Open Data in the European Union Neighbourhood
Publication Date/Time
2017-07-11T12:00:00+00:00
Understood as the 'new oil' that makes societies and economies run
more smoothly, data remains until now a resource whose potential is
not tapped to its fullest. Numerous studies have measured the impact
of data for economic, political and societal development, with several
others pinpointing the importance of Open Data for economic growth.
Open Data is seen as a driver for economic growth and an enabler for
transparency and accountability, as well as innovation and knowledge.
[https://data.europa.eu/sites/default/files/img/media/open-data-policy-in-place.png]
The EU Neighbourhood is keen on fast-forwarding on Open Data. However
capacity building and awareness raising are needed to boost Open Data
practices in the neighbourhood regions. These are some of the
conclusions of the recently published report on Open Data in the EU
Neighbourhood [/sites/default/files/edp_analytical_report_n7.pdf].
This study aims at broadening the EU28+ perspective by taking a look
at Open Data developments at the East and South of EU borders. It
provides a high-level assessment of the state of play of Open Data in
the EU Neighbourhood and highlights the achievements as well as the
potential room for improvement in the neighbourhood countries.

Three country groups represented the focus of the Open Data exercises:
_Western Balkan and Turkey_: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the
former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia,
Turkey; _Neighbourhood_ _South_: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan,
Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia; and _Neighbourhood East_:
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine.
[https://data.europa.eu/sites/default/files/img/media/open-data-portal-in-place.png]
The expectations with regard to the benefits of Open Data in the EU
Neighbourhood are high, with the neighbourhood countries perceiving
(Open) Data as an innovative instrument to tackle many of their
challenges. Beyond a doubt, Open Data has the potential to do so.
However in order to stand up to its hype, Open Data needs to be
grounded in a solid foundation.

As the report illustrates, this foundation appears to be still missing
in almost half of the EU Neighbourhood, where only two thirds of the
countries have an Open Data policy in place and only half of the
countries have set up an Open Data Portal at national level.

However, as also highlighted by the European Data Portal's report on
Creating Value from Open Data
[/sites/default/files/edp_creating_value_through_open_data_0.pdf],
these elements are pivotal to fostering sustainable Open Data
practice. Both an Open Data policy as well as the set-up of Open Data
portals represent the basic pillars for Open Data development in any
national context.

Diving one layer deeper, the report also highlighted the stumbling
blocks that the EU neighbours encountered in their Open Data journeys.
Similar to the EU Members States, the EU neighbourhood countries are
facing the same challenges to Open Data development, albeit to
different extents. Surprisingly enough, the political will towards
Open Data promotion is stronger in the EU Neighbourhood compared to
the EU28+. This appears to be fuelled by an overall eagerness to
'catch up' with Europe. Furthermore, the results also underlined the
fact that the technical, legal, financial and political aspects effect
to different degrees the publishing and re-use of Open Data. Whereas
public administrations in the EU Neighbourhood are believed to
struggle most with technical and legal aspects, a lack of awareness
and availability of data appear to be the most frequently mentioned
obstacles on the re-use side.
[https://data.europa.eu/sites/default/files/img/media/open-data-neighbourhood-stats.png]
In the light of the findings, the report concludes that immediate
action is needed to raise awareness and increase capacity in the EU
Neighbourhood, in order to ensure value creation through Open Data.
The report offers a 'practical guide' to Open Data development for the
EU Neighbourhood countries, providing them with six steps to take in
the short and medium term.

Do you want to find out what these steps are and read more about the
actions that the EU Neighbourhood countries have already taken to
foster sustainable Open Data practices in their national contexts?
Then check out the full report
[/sites/default/files/edp_analytical_report_n7.pdf] and dive deeper
into the Open Data success stories of the EU Eastern and Southern
neighbours!
