As part of the European Cybersecurity Awareness Month, the European data portal, data.europa.eu, has organized a webinar focused on the protection of open data.This event comes at a critical time when organisations, especially in the public sector, face the challenge of balancing data transparency and accessibility with the need to protect against cyber threats.

The online seminar was attended by experts in the field of cybersecurity and data protection, both from the private and public sector.

The expert panel addressed the importance of open data for government transparency and innovation, as well as emerging risks related to data breaches, privacy issues and other cybersecurity threats. Data providers, particularly in the public sector, must manage this paradox of making data accessible while ensuring its protection against malicious use.

During the event, a number of malicious tactics used by some actors to compromise the security of open data were identified. These tactics can occur both before and after publication. Knowing about them is the first step in preventing and counteracting them.

Pre-publication threats

Before data is made publicly available, it may be subject to the following threats:

• Supply chain attacks: attackers can sneak malicious code into open data projects, such as commonly used libraries (Pandas, Numpy or visualisation modules), by exploiting the trust placed in these resources. This technique allows attackers to compromise larger systems and collect sensitive information in a gradual and difficult to detect manner.

• Manipulation of information: data may be deliberately altered to present a false or misleading picture. This may include altering numerical values, distorting trends or creating false narratives. These actions undermine the credibility of open data sources and can have significant consequences, especially in contexts where data is used to make important decisions.
• Envenenamiento de datos (data poisoning): attackers can inject misleading or incorrect data into datasets, especially those used for training AI models. This can result in models that produce inaccurate or biased results, leading to operational failures or poor business decisions.

Post-publication threats

Once data has been published, it remains vulnerable to a variety of attacks:

• Compromise data integrity: attackers can modify published data, altering files, databases or even data transmission. These actions can lead to erroneous conclusions and decisions based on false information.

• Re-identification and breach of privacy: data sets, even if anonymised, can be combined with other sources of information to reveal the identity of individuals. This practice, known as 're-identification', allows attackers to reconstruct detailed profiles of individuals from seemingly anonymous data. This represents a serious violation of privacy and may expose individuals to risks such as fraud or discrimination.
• Sensitive data leakage: open data initiatives may accidentally expose sensitive information such as medical records, personally identifiable information (emails, names, locations) or employment data. This information can be sold on illicit markets such as the dark web, or used to commit identity fraud or discrimination.

Following on from these threats, the webinar presented a case study on how cyber disinformation exploited open data during the energy and political crisis associated with the Ukraine war in 2022. Attackers manipulated data, generated false content with artificial intelligence and amplified misinformation on social media to create confusion and destabilise markets.

Figure 1. Slide from the webinar presentation "Safeguarding open data: cybersecurity essentials and skills for data providers".

Data protection and data governance strategies

In this context, the implementation of a robust governance structure emerges as a fundamental element for the protection of open data. This framework should incorporate rigorous quality management to ensure accuracy and consistency of data, together with effective updating and correction procedures. Security controls should be comprehensive, including:

• Technical protection measures.
• Integrity check procedures.
• Access and modification monitoring systems.

Risk assessment and risk management requires a systematic approach starting with a thorough identification of sensitive and critical data. This involves not only the cataloguing of critical information, but also a detailed assessment of its sensitivity and strategic value. A crucial aspect is the identification and exclusion of personal data that could allow the identification of individuals, implementing robust anonymisation techniques where necessary.

For effective protection, organisations must conduct comprehensive risk analyses to identify potential vulnerabilities in their data management systems and processes. These analyses should lead to the implementation of robust security controls tailored to the specific needs of each dataset. In this regard, the implementation of data sharing agreements establishes clear and specific terms for the exchange of information with other organisations, ensuring that all parties understand their data protection responsibilities.

Experts stressed that data governance must be structured through well-defined policies and procedures that ensure effective and secure information management. This includes the establishment of clear roles and responsibilities, transparent decision-making processes and monitoring and control mechanisms. Mitigation procedures must be equally robust, including well-defined response protocols, effective preventive measures and continuous updating of protection strategies.

In addition, it is essential to maintain a proactive approach to security management. A strategy that anticipates potential threats and adapts protection measures as the risk landscape evolves. Ongoing staff training and regular updating of policies and procedures are key elements in maintaining the effectiveness of these protection strategies. All this must be done while maintaining a balance between the need for protection and the fundamental purpose of open data: its accessibility and usefulness to the public.

