A decade on: The evolution of open data maturity in Europe
What makes 2024 a big year for the digital landscape in Europe? Maybe
the AI Act
[https://data.europa.eu/en/news-events/news/european-parliament-and-council-reach-ground-breaking-agreement-artificial], the
first-ever legal framework on AI, or recent progress in the health
data space 
[https://health.ec.europa.eu/ehealth-digital-health-and-care/european-health-data-space_en]comes
to mind. All good suggestions – but there is more. This year marks
the 10th anniversary of the Open Data Maturity (ODM) assessment, our
flagship publication that documents the year-on-year progress of
European countries in making data openly accessible and stimulating
its reuse.

When it was first launched, ODM measured two dimensions of maturity in
31 countries. Today, it assesses maturity across the entire open data
value chain using four dimensions: policy, portal, quality, and
impact. And in 2023, 35 countries participated, covering the EU-27,
three EFTA countries, and five candidate countries.

Having established their open data policies, including transposing
the open data directive
[https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/legislation-open-data]
into national law, and created modern portals to search for open data
(see our recent features of France
[https://data.europa.eu/en/news-events/news/european-open-data-portals-france-unlocking-transparency-and-innovation]
and the Netherlands
[https://data.europa.eu/en/news-events/news/european-open-data-portals-spotlight-netherlands-impactful-initiatives]),
the 2023 ODM report
[https://data.europa.eu/en/news-events/news/2023-open-data-maturity-report-has-been-released]
found that countries are turning their attention to the quality of the
metadata they provide to reusers. 

But the story is not over yet. The impact dimension remains an area
for improvement. With increased efforts to achieve impact, better
measurement techniques
[https://data.europa.eu/en/news-events/news/unveiling-blueprint-indicators-open-data-impact-assessment]
will be needed to monitor open data reuse and its effects on society.
And, of course, the open data policy and technology landscape
continues to evolve. In 2024, the implementing regulation
on high-value datasets
[https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/news/commission-defines-high-value-datasets-be-made-available-re-use]
comes into force, setting additional requirements for certain
categories of open data that can help turbocharge digital innovation
in Europe. 

Over the past decade, the ODM report has aimed to support the
development of open data best practices among participating countries
and to provide an annual snapshot to its readers on the ever-evolving
open data landscape in Europe. To keep abreast of this dynamic
landscape, the ODM methodology will undergo a planned revision ahead
of the 2024 exercise. This way, the assessment can continue to
celebrate the achievements, highlight the challenges, and reflect on
the opportunities ahead in Europe’s open data journey.

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Publication Date/Time
2024-04-05T12:00:00+00:00
The data.europa.eu flagship publication has been documenting the open
data landscape for ten years