to access the projects developed.

The following graph shows the cycle of information, from its collection, through the platform and distribution to the different channels. All this under strong data governance.

Efficient public services

In addition to the implementation and start-up of the Provincial Platform for the Intelligent Management of Public Services, this project has already integrated various existing services or "verticals" for:

• To start implementing these new services in the province and to be the example and the "spearhead" of this technological transformation.

• Show the benefits of the implementation of these technologies in order to disseminate and demonstrate them, with the aim of causing sufficient impact so that other local councils and organisations will gradually join the initiative.

There are currently more than 40 companies sending data to the Provincial Platform, more than 60 integrated data sources, more than 800 connected devices, more than 500 transactions per minute... It should be noted that work is underway to ensure that the new calls for tender include a clause so that data from the various works financed with public money can also be sent to the platform.

The idea is to be able to standardise management, so that the solution that has been implemented in one municipality can also be used in another. This not only improves efficiency, but also makes it possible to compare results between municipalities. You can visualise some of the services already implemented in the Province, as well as their Dashboards built from the Provincial Platform at this video.

Innovation Ecosystem

In order for the initiative to reach its target audience, the Provincial Council of Badajoz has developed an innovation ecosystem that serves as a meeting point for the Badajoz Provincial Council:

• Citizens, who demand these services.

• Entrepreneurs and educational entities, which have an interest in these technologies.

• Companies, which have the capacity to implement these solutions.

• Public entities, which can implement this type of project.

The aim is to facilitate and provide the necessary tools, knowledge and advice so that the projects that emerge from this meeting can be carried out.

At the core of this ecosystem is a physical innovation centre called the FIWARE Space. FIWARE Space carries out tasks such as the organisation of events for the dissemination of Smart technologies and concepts among companies and citizens, demonstrative and training workshops, Hackathons with universities and study centres, etc. It also has a Showroom for the exhibition of solutions, organises financially endowed Challenges and is present at national and international congresses.

In addition, they carry out mentoring work for companies and other entities. In total, around 40 companies have been mentored by FIWARE Space, launching their own solutions on several occasions on the FIWARE Market, or proposing the generated data models as standards for the entire global ecosystem. These companies are offered a free service to acquire the necessary knowledge to work in a standardised way, generating uniform data for the rest of the region, and to connect their solutions to the platform, helping and advising them on the challenges that may arise.

One of the keys to FIWARE Space is its open nature, having signed many collaboration agreements and agreements with both local and international entities. For example, work on the standardisation of advanced data models for tourism is ongoing with the Future Cities Institute (Argentina). For those who would like more information, you can follow your centre's activity through its weekly blog.

Next steps: convergence with Data Spaces and Gaia-X

As a result of the collaborative and open nature of the project, the Data Space concept fits perfectly with the philosophy of "Badajoz is More". The Badajoz Provincial Council currently has a multitude of verticals with interesting information for sharing (and future exploitation) of data in a reliable, sovereign and secure way. As a Public Entity, comparing and obtaining other sources of data will greatly enrich the project, providing an external view that is essential for its growth. Gaia-X is the proposal for the creation of a data infrastructure for Europe, and it is the standard towards which the "Badajoz es Más" project is currently converging, as a result of its collaboration with the gaia-X Spain hub.

The Multisectoral Information Partnership (ASEDIE) has published the twelfth edition of its "Report on the Infomediary Sector", that reviews the initiatives to boost the data economy in the country. In addition, this edition commemorates the 25th anniversary of the association in the sector.

In the 12th Report on the Data Economy in the infomediary sphere, ASEDIE provides accurate figures on the sector in Spain to continue its annual work of highlighting and conveying its size and importance. The presentation of this edition took place at Madrid International Lab's auditorium on 20 March.

The main findings of the study are summarised below.

 Law 37/2007 on the re-use of public sector information makesto have their own data catalogue compulsory for public administrations which, in turn, would contribute to the national catalogue(datos.gob.es). Some regional portals, in addition to hosting datasets, offer content, organise events and sign partnerships to spread the data culture. We analyse the case of Catalonia with its open data portal and its commitment over the last few years.

Open data in Catalonia: history of the last few years

Since the creation of its first open data portal in 2010, the Generalitat de Catalunya has published almost 1,200 open datasets.

It aims to promote the openness and accessibility of the data it holds, collaborating with various sectors of society, including academia, the private sector and civil society, to maximise the value of open data and encourage its use in decision-making and the development of solutions to current societal challenges.

Along these lines, the Generalitat de Catalunya reached a government agreement on open data strategy. This milestone places the openness and reuse of public information at the heart of the relationship between citizens and the Catalan public administration. Among the objectives of this approach, the document highlights the use of collective intelligence and the creation of public policies taking into account the needs of citizens. Since then, the Government of Catalonia has been committed to promoting its open data portal and encouraging its use, always respecting the principles of data governance.

In this sense, in 2022 the Open Data area became part of the Directorate General for Digital Administration, which conceives data as a strategic asset and lever of change for digital administration, with the ultimate aim of improving the public services offered by this administration. It is at this point that the Open Data area is reinforced by the strategic role of data in the framework of this public administration: open data becomes part of the data lifecycle, as an integral and essential element. Data Governance in the Generalitat de Catalunya is carried out through the Data Governance Model, which establishes the guidelines throughout the organisation, promotes the impulse of the data culture and involves all the key agents that must participate in this transformation process.