Legal aspects and compliance

In addition, the webinar explained the legal and regulatory framework surrounding open data. A crucial point was the distinction between anonymization and pseudo-anonymization in the context of the GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation).

On the one hand, anonymised data are not considered personal data under the GDPR, because it is impossible to identify individuals. However, pseudo-anonymisation retains the possibility of re-identification if combined with additional information. This distinction is crucial for organisations handling open data, as it determines which data can be freely published and which require additional protections.

To illustrate the risks of inadequate anonymisation, the webinar presented the Netflix case in 2006, when the company published a supposedly anonymised dataset to improve its recommendation algorithm. However, researchers were able to "re-identify" specific users by combining this data with publicly available information on IMDb. This case demonstrates how the combination of different datasets can compromise privacy even when anonymisation measures have been taken.

In general terms, the role of the Data Governance Act in providing a horizontal governance framework for data spaces was highlighted, establishing the need to share information in a controlled manner and in accordance with applicable policies and laws. The Data Governance Regulation is particularly relevant to ensure that data protection, cybersecurity and intellectual property rights are respected in the context of open data.

The role of AI and cybersecurity in data security

The conclusions of the webinar focused on several key issues for the future of open data. A key element was the discussion on the role of artificial intelligence and its impact on data security. It highlighted how AI can act as a cyber threat multiplier, facilitating the creation of misinformation and the misuse of open data.

On the other hand, the importance of implementing Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs ) as fundamental tools to protect data was emphasized. These include anonymisation and pseudo-anonymisation techniques, data masking, privacy-preserving computing and various encryption mechanisms. However, it was stressed that it is not enough to implement these technologies in isolation, but that they require a comprehensive engineering approach that considers their correct implementation, configuration and maintenance.

The importance of training

The webinar also emphasised the critical importance of developing specific cybersecurity skills. ENISA's cyber skills framework, presented during the session, identifies twelve key professional profiles, including the Cybersecurity Policy and Legal Compliance Officer, the Cybersecurity Implementer and the Cybersecurity Risk Manager. These profiles are essential to address today's challenges in open data protection.

Figure 2. Slide presentation of the webinar " Safeguarding open data: cybersecurity essentials and skills for data providers".

In summary, a key recommendation that emerged from the webinar was the need for organisations to take a more proactive approach to open data management. This includes the implementation of regular impact assessments, the development of specific technical competencies and the continuous updating of security protocols. The importance of maintaining transparency and public confidence while implementing these security measures was also emphasised.

Over the past year, the academic section of data.europa.eu expanded its open data training offer by publishing new conferences, courses and workshops. Thus, data.europa.academy shared a total of 15 webinars related to open data, data spaces and other topics and technical issues around the data economy.

In line with the online training philosophy of this area of expertise, professionals and users interested in open data were able to attend the conferences from anywhere in the EU by filling in a web-based registration form.

Among the webinars of the recently concluded 2022 were workshops and seminars on open data quality and metadata, the legal and technical perspective of open data openness, the potential of open data in real time or the opportunities it offers to citizens when developing solutions and services.

In this way, the range of content is very broad in terms of subject matter and level of technical accessibility, which makes it easy to filter the webinars according to interests. In addition, as many of the training sessions are based on reports previously published by the European data portal, they have very useful supporting documentation to complete the knowledge acquired.

In order to bring together this valuable source of knowledge in an orderly fashion, below you can access the 15 lectures published over the past year, as well as their respective supporting presentations.

Data quality and metadata

• Description: This webinar focuses on explaining why high quality data and metadata are the basis for beneficial production outcomes and for fostering informed decision making.
• Viewing link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PcyJX8xbyik

Best practices of open data: the case of Estonia, Slovenia and Ukraine

• Description: Through this conference, the European portal tries to explain the importance and impact that the reuse of open data can have. To do so, they use the presentation of good practices and use cases of several European portals based on this type of data.
• Link to viewing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTVayKTUC-s

Real-time data

• Description: This course explains what real-time data is and which standards and technologies are most commonly used with this type of data.
• Link to viewer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yl4ZotQQfuk

Demand and reuse of data in the public sector

• Description: This webinar provides an introduction to the re-use of data by public institutions, while focusing on the importance of meeting and measuring the demand for data by this specific user group.
• Viewing link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTd7Ti0aQNA&t=752s

Opportunities and challenges of citizen-generated data.

