How to make an Open Data Portal sustainable
Publication Date/Time
2017-02-17T15:00:00+00:00
Today, almost all European countries now have an Open Data portal, and
across the continent these portals are becoming more advanced, being
used more frequently and creating more benefits for societies.
Citizens have come to rely on services that have been built using data
published through data portals. From bus times to weather data to
crime figures, data published on Open Data portals is having a
significant impact on millions of people's lives.

Yet little is known about what makes the portals that make these
benefits possible sustainable; what ensures that they can respond and
adapt to challenges in order to continue to allow value to be created
for citizens. As Open Data moves from being a new initiative to
business as usual for governments, a top priority is to ensure Open
Data portals are fit for purpose and sustainable in the long term.
Following European Data Portal (EDP) studies on the Economic benefits
of Open Data
[/sites/default/files/edp_creating_value_through_open_data_0.pdf] and
on Open Data Maturity in Europe [/en/dashboard], in this report the
EDP explores the sustainability of Open Data Portals in European
Member States. By interviewing portal owners around Europe, and
further research, the report sets out the Governance (see picture
below), Financing, Architecture and Operations and Metrics that make
portals sustainable.
[https://data.europa.eu/sites/default/files/img/media/featured-highlight_20170214_recommendations.jpg]
Whilst several portals interviewed had ad-hoc initiatives, policies or
updates which improved sustainability within a particular area, none
had a holistic approach that addressed all five areas. Sustainability
in each of these areas is interdependent: continuing to work with
legacy architecture systems and structures can make financing a portal
unsustainable; failing to have an operational function for engaging
users can prevent reuse of data and limit the political support a
portal receives. Making improvements across a portal's activities
depends on an ability to develop (and automate) metrics to measure
progress.

The report uses case studies to shine a light on novel ideas and
initiatives around Europe that have helped to create sustainability,
with the aim that others can learn from them. The lessons from across
Europe are summarised in 23 recommendations covering Governance,
Financing, Architecture, Operations and Metrics.

Read the full report
[/sites/default/files/edp_s3wp4_sustainability_recommendations.pdf]