The document also includes the commitment of the Generalitat de Catalunya to adhere to the principles of the International Open Data Charter promoted by the Open Data Charter (ODC) network, in which more than 170 governments around the world currently participate, and which aims to integrate the culture and practice of open data in governments. Taking into account what ODC states in its International Charter, the data should be:

• Open by default
• Updated
• Accessible and reusable
• Comparable and interoperable
• To improve governance and citizen participation
• For inclusive development and innovation

The Government of Catalonia's commitment to opening up public sector data and promoting reuse was also evident in 2020 when it joined the Open Government Partnership. This organisation, which is committed to transparent, participatory, inclusive and accountable governance, is a global benchmark in terms of highlighting the use of open data for the betterment of society.

The same year in which Open Data Catalunya joins ODC, they also launched the first session of Cafè amb Dades: a series of informative talks in person and online in which a topic related to open data in the Generalitat de Catalunya is addressed.

Cafè amb Dades: a space to spread information about open data

These events organised by the Catalan open data portal are a space designed to share experiences and knowledge about open data and related topics. The lectures last two hours, are held in person and virtually, and the topics addressed depend on the topicality and/or interest of the audience, who can propose their ideas through a contact mailbox. The Àrea de Dades Obertes de la Direcció General d'Administració Digital organises these events based on the following values:

• Pedagogy: to raise awareness of the Catalan Government's open data strategy and its impact in different areas.
• Dynamism: offer short presentations with content that can be understood by everyone.
• Online work: organise participatory, open sessions that invite dialogue to create community.
• Application: to encourage attendees to incorporate the use of open data in their daily lives.

All sessions are recorded and available to the public. The last ones that have been held dealt with such relevant issues as water management using open data or data with a gender perspective.

Facilitating understanding of the data

The Generalitat de Catalunya recognises the importance of publishing data and facilitating searches, as well as promoting understanding of the data. With the aim of facilitating the search for data by Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Government of Catalonia has classified the datasets on the portal by each of the SDGs , which can be accessed from a data viewer.

This classification also provides information on how departmental activity is being aligned around the SDGs and facilitates the search and re-use of SDG-related datasets.

Commitment to the dissemination of data culture

The portal of the autonomous community of Catalonia, in addition to hosting more than a thousand open datasets and disseminating face-to-face and virtual events on the application of its datasets in different areas, offers:

• Content that disseminates the data culture:
  
  • Web sessions, with all the digital news of the administration explained in 30-minute videos presented on the first Thursday of each month.
  • Interviews with experts on open data issues.
  • Specialised publications on eGovernment and Open Government.
  • News, which includes the latest news from the sector.
• Participation and representation in activities such as:
  
  • Open Government Week
  •  Open Data Day events
• Awareness-raising projects and collaboration with civil society
• Interaction with the reuser community
  
  • Contact via a request form
  • Information and resources for developers

The Generalitat de Catalunya's inventory of datasets

On the other hand, the Generalitat de Catalunya, in the process of opening up public data, has carried out an inventory of data, the first phase of which ended in 2022. This inventory, conceived as a single, ordered and descriptive register of datasets, aim to coordinate the data opening processes of this administration.

In this first phase, the inventory provided a tool for easy consultation of all available datasets and their descriptive information, as well as a cross-sectional view of the available information and a single language throughout the organisation.

Work is currently underway on a second phase of the project, which involves updating and maintaining the information collected in the inventory, as well as extending it to public sector entities.

If you don't want to miss anything, you can follow the Catalan open data portal on Twitter.

In summary, the Generalitat de Catalunya has a government agreement on open data strategy, a data governance model in place and a presence in international organisations such as the Open Data Charter or the Open Government Partnership. Its commitment to access and reuse of open data makes it one of the leading public administrations in Spain.

At datos.gob.es we echo the good practices in open data and related technologies that exist throughout Spain. If you would like us to discuss your initiative, please write to us at dinamizacion@datos.gob.es.

The Provincial Council of Bizkaia the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) and the Bilbao City Council collaborate in the Bilbao Bizkaia Open Data Classroom an initiative that aims to develop the use of open data from the two Biscayan institutions (Provincial Council and City Council) for use in university projects. The ultimate goal is that, thanks to this re-use, public services can be improved and new knowledge can be generated to contribute to the resolution of social problems.

The initiative, aimed at university students as well as teaching and research staff, was born as a way to research staff, was born as a a collaboration agreement between the three administrations (Provincial Council of Bizkaia, Bilbao City Council and UPV/EHU). For this purpose, other agreements made with the Bilbao School of Engineering for the creation of Business Classrooms were taken as a reference, but in this case it will be an open data classroom, which will promote the opening of data generated and the reuse of public information.

The Bilbao Bizkaia Open Data Classroom has been in operation since 2022 and its operation is similar to that of the twelve Business Classrooms that were already in operation at the Bilbao School of Engineering. These company classrooms are laboratory-classrooms within the school, created and financed by companies and institutions to promote their innovation activities. In this sense, as the organisers of the Aula state, "they are an effective instrument of collaboration between the Departments of the Bilbao School of Engineering and the business world, both in activities related to research, technological development and innovation and in everything related to training".

Open data for innovation in the classroom

 In addition to developing projects based on the reuse of open data that improve the services provided by the regional and municipal authorities, the Aula also creates data visualisations based on open information processing initiatives proposed by the university community with the aim of improving the welfare of citizens. Another of its areas of work is the implementation of training activities that contribute to the improvement of the digital skills of the university community.

During the first edition of the Bilbao-Bizkaia Open Data Classroom, in the 2022-2023 academic year, the students developed projects on the reuse of data on recycling or outdoor activities, among others. All of them were created using regional data. You can consult the projects here: https://sites.google.com/view/opendatabilbaobizkaia/home?authuser=0.