• Description: This seminar explores how citizen-generated data is currently available in open data portals of different levels of public administrations in Europe.
• Link to viewing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FHaerYTFmc&t=1801s

The role of data.europa.eu in the context of EU data spaces

• Description: This webinar enables data providers to understand how they can make better use of different infrastructures and thus provide more visibility to open data assets by assessing the role of data.europa.eu in contexts of common European data spaces.
• Link to view: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjhGkGMoKso

Eurostat's regional yearbook goes digital

• Description: This is a conference dedicated to the evolution of Eurostat's regional yearbook from a printed publication to a digital publication that functions as a modern interactive tool.
• Viewing link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0mgg4IbXUY

Data.europa.eu - The official European data portal (webinar for data providers)

• Description: This webinar provides an overview of data.europa.eu, a portal that acts as a gateway to public sector information on different open data portals of EU institutions, agencies and bodies and national and international organisations around the world. The training provides an overview of the services provided through the portal.
• Link to view: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4s9Yol8GsSc

Measuring the impact of open data in Europe.

• Description: The aim of this conference is to provide an overview of the methods to assess the impact of open data. After a short introduction, guest speakers from the national open data teams of Poland and France presented real examples of how they measure the impact of open data in these countries.
• Link to viewing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cp7-qSNLR1U

Data visualisation

• Description: To highlight the potential behind data visualisations, through this webinar, and additional training materials, users can learn how to get the most out of open data catalogues through different ways of visualising them.
• Viewing link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XY91H9TcO1A
• Supporting documents: https://data.europa.eu/en/academy/data-visualisation

Use Case Observatory Stories - Volume I

• Description: This webinar is part of a series of three sessions dedicated to the research project "Use Case Observatory" and its publications. In the first part of this training, an overview of the project, its methodology and the findings of the publication in 2022 are given. During the second part of the webinar, four of the managers of the thirty reuse cases participating in the research take the floor to present their open data solutions.
• Viewing link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FT0OxfgF0M

Trends in Geospatial Data

• Description: This seminar focuses on emerging trends in the geospatial community and how these along with standards and new ideas can be relevant to data.europa.eu.
• Link to view: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hyt1MNm9l00

Federation of geospatial data on data.europa.eu

• Description: This training aims to present the geospatial data that can be found on data.europa.eu, as well as to explain the process of federating this type of data. The speakers took a close look at a geospatial dataset on data.europa.eu and explored the journey of its metadata from the source geo-catalogue to the portal.
• Link to viewing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UPneA4QOoo

Understanding open data from the perspective of legal openness (webinar for data providers)

• Description: This webinar aims to explain and discuss what openness means from a legal perspective and how it can best be achieved. The aim is not to provide purely theoretical legal training, but to identify best practices and resources that data providers can use to achieve openness and to realise when openness cannot be achieved.
• Link to viewing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53QdDf4LJN0&t=1s

Understanding the technical openness of open data (webinar for data providers)

• Description: The aim of this training is to guide data providers through the principle of technical openness and the data management process of moving from closed to open data formats. An open format is one in which the programme specifications are freely available to anyone, free of charge and without limitations on re-use imposed by intellectual property rights.
• Viewing link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQMwMXd4n9I&t=17s

For the new year that is already underway, data.europa.eu aims to continue to expand the training resources of its academic section with the programming of seminars such as Data and Competition Law or another linked to the recent publication of the Open Data Maturity 2022 report.

For more information on future seminars, follow the link below to the European open data portal and stay tuned for news on this topic from datos.gob.es.

Part of the European Union's new strategy to create a digital single market focuses its attention on the construction of a Data Economy. In carrying out this process, European data spaces are of paramount importance. Data spaces are ecosystems that make it easy to share, find, access, and use data.

To talk about it, Cajasiete Chair of Big Data, Open Data and Blockchain of the University of La Laguna will arrange a new online webinar focused on this theme. The event will take place next Thursday, May 24, at 12:00 p.m. (11:00 a.m. in the Canary Islands) and will be attended by Carlos Alonso Peña, director of the Data Office Division.

