Newsletter - April 2026

How can shared skills and labour‑market data support better policymaking? Learn more in our webinar on 10 April, which presents the European Data Space for Skills (DS4Skills). As part of the data.europa academy series on European data spaces, the session presents the project’s goals, governance and technical development, followed by a practical use case from partners at the Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology, who are creating tools to support the labour market in Luxembourg.

Join us for an inspiring webinar on 24 April, exploring how open data drives real‑world action. An analyst from the EU’s Emergency Response Coordination Centre will present how open data informs responses to natural hazards, turning analysis into protection and support for communities. Additionally, a former adviser to the French Prime Minister’s Office during the COVID‑19 pandemic will explain how open data supports decision‑making in public health crises. Don’t miss these practical insights from real-world experience.

Europeans are living longer than ever, but how is this reshaping the EU’s population? Using open data, this story explores long-term demographic trends, regional differences in ageing and the gap between life expectancy and healthy life years. The analysis shows how Europe’s population structure is changing as older age groups grow and younger ones shrink, and how ageing patterns vary across regions and Member States.

How can open data help cities tackle environmental risks and improve public safety? This story shows how high-value datasets are enabling European cities to develop smarter, data-driven services. From detecting invasive plant species in Vilnius to improving urban safety, lighting and heatwave response in Spanish cities, the examples illustrate how combining environmental, mobility and sensor data helps authorities deliver more proactive and citizen-focused urban services.

The EU is preparing a digital omnibus initiative aimed at simplifying the digital rulebook by updating existing legislation on data, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. Building on stakeholder feedback and the ongoing Digital Fitness Check, the proposal seeks to reduce overlaps while maintaining strong safeguards for rights and innovation. With the recent public consultation now closed, the Commission will analyse the results to inform the next steps.

The EU open source solutions catalogue on the Interoperable Europe Portal brings together reusable open‑source tools developed by public administrations across Europe. By connecting national and local catalogues, it helps public authorities reuse existing solutions instead of developing them independently. The catalogue now spans more than 30 public‑sector domains, from digital citizenship services to cloud‑management tools, supporting the objectives of the Interoperable Europe Act.

The Public Procurement Data Space (PPDS) brings together procurement data from national and EU sources, offering a single access point to high‑quality, comparable information across Europe. The PPDS helps policymakers analyse public spending, while giving public buyers and businesses clearer insights into procurement markets and opportunities. As part of the European data spaces initiative, the PPDS aims to improve transparency, strengthen data quality and support more efficient public procurement.