How can I join Aula Open Data Bilbao-Bizkaia?

The Aula Open data Bilbao Bizkaia has its own space in the headquarters of the Bilbao School of Engineering, in San Mamés. This space has been fitted out thanks to a grant awarded by the Provincial Council of Bizkaia and the City Council of Bilbao, which also collaborate by financing the management costs of the classroom.

The programme is aimed at engineering bachelor's and master's degree students carrying out their bachelor's and master's degree final projects, respectively. However, it is not necessary to be in the final year of a Bachelor's or Master's degree to participate in the Aula. The initiative is open to anyone with an interest in data.

Training in Power BI and data analysis toolsis provided at the beginning of the course.

The programme is free of charge, and students working under the agreement are paid. The selection process is by CV.

In the following link you can find all the information about the Classroom.

https://www.aulaopendatabilbaobizkaia.eus/aula_es.html

The importance of data in today's society and economy is no longer in doubt. Data is now present in virtually every aspect of our lives. This is why more and more countries have been incorporating specific data-related regulations into their policies: whether they relate to personal, business or government data, or to regulate a range of issues such as who can access it, where it can be stored, how it should be protected, and so on.

However, when these policies are examined more closely, significant differences can be observed between them, depending on the main objectives that each country sets when implementing its data policies. Thus, all countries recognise the social and economic value of data, but the policies they implement to maximise that value can vary widely. For some, data is primarily an economic asset, for others it can be a means of innovation and modernisation, and for others a tool for development. In the following, we will review the main features of their data policies, focusing mainly on those aspects related to fostering innovation through the use of data.

A recent report by the Centre for Innovation through Data compares the general policies applicable in several countries that have been selected precisely because of differences in their vision of how data should be managed: China, India, Singapore, the United Kingdom and the European Union.

CHINA

Its efforts are focused on building a strong domestic data economy to strengthen national competitiveness and maintain government control through the collection and use of data. It has two agencies from which data policy is directed: the Cyberspace Administration (CAC) and the National Data Administration (NDA).

The main policies governing data in the country are:

• The five-year national informatisation plan, published by the end of 2021 to increase data collection in the national industry.
• The data Security Law (DSL), effective from September 2021, which gives special protection to all data considered to have an impact on national security.
• The cybersecurity law (CSL), effective since June 2017, prohibits online anonymisation and also grants government access to data when required for security purposes.
• The personal Information Protection Act (PIPL), effective from November 2021, which establishes the obligation to keep data on national territory.

INDIA

Its main objective is to use data policy to unlock a new economic resource and drive the modernisation and development of the country. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITy) governs and oversees data policies in the country, which we summarise below:

• The digital Personal Data Protection Act of 2023, which aims to enable the processing of personal data in a way that recognises both the right of individuals to protect their data and the need to process it for legitimate purposes.
• The data protection and empowerment architecture (DEPA), which was launched in 2020 and gives citizens greater control over their personal data by establishing intermediaries between information users and providers, as well as providing consent to companies based on a set of permissions established by the user.
• The non-personal data governance framework also adopted in 2020, which states that the benefits of data should also accrue to the community, not just to the companies that collect the data. It also indicates that high-value data and data related to the public interest (e.g. energy, transport, geospatial or health data) should be shared.

SINGAPORE

It aims to use data as a vehicle to attract new companies to operate within the country. The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) is the entity in charge of managing the data policies in this case, which includes the control of the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC).

Among the most relevant regulations in this case we can find:

• The personal Data Protection Act (PDPA), which was last updated in 2021 and is based on consent, but also provides for some exceptions for legitimate public interest.
• The trust Framework for Data Sharing published in 2019, which sets out standards for data sharing between companies (including templates for establishing legal sharing agreements), albeit with certain protections for trade secrecy.
• The data Portability Obligation (DPO), which will soon be incorporated into the PDPA to establish the right to transmit personal data to another service (provided it is based in the country) in a standard format that facilitates the exchange.

UNITED KINGDOM

It wants to boost the country's economic competitiveness while protecting the privacy of its citizens' data. The Office of the Information information Commissioner's Office (ICO) is the body in charge of data protection and data sharing guidelines.

In the case of the United Kingdom, the legislative framework is very broad:

• The core privacy principles, such as data portability or conditions of access to personal data, are covered by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of 2016, the law of Data Protection Act (DPA) of 2018, the Electronic Communications Privacy Regulation of 2013 and the proposed Digital Data and Information Protection Act still under discussion.
• The law on Digital Economy established in 2017, which defines the rules for sharing data between public administrations for the development of public services.
• The Data Sharing Code which came into force in October 2021 and sets out good practices to guide companies when sharing data.
• The Payment Services Directive (PSD2), which initially came into force in 2018 requiring banks to share their data in standardised formats to encourage the development of new services.

EUROPEAN UNION

It uses a human rights-based approach to data protection. The aim is to prioritise the creation of a single market that facilitates the free flow of data between member states. The European Data Protection Board (EDPB) and the European Data Protection and Innovation through Data Board are the main bodies responsible for supervising data protection in the Union.

