The 12th International Conference on the Reuse of Public Sector Information, organised annually by ASEDIE, the Multisectoral Information Association, was held on 27 November 2020. On this occasion, due to the health situation, the event was held virtually through a streaming broadcast from the National Geographic Institute in the year of its 150th anniversary. The slogan that marked the event was "The strength and value of the Infomediaries Sector in times of crisis".

The event was welcomed by Lorenzo García, Director of the National Geographic Institute, who highlighted the close relationship between the IGN and ASEDIE, highlighting the importance of updated, quality and open geographic data for reuse companies. A message that was also shared by Ignacio Jiménez, President of ASEDIE and responsible for opening the conference and explaining its dynamics.

Mar España, Director of the Spanish Data Protection Agency (AEPD), gave the opening speech, which focused on the need to make technological innovation and the reuse of data compatible with the guarantee of personal rights and privacy. In her speech, she reviewed current legislation, highlighting the General Data Protection Regulation and the 2019 Directive, which have yet to be transposed in Spain; she highlighted the materials available on the AEPD website to help re-users, such as the guides on data protection in the re-use of public sector information, the anonymisation of information, impact assessments, risk analyses, security breaches or privacy by design and by default, or the recent tool FACILITA, which helps SMEs to comply with the most important obligations related to data protection; and appreciated the work carried out by ASEDIE in providing tools that help its members to carry out their activities in accordance with the legislation. She concluded her speech by emphasising that the AEPD is working on a pact for the protection of people in the digital environment.

Then the event began, divided into two parts:

Part 1: Digital Transformation and Collaboration, key elements for the future of the EU

The first part of the conference consisted of the transmission of the presentations of the representatives of different European bodies, previously recorded on video due to the impossibility of travelling.

• The session began with Pilar del Castillo, MEP, who pointed out how digitisation has maintained the economy during the months of the pandemic and explained the challenges Europe is facing in this field, such as improving connectivity with the deployment of 5G, promoting AI and other disruptive technologies, and the deployment of the data economy. She also highlighted the need to end regulatory fragmentation and invest in standards to ensure that data circulates in the EU ina interoperable way.
• Lina Gálvez, Member of the European Parliament, highlighted the importance of the availability of quality data for the development of Artificial Intelligence and the digital economy. In her speech, she pointed out that Spain is the leader in open data in Europe, and highlighted the importance of promoting public-private collaboration with different actions, among which she mentioned the Aporta Meetings.
• Carlos Romero, Counsellor for Digital Transformation at the Permanent Representation of Spain to the European Union, explained the state of European digital policies in relation to the world of data. These policies are based on the following pillars: a framework of governance of use and access to multi-sector data; investment in data, skills and infrastructure; empowerment of people; investment in SMEs and their training; and deployment of European data spaces in sensitive areas.
• Szymon Lewandowski, a member of the European Commission's Data Policy and Innovation Unit DG Connect, went into these data policies in depth, highlighting the new features included in the new European regulation on governance, which provides solutions for exploiting data conditioned by the rights of third parties or the protection of personal data. Lewandowski recalled that these policies cannot be implemented without public-private collaboration, and spoke of specific projects such as the creation of common European data spaces or the transposition of the ISPS Directive.
• Gianfranco Cecconi, a member of the European Data Portal, explained two tools that European citizens have at their disposal. On the one hand, the European Data Portal itself, with resources such as the catalogue - with more than a million sets of data available -, the reports that are produced periodically (such as the Open Data Maturity Index) or training materials.  And on the other hand, the Data Exchange Support Centre, focused on researching and reporting on good practices in this area.
• Finally, Barbara Ubaldi, head of e-government and open data at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, spoke about the achievements made in the area of open government as set out in its OURdata index, and recalled some key areas in which further work is needed, such as boosting political support or the adoption of federated models and data and metadata standards.

The National Institute of Statistics wins the ASEDIE 2020 Award

Before starting with the second part, the Asedie 2020 Award was presented, an award that has been given for seven years in recognition of the work carried out in the field of data opening by those people, companies or institutions, which contribute to the innovation and development of the Infomediary Sector.

On this occasion, the National Institute of Statistics was the winner. The assessment considered the implementation of experimental initiatives for the creation of new information, the progress made in data collection projects such as the survey on the labour market insertion of university graduates or the European health survey, the open availability of all statistical production, in different formats, through Apis and with an open licence that allows its reuse for commercial purposes. The award was received by Juan Manuel Rodriguez Poo, President of INE.

Part 2: Re-use as a driver of recovery, what are the barriers to be overcome?

The second part of the event included representatives from public bodies who spoke about the situation and the barriers to the data ecosystem and the reuse of information in the sector, at state, regional and local level.

• María Pía Junquera, Director General of Public Governance at the Ministry of Territorial Policy and Public Function focused her presentation on two ideas: the first is that reuse policies cannot be tackled in isolation, but rather through a holistic approach, considering the principles of open government. The second, that collaboration with the private sector, civil society and citizens is very important. In this regard, she stressed that the Open Government Plan 2020-2024, which includes specific measures related to reuse such as the transposition of the directive, has been drawn up taking into account numerous consultations and integrating the opinion of the different groups involved.
• Along the same lines was the intervention of María Rubiño, recently appointed Director General of Transparency, Open Government and Citizen Participation of the Community of Madrid. Rubiño stressed that the opening up of data is both an opportunity to generate confidence in society and an economic opportunity. She also stressed the idea of alliances and collaborations between administrations - sharing structures, vocabulary, etc. - and with the rest of the stakeholders, and commented on some of the actions being carried out by her department such as the implementation of the regulatory footprint or the transparency register. She ended h speech by commenting on the existence of a cultural barrier in public administrations and the need to carry out dissemination work.
•  Judit Flórez, Director General of the Legal Services and Territorial Coordination of the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP) highlighted that local entities are increasingly aware of the need to open up their data and have been working on its digitalisation for some time, but have not yet become aware of incorporating this discourse in a harmonised way into all their local policies, using the data to improve their efficiency or decision-making. From the FEMP they have working groups and experts who are promoting actions to improve this issue, such as the development of a common structure for the datasets needed to promote improvements in public services.
• Finally, Ana Arredondo, Director of the Information Technology Division of the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office, explained the type of data that this body offers to companies and re-users, and highlighted its value in promoting technological and industrial progress.

Ignacio Jiménez, president of Asedie, closed the event by thanking all the virtual attendees for their interest.

You can see all the full speeches at the Asedie website.