Business-to-Government (B2G) Data Sharing webinar
Publication Date/Time
2019-05-29T13:00:00+00:00
Country
Global
Overview of the European Data Portal's B2G Data Sharing webinar
BUSINESS-TO-GOVERNMENT (B2G) DATA SHARING

On 23 May the European Data Portal
[https://www.europeandataportal.eu/] (EDP) hosted the webinar
"_Business-to-Government (B2G) Data Sharing_" to discuss B2G data
sharing initiatives in Europe and beyond. This webinar complements the
EDP's analytical report on B2G Data Sharing
[/sites/default/files/analytical_report_12_business_government_data_sharing.pdf]
published earlier this year. 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, enables users to maximise the
value of data. Essentially, re-using data can save costs, time and
lives [/en/highlights/creating-value-through-open-data].

The benefits of 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.

The webinar had three speakers to elaborate on this subject:

 	* Stefaan Verhulst, the Co-Founder and Chief Research and
Development Officer of GovLab [https://www.thegovlab.org/],
responsible for building a research foundation on how to transform
governance using advances in science and technology.
 	* David Osimo, the Direct of Research at the Lisbon Council
[https://lisboncouncil.net/] who focuses on issues such as the data
economy, digital government, and data sharing.
 	* Esther Huyer, co-author of the report B2G Data Sharing
[/sites/default/files/analytical_report_12_business_government_data_sharing.pdf]
from the European Data Portal [https://www.europeandataportal.eu/] who
focuses on increasing the uptake and re-use of data for joint informed
decision making.

The speakers discussed 4 different topics, that are outlined below:

 	* The benefits of B2G Data Sharing for businesses and public
organisations.
 	* The challenges to B2G Data Sharing.
 	* The different models of successful B2G Data Sharing.
 	* How to support sustainable and responsible data sharing
systematically.

 

BENEFITS OF B2G DATA SHARING

There are several benefits of B2G Data Sharing for businesses and
public organisations. The benefits for businesses to provide data are
that:

 	* They can improve their public image due to proof of their
commitment to corporate social responsibility.
 	* They can gain new insights from existing or additional data and
analysis.
 	* There is 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 in the decision-making and implementation
process.
 	* Boost innovation power in research.
 	* 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 TO B2G DATA SHARING

However, despite the benefits of B2G Data Sharing, it is important to
note that 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 an 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 constraints
to B2G Data Sharing. These factors must be considered when setting up
a framework for successful and sustainable data sharing between
businesses and public organisations.

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.

In the field of TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS, an 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.

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 the cost and benefits of data
sharing and data sharing capability and culture.

 

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

 

SUSTAINABLE AND RESPONSIBLE DATA SHARING

For B2G Data Sharing to be successful and sustainable, it must be
legally compliant, technically feasible, socially acceptable,
financially and commercially viable, and must mitigate risk
effectively. The European Data Portal has 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]

 

Thank you to our participants and guest speakers Stefaan Verhulst,
David Osimo and Esther Huyer for joining the EDP's "_Business to
Government (B2G) Data Sharing_" webinar! To learn more, 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 [https://www.europeandataportal.eu/],
watch the YouTube recording of the webinar
[https://youtu.be/QFFrfUZUwBk], 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!