Again, the applicable rules are very broad and have continued to expand recently:

• The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which has become the most comprehensive and descriptive regulation in the world, and is based on the principles of legality, fairness, transparency, containment, minimisation, accuracy, storage, integrity, confidentiality and accountability.
• The programme for the Digital Decadeto promote a single, interoperable, interconnected and secure digital market.
• The Declaration on Digital Rights and Principleswhich expands on the digital and data rights already existing in the standard of protection.
• The Data Act and the Data Governance Regulation which facilitate accessibility to data horizontally accessibility to data horizontally, i.e. across and within sectors, following EU principles. The Data Law drives harmonised rules on fair access to and use of data, clarifying who can create value from data and under what conditions. The Data Governance Regulation regulates the secure exchange of data sets held by public bodies over which third party rights concur, as well as data brokering services and the altruistic transfer ofdata for the benefit of society for the benefit of society.

The keys to promoting innovation

In general, we could conclude that those data policies that adopt a more innovation-oriented approach are characterised by the following:

1. Data protection based on different levels of risk, prioritising the protection of the most sensitive personal data, such as medical or financial information, while reducing regulatory costs for less sensitive data.
2. Sharing frameworks for personal and non-personal data, encouraging data sharing by default in both the public and private sector and removing barriers to voluntary data sharing.
3. Facilitating the flow of data, supporting an open and competitive digital economy.
4. Proactive data production policies, encouraging the use of data as a factor of production by collecting data in various sectors and avoiding data gaps.

As we have seen, data policies have become a strategic issue for many countries, not only helping to reinforce their goals and priorities as a nation, but also sending signals about what their priorities and interests are on the international stage. Striking the right balance between data protection and fostering innovation is one of the key challenges. Before addressing their own policies, countries are advised to invest time in analysing and understanding the various existing approaches, including their strengths and weaknesses, and then take the most appropriate specific steps in designing their own strategies.

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

The Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP) approved at the end of 2023 two model ordinances that address progress in two key areas: transparency and data governance. Both documents will not only improve the quality of processes, but also facilitate access, management and re-use of data. In this post, we will analyse the second ordinance drafted within the FEMP's Network of Entities for Transparency and Citizen Participation in its quest to define common reference models. In particular, the ordinance on data governance.

The usefulness and good work of the Model Ordinance on Data Governance in Local Entities has been highlighted by the Multisectoral Association of Information (ASEDIE), which awarded it the prize in the category 'Promoting data literacy' at its 15th ASEDIE International Conference.

Under this premise, the document addresses all elements related to the collection, management and exploitation of data in order to approach them as a commongood, i.e. ensuring their openness, accessibility and re-use. This is a relevant objective for local administrations, as it enables them to improve their functioning, service delivery and decision-making. Data governance is the framework that guides and guarantees this process and this ordinance proposes a flexible regulatory framework that different administrations can adapt according to their specific needs.

What is data governance?

 Data Governance comprehensively addresses all aspects related to the collection, management and exploitation of data, as well as its openness and re-use by society as a whole on an equal basis. Itcan therefore bedefined as an organisational function responsible for being accountable for the effective, efficient and acceptable use of databy the organisation, which is necessary to deliver the business strategy. This is described in the specifications UNE 0077:2023 on Data Governance and UNE 78:2023 on Data Management, which include standardised processes to guide organisations in the establishment of approved and validated mechanisms that provide organisational support to aspects related to the opening and publication of data, for subsequent use by citizens and other institutions.

How was the FEMP Data Governance Ordinance developed?

In order to develop the Model Ordinance on Data Governance in the Local Entity, a multidisciplinary working group was set up in 2022, which included workers from the Public Administrations, private companies, representatives of the infomediary sector, the Data Office, universities, etc. This team set out two main objectives that would mark the content of the document:

• Develop guidelines for municipalities and other public authorities defining the strategy to be followed in order to implement an open data project.
• Create a reference model of datasets common to all public administrations to facilitate the re-use of information.

With these two challenges in mind, in early 2023 the FEMP working group started to establish aspects, structure, contents and work plan. During the following months, work was carried out to draft, elaborate and reach consensus on a single draft.

In addition, a participatory process was organised on the Idea Zaragoza platform to nurture the document with contributions from experts from all over the country and FEMP partners.

The result of all the work was based on the Open Data Charter (ODC), the recommendations issued by the Spanish Government's Data Office and the existing European and national regulations on this matter.

New features and structure of the Data Governance Ordinance

The FEMP's Model Ordinance on Data Governance is in line with the context in which it has been presented, i.e. it recognises relevant aspects of the current moment we are living in. One of the document's salient features is the premise of guaranteeing and enhancing the rights of both natural and legal persons and respecting the General Data Protection Regulation. The regulation places particular emphasis on the proportionality of anonymisation to ensure the privacy of individuals.

Another novel aspect of the standard is that it brings the vision of high-value data defined by the European Commission from the perspective of local government. In addition, the Model Ordinance recognises a single regime for access and re-use of public information, in accordance with Law 19/2013 of 9 December on transparency, access to public information and good governance, and Law 37/2007 on the re-use of public sector information.

Beyond ensuring the legal and regulatory framework, the FEMP Ordinance also addresses the data associated with artificial intelligence, a cutting-edge technological synergy that every day offers great innovative solutions. For an artificial intelligence to function properly, it is necessary to have quality data to help train it. In relation to this point, the ordinance defines quality requirements (Article 18) and metrics for their assessment that are adapted to each specific context and address issues such as accuracy, portability or confidentiality, among others.  The document establishes guarantees that the use of the data will be carried out in a way that respects the rights of individuals.

