European Union Member States and other European countries are ramping up their open data activities, according to the report “Open Data Maturity in Europe 2017” published on 23 November.

“Governments across Europe have not only prioritised Open Data more strongly in 2017, but are actually engaging in a race to the top,” the report says. “The majority of the countries demonstrate a solid understanding of the impact of Open Data in paving the way for the data economy.”

According to the study, public sector information could help build a EUR 325 billion market by 2020, adding 30,000 new jobs. Open data can also generate cost savings for EU governments of up to EUR 1.7 billion.

The study ranks open data activities and open data portal maturity in the EU Member States and EFTA countries, compared to 2015 and 2016. “Some countries have made genuine frog-leaps in their maturity journey, others show a more moderate but nevertheless constant progress,” the report says.

The authors recommend that government make their open data activities sustainable. One way to achieve this is by making open data actions part of digital transformation strategies. In addition, governments can help develop financing models for open data projects. Commercial success stories can help make sure governments continue to support open data initiatives. Open data portals should explore ways to offer access to real-time data, the report says.

More information:

Open data Maturity in Europe 2017 (PDF)
European Data portal 2017 dashboard