Data stories

How many hours do Europeans actually work ? Who earns the most for their time and who enjoys the longest holidays? Which sectors form the backbone of employment in each Member State? One may think that across Europe people’s working lives should be quite similar, but the data uncovers a striking diversity. From factories in central Europe to hospitals in the Nordic countries, from tourism in the...

Homes are where people spend most of their time, shaping their comfort, security and quality of life. However, finding and being able to afford a suitable place to live has become increasingly difficult across Europe. Rising prices and the changing economy are putting pressure on households in many Member States. To address these challenges the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen...

From a small student exchange programme Erasmus (1987–2014) to a continent-wide learning movement under Erasmus+ (2014–today) – how has the initiative evolved over the last 40 years? From its beginnings in 1987 as a small exchange scheme for just 3 200 university students , Erasmus has grown into one of the EU’s best-known initiatives, and one of its biggest. In 2024 alone, more than 1.4 million...

On Thursday 30 January 2020, the European Data Portal (EDP) published their latest study titled: High-value datasets: understanding the perspective of data providers . This article is a sneak peek into the study. High-value datasets: understanding the perspective of data providers Making data available as open data across the EU Member States is vital to leverage its potential for the European...

Transport data Open transport data is one of the European Data Portal's (EDP) most frequently re-used data domains and is one of the five thematic data domains that the European Commission (EC) has identified as highly impactful. These five thematic data domains are datasets that the EC expects to have the highest demand from re-users across the European Union. They include geospatial data, earth...

Increased access to open data There is more open data available now than ever before. With the launch of the European Data Portal in 2015 and national open data portals (i.e. data.gov.ie and data.gov.be), thousands of datasets have become publicly accessible. The core aim of these open data initiatives is that anyone can access, use, and share the data. From citizens to data-driven journalists...

Rising demand for new services Every year millions of people flock to holiday areas to relax at the beach, explore nature or go sightseeing. The tourism industry has been experiencing a sustained boom for years and is continuously generating increased revenues in the holiday regions. Since digitisation does not stop at tourism, innovative solutions come into focus here as well. Data-driven...

Insights into a high-prioritised area Not all Open Data has the same potential for re-use. The European Data Portal provides thirteen data categories of which one is agriculture. The ever-increasing climate change has an enormous impact on flora and fauna. This results in constantly increasing heat waves during heavy rainfall at the same time. These extreme weather conditions are very difficult...

With Open Data on nearly all subjects, it serves as a source of information for many applications, purposes or services. These examples of Open Data re-use further emphasise, enhance the versatility and show the opportunities offered by Open Data. However despite the widespread use and diversity of Open Data applications, it can sometimes be difficult to present an interesting example of a product...

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...