All these new aspects are part of the FEMP's Model Ordinance on Data Governance for Local Entities, which is organised in the following structure:

1. General provisions: This first section presents data as the main digital asset of Public Administrations as a strategic asset, and the object, principles and right of citizenship.
2. Planning, organisation and tools for data governance: Here the organisation and competencies for data governance are defined. In addition, the importance of maintaining an inventory of datasets and information sources is stressed (Article 9).
3. The data: This chapter recognises the publication requirements and security standards, the importance of the use of reference vocabularies, and the categories of datasets whose openness should be prioritised, namely the 80 typologies referred to by FEMP as most relevant.
4. Life cycle: This section highlights, on the one hand, the collection, opening, storage and use of data; and, on the other hand, the limits, deletion and destruction of data when these actions are required.  when these actions are required.
5. Access, publication and re-use: The fifth chapter deals with issues related to the exploitation of data such as the use of specific licences, exclusive rights, payment for re-use or prior request for access to certain datasets.
6. Liability and guarantees: The last point describes the sanctioning and disciplinary regime and the civil and criminal liabilities of the re-user.

In short, the publication of the Ordinance on Data Governance in Local Entities provides local administrations with a flexible regulation and defines administrative structures that seek to improve management, reuse and the promotion of a data-driven society.

You can access the full document here: Standard Ordinance on Data Governance in the Local Entity

At the end of 2023, as reported by datos.gob.es, the ISTAC made public more than 500 semantic assets, including 404 classifications or 100 concept schemes.  

All these resources are available in the Open Data Catalog of the Canary Islands, an environment in which there is room for both semantic and statistical resources and which, therefore, may involve an extra difficulty for a user looking only for semantic assets.  

To facilitate the reuse of these datasets with information so relevant to society, the Canary Islands Statistics Institute, with the collaboration of the Directorate General for the Digital Transformation of Public Services of the Canary Islands Government, published the Bank of Semantic Assets. 

In this portal, the user can perform searches more easily by providing a keyword, identifier, name of the dataset or institution that prepares and maintains it. 

The Bank of semantic assets of the Canary Islands Statistics Institute is an application that serves to explore the structural resources used by the ISTAC. In this way it is possible to reuse the semantic assets with which the ISTAC works, since it makes direct use of the eDatos APIs, the infrastructure that supports the Canary Islands statistics institute.  

The number of resources to be consulted increases enormously with respect to the data available in the Catalog, since, on the one hand, it includes the DSD (Data Structures Definitions), with which the final data tables are built; and, on the other hand, because it includes not only the schemes and classifications, but also each of the codes, concepts and elements that compose them.  

This tool is the equivalent of the aforementioned Fusion Metadata Registry used by SDMX, Eurostat or the United Nations; but with a much more practical and accessible approach without losing advanced functionalities. SDMX is the data and metadata sharing standard on which the aforementioned organizations are based. The use of this standard in applications such as ISTAC's makes it possible to homogenize in a simple way all the resources associated with the statistical data to be published. 

The publication of data under the SDMX standard is a more laborious process, as it requires the generation of not only the data but also the publication keys, but in the long run it allows the creation of templates or statistical operations that can be compared with data from another country or region. 

The application recently launched by the ISTAC allows you to navigate through all the structural resources of the ISTAC, including families of classifications or concepts, in an interconnected way, so it operates as a network. 

Functionalities of the Semantic Asset Bank  

The main advantage of this new tool over the aforementioned registries is its ease of use. Which, in this case, is directly measured by how easy it is to find a specific resource.   

Thanks to the advanced search, specific resources can be filtered by ID, name, description and maintainer; to which is added the option of including only the results of interest, discriminating both by version and by whether they are recommended by the ISTAC or not.  

In addition, it is designed to be a large interconnected bank, so that, entering a concept, classifications are recommended, or that in a DSD all the representations of the dimensions and attributes are linked. 

These features not only differentiate the Semantic Asset Bank from other similar tools, but also represent a step forward in terms of interoperability and transparency by not only offering semantic resources but also their relationships with each other.  

The new ISTAC resource complies with the provisions both at national level with the National Interoperability Scheme (Article 10, semantic assets), and at European level with the European Interoperability Framework (Article 3.4, semantic interoperability). Both documents defend the need and value of using common resources for the exchange of information, a maxim that is being implemented transversally in the Government of the Canary Islands. 

Training Pill  

To disseminate this new search engine for semantic assets, the ISTAC has published a short video explaining the Bank and its features, as well as providing the necessary information about SDMX. In this video it is possible to know, in a simple way and in just a few minutes how to use and get the most out of the new Semantic Assets Bank of the ISTAC through simple and complex searches and how to organize the data to respond to a previous analysis. 

In summary, with the Semantic Asset Bank, the Canary Islands Statistics Institute has taken a significant step towards facilitating the reuse of its semantic assets. This tool, which brings together tens of thousands of structural resources, allows easy access to an interconnected network that complies with national and European interoperability standards. 

The Open Government Guide for Public Employees is a manual to guide the staff of public administrations at all levels (local, regional and state) on the concept and conditions necessary to achieve an "inclusive open government in a digital environment". Specifically, the document seeks for the administration to assume open government as a cross-cutting element of society, fostering its connection with the Sustainable Development Goals. 

 It is a comprehensive, practical and well-structured guide that facilitates the understanding and implementation of the principles of open government, providing examples and best practices that foster the development of the necessary skills to facilitate the long-term sustainability of open government.

What is open government?

The guide adopts the most widely accepted definition of open government, based on three axes: 

• Transparency and access to information (vision axis): Refers to open access to public information to facilitate greater accountability.
• Citizen participation (voice axis): It offers the possibility for citizens to be heard and intervene to improve decision-making and co-creation processes in public policies.
• Collaboration (value axis): Focuses on cooperation within the administration or externally, with citizens or civil society organizations, through innovation to generate greater co-production in the design and implementation of public services.

