Barriers in working with Open Data
Publication Date/Time
2017-03-02T09:45:00+00:00
THE IMPACT OF OPEN DATA IS UNDENIABLE. THE DIGITAL ECONOMY REVOLVES
AROUND DATA, WITH (OPEN) DATA BEING THE NEW RAW MATERIAL. EUROPEAN
COUNTRIES ARE AWARE OF OPEN DATA AND THE PROMISES IT HOLDS, AND ARE
POSITIONING THEMSELVES TO EXPLOIT THIS NEW RAW MATERIAL. PUBLIC
ADMINISTRATIONS ARE OPENING UP THEIR DATA, OPEN DATA PORTALS ARE
EXPANDED WITH NEW FEATURES AND MORE NATIONAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS ARE
DEVELOPING A POLICY FRAMEWORK UNDERPINNING THE RELEASE OF OPEN DATA. A
NUMBER OF STUDIES HAVE UNDERLINED THAT THIS COULD RESULT IN
SUBSTANTIAL ECONOMIC BENEFITS, BUT THERE ARE STILL SOME CHALLENGES
OPEN DATA PUBLISHERS AND POTENTIAL RE-USERS OF OPEN DATA HAVE TO COPE
WITH. IN THIS STUDY, THE EUROPEAN DATA PORTAL EXPLORES THE BARRIERS
ENCOUNTERED BY DATA PUBLISHERS AND RE-USERS OF OPEN DATA.
[https://data.europa.eu/sites/default/files/img/media/higlight-170302_barriers-graph.png]
Following studies on the maturity of Open Data [/en/dashboard]
policies in European Member States, the sustainability
[/en/highlights/how-make-open-data-portal-sustainable] of Open Data
portals and the re-use of Open Data
[/en/highlights/how-open-data-being-re-used-europe], the European Data
Portal explores the barriers that hinder the Open Data community from
reaping the full benefits of Open Data. To do so, a whole set of
literature was analysed and interviews were conducted addressing data
users as well as data providers. Research also focused on sentiment
stemming from the Open Data community during a number of conferences
and workshops.
[https://data.europa.eu/sites/default/files/img/media/higlight-170302_barriers-finding.png]
The barriers discovered during the research appear both on the side of
data publishers as well as re-users, and are often related and
dependent on each other. Barriers can be political, organisational,
legal, technical and financial, but equally with regards to awareness
on both the availability of Open Data and the specific needs of users.
For instance, re-users of Open Data indicate they have difficulties to
find the data they are looking for. This is not necessarily because
the data is not available: in most cases it is because the data is too
complicated to find due to poor metadata or limited search features on
data portals. Specific barriers are found in the geospatial data
category.

Across Europe, both data publishers and re-users of Open Data have
found ways to cope with these barriers. This study highlights a number
of best practices applied throughout Europe. Portal owners are for
instance organising events to drive user communities, or publishing
national guidelines to further structure the publication of data.
Unfortunately, solutions are not always shared across Europe, and
solutions are sometimes ad-hoc, stand-alone, or only temporary. Would
you like to know what is needed to develop permanent solutions to
overcome the barriers? Read the full report!

Read the full report
[/sites/default/files/edp_analytical_report_n5_-_barriers_in_open_data.pdf]

 