The webinar will focus on the importance of this ecosystem when materializing the voluntary sharing of the data of its participants, within an environment of sovereignty, trust and security. This requires the establishment of integrated governance, organizational, regulatory and technical mechanisms.

The boost of the Data Economy

Promoting the Data Economy is one of the main priorities set by both the European Union and our country. In fact, one of the EU's goals is to become a leader in a data-driven society, relying on a single digital market where data is shared freely between member countries. For this purpose, the European Data Strategy was launched, from which you can obtain more information through this link.

Digital Spain 2025, the plan designed to promote digital transformation in our country includes the Data Economy as one of its main axes. This document sets out, among other aspects, the need to make Spain a benchmark in the digital transformation towards a Data Economy, using the opportunities offered by cloud services or new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence.

The role of the Data Office in this process

One of the measures that it was agreed to carry out to achieve the above objectives was the implementation of a Data Office, something that is already a reality. This body is in charge of designing and proposing strategies that promote the sharing, management and use of data in all productive sectors of the economy and society, thus guaranteeing good governance and security.

In this sense, the Data Office seeks to face the main challenges that currently exist in the Data Economy, defining legal and policy frameworks for data sharing and governance, as well as collaborating in the promotion of data spaces and initiatives such as the Spanish hub of Gaia-X, which will enhance and support the competitiveness of the Data Economy.

Both the data spaces and initiatives of the nature of Gaia-X are undoubtedly presented as elements of great importance when it comes to achieving the objectives of the European strategy, also helping to promote the creation of ecosystems capable of promoting development new products and services based on more accessible data.

Events are a perfect option to learn more about those issues that we had pending. As this year we have to maintain the aforementioned social distance, one of the best options is online seminars or also called Webinars. The success of this format lies in the fact that it is mostly free content that you can see from a distance. Thanks to webinars, it is possible to take part in interesting conferences with a large number of participants or small talks from the comfort of our computer.

These digital events are promoted from both companies and public institutions. For example, the European Commission has launched two interesting appointments:

• Inspire 2020 Conference. Under the theme: “Bringing sustainability and digitalization together”, European experts will discuss how digitization can help build a more sustainable Europe, also analysing environmental, economic and social risks that entails. The event is held from June 3 to 11.
• Empower your city with data. The European Commission is conducting a series of webinars on Context Broker, a standard API that allows users to collect, integrate and contextualize data in real time, and Big Data Test Infrastructure (BDTI), a free testing infrastructure that offers Virtual environment templates to explore and experiment with various data sources, software tools and Big Data techniques. The first two appointments have already been held - the recording is available on the web - but you have time to join the next two webinars: June 4 or 18.

In addition, there are many companies that are taking advantage of new technologies to spread their knowledge through various talks. This interest from companies highlights the great business opportunities behind the data. Here are some examples:

• Data sharing and AI innovation. Every Thursday in June the team from IBM Research and IBM Data Science and IT organize an exchange of ideas and discussions on Artificial Intelligence. Experts and researchers from IBM Data and AI will share new approaches, techniques and perspectives to facilitate Artificial Intelligence-driven automation, prediction and data optimization at the seminar. The seminars are fully open to questions, so you can interact and chat with the experts.
• What is the future of data strategy? This seminar on the different processes of data management is held on June 25. The goal is for attendees to learn about the next trends that will change the world of data, with the focus on data visualization.
• CxO to CxO on scaling AI for growth and innovation - Michael Murray president and director of Wunderman Thompson Data, together with Seth Dobrin vice president of Data and AI of IBM will explore in this online seminar the future perspectives of Artificial Intelligence and the exponential growth of these new technologies. The event is already available, you just have to register to watch it.
• The future of Data Management. At this event by analyst firm Gartner, the future of the data management market will be discussed extensively. Aimed at companies, it will show how they should plan and organize to be a data-driven organization and stay ahead of the competition. As in the previous case, the event is already available under registration.

This is just a small selection of content. Do you know or are you organizing a webinar on data and new technologies? Tell us in the comments.

Data science and Artificial Intelligence remain at the forefront offering models and predictions that help us to understand the business and also social world. Thanks to these webinars, we can see how they both make their way in our day to day in a dizzying mode.

The agri-food and forestry sector is one of the main generators of rural wealth. Improving the efficiency of this sector, through digitization, is essential to promote entrepreneurship and address the challenges of rural areas, such as low population density or aging.