This manual defines these axes and breaks them down into their most relevant elements for better understanding and application. According to the guide, the basic elements of open administration are:

• An integrity that cuts across all public action.
• Data are "the raw material of governments and public administrations" and, for this reason, must be made available to "any actor", respecting the limits established by law.  The use of information and communication technologies (digital) is conceived as a "space for the expansion of public action", without neglecting the digital divide.
• The citizenry is placed at the center of open administration, because it is not only the object of public action, but also "must enjoy a leading role in all the dynamics of transparency, participation and collaboration".
• Sustainability of government initiatives.

Adapted from a visual of the Open Government Guide for Public Employees. Source: https://funcionpublica.hacienda.gob.es/Secretaria-de-Estado-de-Funcion-Publica/Actualidad/ultimas-noticias/Noticias/2023/04/2023_04_11.html

Benefits of Open Government

With all this, a number of benefits are achieved:

• Increased institutional quality and legitimacy

• Increased trust in institutions

• More targeted policies to serve citizens

• More equitable access to policy formulation

How can I use the guide?

The guide is very useful because, in order to explain some concepts, it poses challenges so that civil servants themselves can reflect on them and even put them into practice. The authors also propose cases that provide an overview of open government in the world and its evolution, both in terms of the concepts related to it and the laws, regulations, relevant plans and areas of application (including Law 19/2023 on transparency, the Digital Spain 2025 agenda, the Digital Rights Charter and the General Data Protection Regulation, known as RGPD). As an example, the cases he mentions include the Elkar-EKIN Social Inclusion Plan of the Provincial Council of Gipuzkoa and Frena La Curva, an initiative launched by members of the Directorate General of Citizen Participation and the LAAAB of the Government of Aragon during COVID-19.

The guide also includes a self-diagnostic test on accountability, fostering collaboration, bibliographical references and proposals for improvement.

 In addition, it offers diagrams and summaries to explain and schematize each concept, as well as specific guidelines to put them into practice. For example, it includes the question "Where are the limits on access to public information? To answer this question, the guide cites the cases in which access can be given to information that refers to a person's ideology, beliefs, religious or union affiliation (p. 26). With adaptation to specific contexts, the manual could very well serve as a basis for organizing training workshops for civil servants because of the number of relevant issues it addresses and its organization.

The authors are right to also include warnings and constructive criticisms of the situation of open government in institutions. Although they do not point out directly, they talk about:

• Black boxes: they are criticized for being closed systems. It is stated that black boxes should be opened and made transparent and that "the representation of sectors traditionally excluded from public decisions should be increased".
• Administrative language: This is a challenge for real transparency, since, according to a study mentioned in the guide, out of 760 official texts, 78% of them were not clear. Among the most difficult to understand are applications for scholarships, grants and subsidies, and employment-related procedures.
• The existence of a lack of transparency in some municipalities, according to another study mentioned in the guide. The global open government index, elaborated by the World Justice Project, places Spain in 24th place, behind countries such as Estonia (14th), Chile (18th), Costa Rica (19th) or Uruguay (21st) and ahead of Italy (28th), Greece (36th) or Romania (51st), among 102 countries. Open Knowledge Foundation has stopped updating its Global Open Data Index, specifically on open data.

In short, public administration is conceived as a step towards an open state, with the incorporation of the values of openness in all branches of government, including the legislative and judicial branches, in addition to government.

Additional issues to consider

For those who want to follow the path to open government, there are a number of issues to consider: 

• The guide can be adapted to different spheres and scales of public. But public administration is not homogeneous, nor do the people in it have the same responsibilities, motivations, knowledge or attitudes to open government. A review of citizen use of open data in the Basque administration concluded that one obstacle to transparency is the lack of acceptance or collaboration in some sectors of the administration itself. A step forward, therefore, could be to conduct internal campaigns to disseminate the advantages for the administration of integrating citizen perspectives and to generate those spaces to integrate their contributions.

• Although the black box model is disappearing from the public administration, which is subject to great scrutiny, it has returned in the form of closed and opaque algorithmic systems applied to public administration. There are many studies in the scientific literature -for example, this one- that warn that erroneous opaque box systems may be operating in public administration without anyone noticing until harmful results are generated. This is an issue that needs to be reviewed.
•  In order to adapt it to specific contexts, it should be possible to define more concretely what participation, collaboration and co-creation are. As the guide indicates, they imply not only transparency, but also the implementation of collaborative or innovative initiatives. But it is also necessary to ask a series of additional questions: what is a collaborative or innovation initiative, what methodologies exist, how is it organized and how is its success measured?
• The guide highlights the need to include citizens in open government. When talking about inclusion and participation, organized civil society and academia are mentioned above all, for example, in the Open Government Forum. But there is room for improvement to encourage individual participation and collaboration, especially for people with little access to technology. The guide mentions gender, territorial, age and disability digital divides, but does not explore them. However, when access to many public services, aid and assistance has been platformized (especially after the COVID-19 pandemic), such digital divides affect many people, especially the elderly, low-income and women. Since a generalist guide cannot address all relevant issues in detail, this would merit a separate guide.

Public institutions are increasingly turning to algorithmic decision-making for effective, fast and inclusive decision making. Therefore, it is also increasingly relevant to train the administration itself in open government in a digitized, digitized and platformized environment. This guide is a great first step for those who want to approach the subject.

