Public authorities in Denmark register various core information about individuals, businesses, real properties, buildings, addresses, and more. This information, called basic data, is re-used throughout the public sector. Re-use of high-quality data is an essential basis for public authorities to perform their tasks properly and efficiently across units, administrations and sectors.
Basic data is an important contribution to modernising the public sector. The public and businesses are provided a better and more efficient service, when data that has already been recorded is shared across institutions and is included directly in case processing. Furthermore, employees in the public sector will be less burdened by repetitive and routine tasks, and this, in turn, will release more resources for increased welfare in e.g. the healthcare and education sectors.
However, open and homogenous re-use of basic data also has great value for the private sector, partly because businesses use this data in their internal processes and, partly, because the information contained in public-sector data can be exploited for entirely new products and solutions, in particular digital ones. In short, basic
data freely available to the private sector is a potential driver for innovation, growth and job creation.
The three obstacles that the project will tackle are:
- The general result is, firstly, that many (public administrations) prefer to obtain the information themselves and to keep their own shadow registers. This means that resources are unnecessarily spent on maintaining the same data in several places, and individuals and businesses are burden unnecessarily by having to repeatedly supply the same information.
- Secondly, in addition to the financial obstacles, technical and legal obstacles also stand in the way of authorities and businesses capitalizing on obvious opportunities to replace their manual and paper-based work procedures with automated and digital ones.
- Thirdly, red tape and the price of data may prevent both entrepreneurs and established businesses from testing the commercial opportunities associated with exploiting public-sector basic data in new and creative ways.
This information, and more, is available on: http://www.digst.dk/Home/Servicemenu/English/Digitisation/~/
media/Files/English/Grunddata_UK_web_05102012_Publication.pdf
Policy Context
The government initiated the project following an assessment of the state of play of the base registries of public administrations in Denmark, which revealed the lack of quality, interoperability and cross-sector accessibility of data.
Good basic data was enshrined in the common public-sector digitisation strategy for 2011 to 2015 (eGOVERNMENT strategy 2011-2015), adopted by the government, Local Government Denmark and Danish Regions. The vision is that basic data is to be the high-quality common foundation for public sector administration, efficiently updated at one place, and used by everyone – including the private sector.
In this strategy, the government spotlights the following public-sector basic data, which are deemed to hold the greatest potential for re-use, and thus the greatest value for both public and private-sector users:
- personal data
- business data
- real property data
- address data
- geographic data.
These types of basic data are covered by initiatives 10.1 to 10.5 of the eGOVERNMENT strategy and are included in the current work on establishing a basic-data infrastructure. A goal of the eGOVERNMENT strategy is moreover to establish a shared platform for distribution of basic data, the Common Public-Sector Data Distributor.
This information, and more, is available on: http://www.digst.dk/Home/Servicemenu/English/Digitisation/~/
media/Files/English/Grunddata_UK_web_05102012_Publication.pdf
Description of target users and groups
Open basic data will benefit public-sector efficiency as well as innovation and value creation by Danish society in general. With basic data as a new digital raw material, commercial products can be developed, and public information and services can be improved, providing for greater insight and stronger democracy.
This information, and more, is available on: http://www.digst.dk/Home/Servicemenu/English/Digitisation/~/
media/Files/English/Grunddata_UK_web_05102012_Publication.pdf
Description of the way to implement the initiative
The Danish Agency for Digitisation (Digitaliseringsstyrelsen) is responsible for the overall strategy, functional design and system architecture, whereas the development itself is outsourced to the private sector.
Technology solution
Technology choice: Mainly (or only) open standards, Open source softwareMain results, benefits and impacts
Open basic data will provide the public, businesses and the authorities alike with a number of tangible benefits.
The Public:
- Better public services in the form of speedier case processing and fewer errors in individual cases;
- Less reporting to public authorities, for example to correct errors;
- Less need for re-entering data in online self-service solutions, when forms are filled in automatically with relevant and fully up-to-date basic data.
Businesses:
- Less red tape – less reporting and registration;
- Faster digitisation, fewer errors and more efficient and effective procedures;
- Cheaper procurement of public-sector data;
- Improved foundation for collaboration with the public sector due to the existence of common data;
- Improved as well as new opportunities to develop new data-based services and products;
- Basic Data is being used by businesses where the data can bring significant value.
Public Authorities:
- Efficient and effective maintenance of basic data and fewer redundant registers;
- Operational savings on own IT systems and update of data locally;
- Cheaper development of IT systems, when basic data is accessible from a single source;
- Fewer manual workflows, fewer errors and shorter case-processing times;
- Improved control e.g. of payments, so that social welfare fraud can be reduced;
- Basic Data is being used in the public sector where the data can bring significant value.
National:
- Basic Data have sufficient quality for the major uses of the data;
- Responsibility for keeping the Basic Data valid and up-to-date is clearly placed and efficiently handled;
- Basic Data is semantically coherent and modelled accordingly to the Model Rules of Basic Data;
- Basic Data is available for free and with non-restrictive terms for reuse (does not apply to sensitive data) through the Datadistributor.
This information, and more, is available on: http://www.digst.dk/Home/Servicemenu/English/Digitisation/~/
media/Files/English/Grunddata_UK_web_05102012_Publication.pdf
Return on investment
Return on investment: Larger than €10,000,000Track record of sharing
The project can be replicated in other Member States. However, it may difficult for other Member States to replicate the budgetary conditions of the Danish government. Indeed, at the begging of each year, each ministry must agree on a yearly budget with the Ministry of Finance. As the ‘Basic Data’ project is business case driven (the objective of the project is to reduce double labour), the expected savings are internalised, on a yearly basis, within each ministries’ respective budget. The amount ‘paid’ by each ministry is therefore proportional to the intensity of the data used by the ministry, and therefore the potential for savings. These yearly budgetary negotiations are a very strong catalyst for take-up and buy-in. Furthermore, ministries will adapt relevant laws after this negotiation in order to comply with the agreement.
The framework used to develop the project (Managing Successful Projects with Prince 2) can easily be re-used.
Lessons learnt
- The steering of a programme of such a size, which involves both infrastructure and content, is difficult.
- It is difficult to calculate the benefits of the project for the private sector, which explains why the Danish government funds the project.
- Data distribution is becoming a central function that all ministries are now closely monitoring.
- Guided by Business Cases and public sector efficiency gains.
- Based on a strong tradition of strategic and operational corporation in the public sector on e-government (local, regional and state).
- The programme is sponsored by high level political boards.
- The financing is done up front (costs and gains).
- The programme solves many long-standing issues.