In this context, the Aporta Initiative organizes, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, a working session that seeks to support the digital transformation of the agricultural sector, with the focus on the role of open data.

When and where?

Under the title "Open data in the digital transformation process of agri-food, forestry and rural areas", the session will be held on June 25 at the morning (from 10:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.).

Due to space restrictions, the event will only be available through streaming.

What topics will be addressed?

The event will be structured around two thematic round tables:

• Round table 1: Data for innovation development in the agricultural sector. During this round table, the speakers will evaluate the availability of data in the sector and its alignment with re-users’ needs. The objective is to identify measures to increase quantity and quality.
• Round table 2: Innovative practices based on data. The speakers will show public data reuse initiatives that are promoting improvements in the agri-food and forestry sector, and in rural areas. In addition, the event will be a good opportunity to discover emerging technologies that converge with data to enrich open public information.

Who are the speakers?

Representatives involved and committed to data publication and reuse will participate in both round tables:

• The round table 1 will be moderated by Rocio Wojsky, from the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food. The moderator will be joined by Andrés Montero, from the Carlos III University of Madrid, Antonio J. Sánchez-Padial, from the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities, Francisco Javier Zaragoza, from the University of Zaragoza, and Paloma Abad, from the National Geographic Institute.
• The round table 2 will be moderated by Jose Ignacio Sánchez, of Red.es. The round table is completed by José Luis Molina, from Hispatec, Mercedes Iborra, from VisualNACert, Carlos Callejero, from SensoWave, Eva Navascués, from Pago de Carraovejas, and Guillermo Renancio, from EFOR.

The dynamics will drive invited experts to share opinions, experiences and proposals.

Do I need to register?

No prior registration is necessary to follow the event in a virtual way through streaming. In the next few days we will share the link to follow the broadcast.

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On June 12, the European Data Portal (EDP) organizes a webinar to explain the main conclusions of its latest report, entitled Analytical Report 13: Open Data best practices in Europe's Top Performers. This report analyses the success factors shared by the leading countries of open data in Europe: Spain, Ireland and France.

These three countries have been chosen for their top positions in the EDP open data maturity ranking. They are prescribers in terms of open data due to their high performance and clear strategic focus.

The webinar will start at 13:30 CET. It consist of a general overview on the following aspects:

• Good open data practices in Ireland, Spain and France.
• Common factors that helped boost the development of open data in the 3 countries. These factors can be used as a guide for those countries that want to improve their open data strategy.
• Trends and opportunities, both at the European Union and country level. The analysis will be based on the four EDP evaluation dimensions: Policy, Portal, Quality and Impact.

The webinar will include representatives of the national open data portals teams from Ireland, Spain and France, who will share their experience devising and executing an open data strategy. The speakers will be joined by Cosmina Radu, Service Delivery Lead of the European Data Portal and co-author of the report.

The webinar is free but you need to register through this registration form.

More information on the European Data Portal website and on social networks (Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn).

A few months ago we published a compilation of the main reports, studies, success stories and courses published by the Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN). This body seeks the proactive sharing of freely accessible data to make information on agriculture and nutrition available, accessible and usable.

To achieve this goal, GODAN has different teams that work in a coordinated manner for a common goal. One of them is the Capacity Development Work Group, focused on promoting open data knowledge (ongoing initiatives, innovations and good practices), as well as the development of new capacities. All of them to guarantee a more effective accessibility, use, engagement and understanding of open data.

In 2017, this group launched Godan webinar services, in order to offer a series of webinars organized in collaboration with the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Co-operation (CTA). The videos, which last between 40 minutes and one hour, help to delve into different concepts: they explain how an open data initiative on agriculture should work, or how to tell stories with data to raise organizations and citizens’ awareness. Some of the organizations that have participated in the preparation of the contents are the Open Data Institute (ODI), Wageningen UR or The Land Portal Foundation, among others.

Here are some of the resources that can be found in Godan webinar services:

In addition to these more general webinars, Godan webinar services also offers specific resources, where different initiatives tell their experience when publishing or reusing open data on agriculture and nutrition. An example is the Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD), which shows some of the projects in which it is involved in one of the videos.

In short, whether you are a public body that wants to start or consolidate an open data initiatives on agriculture, or a reuser looking for examples and success stories to inspire you, Godan webinar services can provide resources and information of interest.