Open Data Maturity report 2018
Publication Date/Time
2019-02-06T09:00:00+00:00
Country
Europe
Discover the report's new benchmarking tool and Europe's level of open
data maturity in 2018
OPEN DATA MATURITY REPORT 2018

On 19 November 2018, the European Data Portal [/en/] published their
fourth annual report "_Open Data Maturity in Europe 2018: New horizons
for Open Data driven transformation
[/sites/default/files/edp_landscaping_insight_report_n4_2018.pdf]_".
The report measures the state-of-play of open data in Europe and
shares the progress European countries made with their open data
activities against previous years. In addition, the 2018 report
highlights how open data can be used as a strategic asset to enable
successful transformation across Europe. The report provides specific
recommendations on how countries can push for progress in the open
data field by tackling aspects that range from governance, publication
of high-quality metadata and data, to measuring and demonstrating
impact.

 

A NEW BENCHMARKING TOOL FOR NATIONAL DECISION-MAKERS

_"Open Data Maturity in Europe 2018"_ introduced a new benchmarking
tool for a deeper granularity in assessing open data maturity at a
country level. The report captures the finer elements of the POLICY
and PORTAL dimensions - assessed in the 2015 to 2017 reports - and
complements these with two new dimensions in 2018: IMPACT and QUALITY.

In terms of POLICY maturity, the new benchmark sets a stronger focus
on the updates and scope of national open data strategies, on enabling
coordination to assist with open data programmes at a local and
regional level and on fostering open data reuse by both the public and
private sector. In terms of PORTAL maturity, the new benchmark focuses
on portal features that will help the interaction and exchange between
the supply and demand side of open data and push further the strategic
and sustainable development of open data portals.

With the new dimensions - IMPACT and QUALITY - the benchmark aims to
provide additional support for European countries to enhance their
open data activities in new strategic areas. In addition, by capturing
and measuring these dimensions there is tangible evidence of the
impact that can be derived through open data and the benefits of
increasing the quality of both metadata and data.

 

EUROPE'S OPEN DATA MATURITY IN 2018

The overall results across Europe show the heterogeneity in the speed
of transformation and the priorities that countries have selected.

In 2018, the EU28 scored an overall maturity level of:

 	* 82% IN THE POLICY DIMENSION - highlighting that overall European
countries have reached a good maturity level in terms of their policy
foundation.
 	* 63% IN THE PORTAL DIMENSION - indicating that there are still
different development levels at country level, with approximately
one-third of Europe's national portals having reached maturity whilst
the other two-thirds are showing significant 'room for improvement'.
 	* 62% IN THE QUALITY DIMENSION - underlining that Europe is showing
some, albeit it shy, progress. Here, only seven out of Europe's ten
performers had results of 75% or above.
 	* 50% IN THE IMPACT DIMENSION, which are modest results and indicate
that the countries are slowly starting to focus on monitoring and
demonstrating impact. Only three of Europe's top performers had a
maturity level of 75% or above.

This is clearly shown in _Figure 1: Open Data Maturity Scores - EU28,
2018_.

With an OVERALL MATURITY OF 65%, Europe has not yet reached its full
potential. The assessment of these four dimensions shows a mixed
picture with good progress on the policy dimension but modest results
on dimensions such as portal, quality and impact. The latter dimension
is a key aspect where immediate action is needed for countries to
master their open data transformation.

 
[https://data.europa.eu/sites/default/files/img/media/20190206-report-1.png]
Figure 1: Open Data Maturity scores - _EU28, 2018_

 

A EUROPE OF DIFFERENT SPEEDS

European countries are maturing at different speeds. To understand the
maturity level of each country, the report categorised the countries
into four groups based on the results of the four dimensions:
BEGINNERS, FOLLOWERS, FAST-TRACKERS and TREND-SETTERS.

This is reflected in _Figure 2: Open Data Maturity clustering- EU28,
2018_. As can be seen in Figure 2, only five European countries
qualified as 'trend-setters' with scores of around 80% and above:
Ireland, Spain, France, Italy and Cyprus. In general, most European
countries position themselves in the middle-field, in the clusters
fast-trackers and followers. The largest distribution was recorded in
the cluster 'fast-tracker', with several of last year's
'trend-setters' recording drops in ranking.

Overall, the Open Data Maturity in Europe 2018 assessment strengthened
the position of the countries who remained consistent in their efforts
to drive digital transformation through open data, such as Ireland,
Spain, France and Italy. The results confirm that these 'trend-setter'
countries have already achieved an advanced level of maturity in the
field.

 
[https://data.europa.eu/sites/default/files/img/media/20190206-report-2.png]
Figure 2: Open Data Maturity clustering - _EU28, 2018_

 

RECOMMENDATIONS

Derived from the clustering exercise and ranking, the Open Data
Maturity in Europe 2018 report offers several recommendations for each
of the four different clusters. These recommendations are designed as
an actionable check-list for decision-makers at a national level, are
aligned with the level of maturity and the characteristics of each
cluster. They provide both national open data policy makers and portal
owners with useful action points towards pushing for more progress in
the portal, policy, quality and/or impact dimensions.

Curious about your country's performance and looking for examples on
European best practices? Visit our Open Data Maturity Dashboard and
read the European Data Portal's Open Data Maturity in Europe 2018
report
[/sites/default/files/edp_landscaping_insight_report_n4_2018.pdf] and
share your thoughts and opinions on the report, open data and data
sharing via mail [/en/feedback/form?type=4], Twitter
[http://twitter.com/EU_DataPortal], Facebook
[http://www.facebook.com/EuropeanDataPortal] or LinkedIn
[https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8428984].
