Business-to-Government (B2G) Data Sharing in Europe
Publication Date/Time
2019-03-30T09:00:00+00:00
Country
Global
Preview of the newest report by the European Data Portal
INTRODUCTION TO B2G DATA SHARING

Data sharing is a key enabler of growth, employment and
competitiveness for Europe and the Digital Single Market envisaged by
the European Union
[https://ec.europa.eu/commission/priorities/digital-single-market_en].
The non-rivalrous nature of data, combined with technological
innovations such as the availability of big data analysis and
artificial intelligence applications, enable maximising the value of
data. Re-using data can save costs, time and lives
[https://www.europeandataportal.eu/en/highlights/creating-value-through-open-data].

The benefits from data re-use are not reserved to the private sector
[https://ofti.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/dataforpolicy.pdf]. In
fact, to become more cost-efficient and provide effective services for
citizens, public sector bodies can benefit greatly from data sharing
and need to exploit the potential of new data sources. This data can
be sourced from the private sector, academia, NGOs or the public
sector itself. Much of the data generated in the public sector is
already made open for re-use
[https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/european-legislation-reuse-public-sector-information],
encouraged by the Directive on Public Sector Information (PSI)
[http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/ALL/?uri=CELEX:32003L0098].

However, there is also data that cannot be made open because of
sensitivity or confidentiality. This data can only be shared under
special conditions and to a restricted and controlled set of users in
order to leverage their value. An example of a value is insight into
the behavioural patterns of citizens and businesses across social,
political, historical or environmental factors. This insight can help
public sector organisations understand, evaluate, predict and prepare
for certain situations and scenarios, for example:

 	* Understanding commuting patterns to support urban planning, road
safety and traffic management, as well as environmental protection.
 	* Additional insight into a population's health conditions,
diagnosis and medical treatments can improve public health care and
lead to a more effective response to epidemics.
 	* Market monitoring and payment patterns can help detect fraud and
increase consumer protection.

In addition, there are legal, technical and organisational factors
that must be considered when setting up a framework for data sharing
between businesses and public organisations.

In this article, we summarise the findings of the Analytical Report:
B2G Data Sharing
[/sites/default/files/analytical_report_12_business_government_data_sharing.pdf],
which is now available on the European Data Portal
[https://www.europeandataportal.eu/en].

B2G DATA SHARING IN THE EU

To further facilitate the European Data Economy
[https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/policies/building-european-data-economy],
the European Commission [https://ec.europa.eu/] initiated the Digital
Single Market strategy in 2015
[http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-15-4919_en.htm]. The 2017
Communication "Building a European Data Economy
[http://ec.europa.eu/newsroom/dae/document.cfm?doc_id=41205]"
discussed these opportunities, and in the mid-term review of the
Digital Single Market strategy, the Commission committed to exploring
this issue further. Furthermore, the European Commission performed a
public online consultation
[https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/news/summary-report-public-consultation-building-european-data-economy]
and held a stakeholder dialogue
[https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/news/stakeholder-dialogue-building-european-data-economy]
between April and June 2017, resulting in the Communication: Towards a
common European data space
[https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/news/communication-towards-common-european-data-space]
and a Staff Working Document "Guidance on private sector data-sharing
[https://ec.europa.eu/digital-single-market/en/news/staff-working-document-guidance-sharing-private-sector-data-european-data-economy]"
(April 2018).

Other stakeholders like GovLab [http://www.thegovlab.org/] and The
Lisbon Council [http://www.lisboncouncil.net/] (a member of the
European Data Portal consortium) also dedicated their research to
analyse the different aspects of B2G data sharing and collected good
practices. GovLab, for example, formulated eight phases of B2G data
sharing and categorised different models of B2G data sharing in their
DataCollaboratives project [http://datacollaboratives.org/canvas].

By reviewing the different findings, we could compare and test the
applicability of theoretical models and the principles of B2G data
sharing in our Analytical Report to show how they address legal,
technical and organisational challenges and other matters that may
have not yet been addressed. The report concludes with a six-step plan
for successful and sustainable B2G data sharing, developed from our
research.