Content prepared by Miren Gutiérrez, PhD and researcher at the University of Deusto, expert in data activism, data justice, data literacy and gender disinformation. The contents and views reflected in this publication are the sole responsibility of the author.

The regulatory approach in the European Union has taken a major turn since the first regulation on the reuse of public sector information was promoted in 2003. Specifically, as a consequence of the European Data Strategy approved in 2020, the regulatory approach is being expanded from at least two points of view:   

• on the one hand, governance models are being promoted that take into account the need to integrate, from the design and by default, respect for other legally relevant rights and interests, such as the protection of personal data, intellectual property or commercial secrecy, as has happened in particular through the Data Governance Regulation;   

• on the other hand, extending the subjective scope of the rules to go beyond the public sector, so that obligations specifically aimed at private entities are also beginning to be contemplated, as shown by the approval in November 2023 of the Regulation on harmonized rules for fair access to and use of data (known as the Data Act). 

In this new approach, data spaces take on a singular role, both in terms of the importance of the sectors they deal with (health, mobility, environment, energy...) and, above all, because of the important role they are called upon to play in facilitating the availability of large amounts of data, specifically in overcoming the technical and legal obstacles that hinder their sharing. In this regard, in Spain we already have a legal provision in this regard, which has materialized with the creation of a specific section in the Public Sector Procurement Platform.  

The Strategy itself envisages the creation of "a common European data space for public administrations, in order to improve transparency and accountability of public spending and the quality of spending, fight corruption at both national and EU level, and address compliance needs, as well as support the effective implementation of EU legislation and encourage innovative applications". At the same time, however, it is recognized that "data concerning public procurement are disseminated through various systems in the Member States, are available in different formats and are not user-friendly", concluding the need, in many cases, to "improve the quality of the data". 

Why a data space in the field of public procurement?  

Within the activity carried out by public entities, public procurement stands out, whose relevance in the economy of the EU as a whole reaches almost 14% of GDP, so it is a strategic pole to boost a more innovative, competitive and efficient economy. However, as expressly recognized in the Commission's Communication Public Procurement: A Data Space to improve public spending, boost data-driven policy making and improve access to tenders for SMEs published in March 2023, although there is a large amount of data on public procurement, however "at the moment its usefulness for taxpayers, public decision-makers and public purchasers is scarce".  

The regulation on public procurement approved in 2014 incorporated a strong commitment to the use of electronic media in the dissemination of information related to the call for tenders and the awarding of procedures, although this regulation suffers from some important limitations: 

• refers only to contracts that exceed certain minimum thresholds set at European level, which limits the measure to 20% of public procurement in the EU, so that it is up to the States themselves to promote their own transparency measures for the rest of the cases;  

• does not affect the contractual execution phase, so that it does not apply to such relevant issues as the price finally paid, the execution periods actually consumed or, among other issues, possible breaches by the contractor and, if applicable, the measures adopted by the public entities in this respect;  

• although it refers to the use of electronic media when complying with the obligation of transparency, it does not, however, contemplate the need for it to be articulated on the basis of open formats that allow the automated reuse of the information. 

Certainly, since the adoption of the 2014 regulation, significant progress has been made in facilitating the standardization of the data collection process, notably by imposing the use of electronic forms for the above-mentioned thresholds as of October 25, 2023. However, a more ambitious approach was needed to "fully leverage the power of procurement data". To this end, this new initiative envisages not only measures aimed at decisively increasing the quantity and quality of data available, but also the creation of an EU-wide platform to address the current dispersion, as well as the combination with a set of tools based on advanced technologies, notably artificial intelligence. 

The advantages of this approach are obvious from several points of view:   

• on the one hand, it could provide public entities with more accurate information for planning and decision-making;   

• on the other hand, it would also facilitate the control and supervision functions of the competent authorities and society in general;   

• and, above all, it would give a decisive boost to the effective access of companies and, in particular, of SMEs to information on current or future procedures in which they could compete. 

What are the main challenges to be faced from a legal point of view?  

The Communication on the European Public Procurement Data Space is an important initiative of great interest in that it outlines the way forward, setting out the potential benefits of its implementation, emphasizing the possibilities offered by such an ambitious approach and identifying the main conditions that would make it feasible. All this is based on the analysis of relevant use cases, the identification of the key players in this process and the establishment of a precise timetable with a time horizon up to 2025.  

The promotion of a specific European data space in the field of public procurement is undoubtedly an initiative that could potentially have an enormous impact both on the contractual activity of public entities and also on companies and, in general, on society as a whole. But for this to be possible, major challenges would also have to be addressed from a legal perspective: 

Firstly, there are currently no plans to extend the publication obligation to contracts below the thresholds set at European level, which would mean that most tenders would remain outside the scope of the area. This limitation poses an additional consequence, as it means leaving it up to the Member States to establish additional active publication obligations on the basis of which to collect and, if necessary, integrate the data, which could pose a major difficulty in ensuring the integration of multiple and heterogeneous data sources, particularly from the perspective of interoperability. In this respect, the Commission intends to create a harmonized set of data which, if they were to be mandatory for all public entities at European level, would not only allow data to be collected by electronic means, but also to be translated into a common language that facilitates their automated processing. 

Secondly, although the Communication urges States to "endeavor to collect data at both the pre-award and post-award stages", it nevertheless makes contract completion notices voluntary. If they were mandatory, it would be possible to "achieve a much more detailed understanding of the entire public procurement cycle", as well as to encourage corrective action in legally questionable situations, both as regards the legal position of the companies that were not awarded the contracts and of the authorities responsible for carrying out audit functions. 

