Open dissemination of public administration data is critical to ensure the transparency and accountability of policy actions and to empower citizens in democratic processes. While a large amount of European Union data is available in textual format, the Publications Office of the European Union has also made most of this structured data openly available through semantic web technologies and links in graphs, using linked open data (LOD) . However, for end users (and even for experts) LOD is still difficult to navigate. Why LOD is difficult to explore The main obstacles for exploring LOD include

In the past year, energy prices have been soaring and Europe has now entered an ‘ energy crisis ’. The war in Ukraine is one of the reasons for this, but it is not the only factor that explains the current situation in Europe’s energy market. Energy prices are sensitive to a range of economic, social, political and environmental factors. What is behind the soaring energy prices of today? Can open data help us to find the answer? Can open data on energy help to understand the situation and create new policies? The European energy market under pressure Before showing examples of how

In our ‘Linking data’ series, we are presenting EU projects that use linked open data (LOD) . What data is linked in their projects? Why did they decide to use LOD? What benefits does it bring? Follow the series to find out. In this episode, we are presenting the Kohesio platform . Read on to find out what it is, and how and why it uses LOD. EU cohesion policy The EU’s cohesion policy contributes to strengthening economic, social and territorial cohesion in the European Union. It aims to correct imbalances between EU Member States and between regions. It delivers on the European Union’s

In our ‘Linking data’ series, we are presenting EU projects that use linked open data (LOD) . What data is linked in their projects? Why did they decide to use LOD? What benefits does it bring? Follow the series to find out. In this episode, we are presenting Route Compatibility Check , an application developed by the European Railway Agency (ERA) . Read on to find out what it is, and how and why it uses LOD. European railway ecosystem The EU has one of the densest railway networks in the world. However, not all European countries have the same system of railway infrastructure and the same set

(Open) data and the healthcare sector Health is one of the top priorities of the European Commission. To support healthcare in European Union (EU) Member States, EU policies and actions in public health aim to: Protect and improve the health of EU citizens; Support the modernisation of health systems and infrastructure; Improve the resilience of Europe’s health systems; and Equip EU countries to better prevent and address future pandemics. Open data to inform and support healthcare across Europe Data can give policymakers, governments, businesses and citizens information about the current

In our ‘Linking data’ series, we are presenting EU projects that use linked open data (LOD) . What data is linked in these projects? Why did they decide to use LOD? What benefits does it bring? Follow the series to find out. In this episode, we are presenting the European Science Vocabulary. Read on to find out what it is and how and why it uses LOD. CORDIS – EU research and development database The Community Research and Development Information Service (CORDIS) is a multilingual platform offering access to data about EU-funded research and innovation projects. Its mission is to bring research

In our new ‘Linking data’ series, we are presenting EU projects that use linked open data (LOD) . What data is linked in these projects? Why did they decide to use LOD? What benefits does it bring? Follow the series to find out. In this episode, we focus on EU reference data. Read on to find out what it is and how and why it uses LOD. What is reference data? To start, we will introduce you to some important concepts. Reference data In simple terms, reference data is data used to classify or categorise other data. A reference data vocabulary defines the values allowed to be used in a specific

This article is the introduction to our new ‘Linking data’ series. It defines linked data and linked open data (LOD). The rest of the series will present EU projects that use LOD. How and why do they use it? Follow the series to find out . Data is everywhere and we are constantly producing more of it. As individuals, we create data while browsing the internet, booking a flight or shopping online. Public institutions generate data from traffic monitoring and weather tracking. Used correctly, all of this data can bring benefits to our society as a whole and to each of us individually. It can

These days, companies can access massive amounts of data, leading to new and innovative services—mapping apps warn people about traffic jams and health tracking apps allow runners to compare themselves to their community. The risk is that powerful technology companies control so much data that they could leave other companies at a disadvantage. Distributing the benefits of data to other organisations, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, is a challenge. The EU’s digital strategy aims to bring a solution. As part of its digital strategy, the EU wants to facilitate new, more data

(Open) data and the green transition Since the start of 2020, Europe has faced several economic, social, and political difficulties, such as the COVID-19 crisis and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. These two events have short- and long-term impacts on, for example, the availability and prices of energy sources, food security, economic stability, the capacity of health care systems and defence throughout Europe. On a political level, these events motivated the European Union (EU) to accelerate the transition to a green and digital Europe, two of the European Commission’s (EC) six highlighted