Data stories

Migration has occurred for centuries and impacted the world as we know it today. In the past years, migrants have been heading to Europe due to for example political instability in their home country. By looking at five European countries with migration and immigration data, more insights in these demographic trends can be given. Every year, the Dutch government releases a report on the Migration...

Using sustainable and green energy sources can contribute to the preservation of the planet. Until now, European consumers and industries are still dependent on fossil fuels, such as oil, gas and coal. Renewable energy is a sustainable alternative for using fossil fuels and can be generated from the sun, wind, water, earth warmth and biomass. Several European countries that work with these...

Police sirens, cars accelerating. A major source of the noise you hear comes from traffic passing by. But how loud are these sounds exactly? And how is noise pollution different in various parts of the city or region? European Open Data Portal datasets tell you the answers on these questions for several countries. This article highlights four country examples. The city of Dublin (Ireland) has...

In the last 12 months Open Data achieved more and more attention and European countries were racing to the top in terms of Open Data maturity. Numerous Open Data portals are being developed across Europe and are increasingly backed up by national policies from governments prioritising Open Data in their political agenda. This stronger focus also opened a broader research perspective. Open Data is...

The mechanisms of value of Open Data operate on multiple levels. Multiple Open Data benefits can be outlined, including transparency, increased government effectiveness and efficiency, increased participation and engagement and the release of social and commercial value through innovation. Regarding the latter, Open Data is increasingly connected to the creation of new products and services, as...

Open Data Portals are a critical part of our data infrastructure: they connect data holders with data users, who in turn create services that citizens and businesses benefit from and rely on. The EDP report measuring the Open Data maturity of portals across Europe 2017 shows the overall maturity of portals is increasing as they develop more advanced features. Yet most do not have coherent...

Often, when Open Data is discussed, the focus lies most of the time on business opportunities and the various benefits that Open (Government) Data holds for the economy and government, in particular with regards to fostering business innovation and efficiency gains. Further benefits however have also been quantified on other dimensions, such as the environmental and societal ones. Concerning the...

Blockchains, cryptocurrencies and distributed ledger technologies: many things have been said (positive as well as negative) about this emerging technology. A wild bunch of ideas has been brought forward and blockchains are said to have disruptive potential in a wide range of industries such as banking, logistics and public services. But how does this relate to Open Data? A quick internet search...

Europe is making considerable progress in reaching Open Data maturity and is fast-forwarding its Open Data transformation. Recent studies show that higher economic benefits are expected from Open Data at both macroeconomic and microeconomic levels. Data holds a tremendous potential for societies and economies. When disclosed, data can stimulate economic growth, better decision-making, more...

On the 4th and 5th November 2017, North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), one of Germany's 16 federal states, held the 3rd annual hackathon in a row. The annual #NRWHack is a successful and one of a kind platform bringing together the Open Data community and representatives of the public administration in NRW, and aims at facilitating communication and cooperation as well as awareness for Open Data. What...