BENEFITS OF B2G DATA SHARING

Benefits of B2G data sharing accumulates in a variety of ways. For
businesses, the benefits of providing data are that they can improve
their public image due to a proof of their commitment to corporate
social responsibility, they can gain new insights from existing or
additional data and its analysis and there is a potential revenue from
exchanging the data and re-using it. For the public sector, re-using
the data can improve their decision-making processes and their service
offering, increase efficiency, boost innovation power in research and
support technological advancements.

The benefits of B2G data sharing for businesses and public
organisations are interlinked and affect each other. For example,
higher innovation power in the public sector creates new opportunities
for businesses and vice versa.

CHALLENGES FOR DATA PROVIDERS 

When sharing data with the public sector, businesses face
organisational, technical and legal challenges.

An example of an _organisational consideration_ is CUSTOMER REACTION
to data sharing. Beyond the legal and financial risks, companies voice
concern around the customers' perception of data sharing, when that
might include customer data. This is an issue even when all the
necessary precautions are taken to protect confidentiality and
privacy. Other considerations are COST AND BENEFITS of data sharing
and data sharing CAPABILITY AND CULTURE.

In the field of _technical requirements_, one example is the
ANONYMISATION, PSEUDO ANONYMISATION AND AGGREGATION of data. These are
techniques that sanitise information to protect people's privacy and
to ensure that data that would otherwise be considered personal and
confidential, requiring special legal constraints, can be processed
and used without it linking back to a person. Additional requirements
are SELECTION AND PREPARATION of data, DATA GOVERNANCE and ACCESS to
data.

In terms of _legal guidance_, an example is INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
rights. Company data is often the combination of very heterogeneous
sources, from historical archives, to datasets that are the results of
working with suppliers and contractors, where the intellectual
property of the data produced may be unclear. Other points of legal
guidance to consider are LIABILITY and accountability, LEGAL FRAMEWORK
and support in data sharing and protecting PERSONAL DATA.

B2G DATA SHARING MODELS

Different actors in research and politics have dedicated their efforts
to categorising B2G data sharing models. Generally, it can be said
that there is no one approach that suits all situations and even the
different models must be adapted based on each individual scenario.
Differentiating the models still makes sense in order to understand
the different answers to the various needs, especially in the state of
designing and assessing data sharing frameworks. The identified models
below are not set in stone, they much more occur in combination or in
hybrid forms.

 	* MULTI-PARTY DATA SHARING AGREEMENT
 	* DATA DONORSHIP 
 	* DATA PARTNERSHIPS
 	* DATA INTERMEDIARIES
 	* DATA SHARING BY REGULATION

A SIX-STEP ACTION PLAN FOR B2G DATA SHARING 

Successful and sustainable B2G data sharing must be legally compliant,
technically feasible, socially acceptable, financially and
commercially viable and must mitigate risk effectively.

We have identified six steps that appear to be vital to the success of
a B2G initiative.

 	* TEAM UP WITH RENOWNED AND AUTHORITATIVE THIRD PARTIES
 	* INVOLVE THE CUSTOMERS
 	* SET UP A DATA SHARING FRAMEWORK
 	* USE A CODE OF CONDUCT
 	* SPECIFY CONTRACTUAL AGREEMENTS
 	* USE NEW TECHNOLOGIES

Due to its NOVELTY AND COMPLEXITY, it can be expected that NEW ACTORS
and NEW SERVICE MODELS will emerge, and NEW REGULATIONS will guide,
regulate and support B2G data sharing. We are at the very beginning of
an inevitable shift toward achieving the FIFTH FREEDOM: the free
movement of data in the European Digital Market.
[http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/press-room/20180926IPR14403/free-flow-of-non-personal-data-parliament-approves-eu-s-fifth-freedom]

Read the full Analytical Report on B2G Data Sharing
[/sites/default/files/analytical_report_12_business_government_data_sharing.pdf]
on the European Data Portal [/en] and follow us on Twitter
[https://twitter.com/EU_DataPortal], Facebook
[http://www.facebook.com/EuropeanDataPortal] and LinkedIn
[https://www.linkedin.com/company/10478056/admin/] to stay up to date
with the latest open data topics!