Another of the main challenges for the optimal functioning of the European data space is the reliability of the data published, since errors can often slip in when filling in the forms or, even, this task can be perceived as a routine activity that is sometimes carried out without paying due attention to its execution, as has been demonstrated by administrative practice in relation to the CPVs. Although it must be recognized that there are currently advanced tools that could help to correct this type of dysfunction, the truth is that it is essential to go beyond the mere digitization of management processes and make a firm commitment to automated processing models that are based on data and not on documents, as is still common in many areas of the public sector. Based on these premises, it would be possible to move forward decisively from the interoperability requirements referred to above and implement the analytical tools based on emerging technologies referred to in the Communication. 

The necessary adaptation of European public procurement regulations  

Given the relevance of the objectives proposed and the enormous difficulty involved in the challenges indicated above, it seems justified that such an ambitious initiative with such a significant potential impact should be articulated on the basis of a solid regulatory foundation. It is essential to go beyond recommendations, establishing clear and precise legal obligations for the Member States and, in general, for public entities, when managing and disseminating information on their contractual activity, as has been proposed, for example, in the health data space.  

In short, almost ten years after the approval of the package of directives on public procurement, perhaps the time has come to update them with a more ambitious approach that, based on the requirements and possibilities of technological innovation, will allow us to really make the most of the huge amount of data generated in this area. Moreover, why not configure public procurement data as high-value data under the regulation on open data and reuse of public sector information? 

The concept of High-Value data (High-Value datasets) was introduced by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union 4 years ago, in Directive (EU) 2019/1024. In it, they were defined as a series of datasets with a high potential to generate "benefits for society, the environment and the economy". Therefore, member states were to push for their openness for free, in machine-readable formats, via APIs, in the form of bulk download and comprehensively described by metadata. 

Initially, the directive proposed in its annex six thematic categories to be considered as high value: geospatial, earth observation and environmental, meteorological, statistical, business records and transport network data. These categories were subsequently detailed in an implementing regulation published in December 2022. In addition, to facilitate their openness, a document with guidelines on how to use DCAT-AP for publication was published in June 2023. 

New categories of data to be considered of high value  

These initial categories were always open to extension. In this sense, the European Commission has just published the report "Identification of data themes for the extensions of public sector High-Value Datasets" which includes seven new categories to be considered as high-value data  

•  Climate loss: This refers to data related to approaches and actions needed to avoid, minimize and address damages associated with climate change. Examples of datasets in this category are economic and non-economic losses from extreme weather events or slow-onset changes such as sea level rise or desertification. It also includes data related to early warning systems for natural disasters, the impact of mitigation measures, or research data on the attribution of extreme events to climate change. 

• Energy: This category includes comprehensive statistics on the production, transport, trade and final consumption of primary and secondary energy sources, both renewable and non-renewable. Examples of data sets to consider are price and consumption indicators or information on energy security.   

• Finance: This is information on the situation of private companies and public administrations, which can be used to assess business performance or economic sustainability, as well as to define spending and investment strategies. It includes datasets on company registers, financial statements, mergers and acquisitions, as well as annual financial reports.  

• Government and public administration: This theme includes data that public services and companies collect to inform and improve the governance and administration of a specific territorial unit, be it a state, a region or a municipality. It includes data relating to government (e.g. minutes of meetings), citizens (census or registration in public services) and government infrastructures. These data are then reused to inform policy development, deliver public services, optimize resources and budget allocation, and provide actionable and transparent information to citizens and businesses. 

• Health: This concept identifies data sets covering the physical and mental well-being of the population, referring to both objective and subjective aspects of people's health. It also includes key indicators on the functioning of health care systems and occupational safety. Examples include data relating to Covid-19, health equity or the list of services provided by health centers.  

• Justice and legal affairs: Identifies datasets to strengthen the responsiveness, accountability and interoperability of EU justice systems, covering areas such as the application of justice, the legal system or public security, i.e. that which ensures the protection of citizens. The data sets on justice and legal matters include documentation of national or international jurisprudence, decisions of courts and prosecutors general, as well as legal acts and their content. 

• Linguistic data: Refers to written or spoken expressions that are at the basis of artificial intelligence, natural language processing and the development of related services. The Commission provides a fairly broad definition of this category of data, all of which are grouped under the term "multimodal linguistic data". They may include repositories of text collections, corpora of spoken languages, audio resources, or video recordings.  

To make this selection, the authors of the report conducted desk research as well as consultations with public administrations, data experts and private companies through a series of workshops and surveys. In addition to this assessment, the study team mapped and analyzed the regulatory ecosystem around each category, as well as policy initiatives related to their harmonization and sharing, especially in relation to the creation of European Common Data Spaces. 

Potential for SMEs and digital platforms   

In addition to defining these categories, the study also provides a high-level estimate of the impact of the new categories on small and medium-sized companies, as well as on large digital platforms. One of the conclusions of the study is that the cost-benefit ratio of data openness is similar across all new topics, with those relating to the categories "Finance" and "Government and public administration" standing out in particular. 

Based on the publicly available datasets, an estimate was also made of the current degree of maturity of the data belonging to the new categories, according to their territorial coverage and their degree of openness (taking into account whether they were open in machine-readable formats, with adequate metadata, etc.). To maximize the overall cost-benefit ratio, the study suggests selecting a different approach for each thematic category: based on their level of maturity, it is recommended to indicate a higher or lower number of mandatory criteria for publication, thus ensuring to avoid overlaps between new topics and existing high-value data.  

You can read the full study at this link.