Skip Navigation
Denmark

Opening key public datasets (DK0049)

Overview

At-a-Glance

Action Plan: Denmark Action Plan 2013-2014

Action Plan Cycle: 2014

Status: Inactive

Institutions

Lead Institution: Agency for Digitisation (Ministry of Finance)

Support Institution(s): NA

Policy Areas

Capacity Building, Fiscal Transparency, Open Data, Records Management

IRM Review

IRM Report: Denmark End-of-Term Report 2014-2016

Starred: No

Early Results: Did Not Change

Design i

Verifiable: Yes

Relevant to OGP Values: Access to Information Technology

Potential Impact:

Implementation i

Completion:

Description

Government data can be used as raw material in the development of innovative digital services in the private sector, and access to public data can create more transparency in government decision-making and administration. However, a number of key public datasets are only partially open and accessible to civil society

IRM End of Term Status Summary

Commitment 16. Opening key public datasets

Commitment Text:

Government data can be used as raw material in the development of innovative digital services in the private sector, and access to public data can create more transparency in government decision making and administration. However, a number of key public datasets are only partially open and accessible to civil society.

Milestones:

-        Data on public spending ('government spending') completely opened. January 2015 June 2015

-        Other key public datasets completely opened. June 2015 June 2016

-        Updating the standard license for open government data. January 2015 June 2015

-        Guidance and tools to support the opening of data, including information on the revised PSI law for public authorities. January 2015 January 2016

-        Guidance on the scope for reusing public data, including information on the revised PSI law, civil society and other private actors. January 2015 January 2016

(Commitment published 7 January 2015 at

http://www.digst.dk/Servicemenu/English/Policy and Strategy/Open Government/Opening key public datasets)

Responsible institution: Agency for Digitisation (Ministry of Finance)

Supporting institution(s): None specified

Start date:  1 January 2015             End date: 30 June 2016

Commitment Aim:

Government-held data in Denmark is currently not available for public use unless provided on the data distributor (see Commitment #13) or on other platforms like Danish Statistics or the databank mentioned in Commitment #13. The available data varies in quality and format, which makes it hard to know the general characteristics of the data itself. This commitment aims to (1) open data on government spending, (2) update the standard license for open government data and (3) to publish easy to understand guidelines for opening of data.

Status

Mid-term: Limited

At the time of writing of the IRM progress report, the AFD had organized a workshop to discuss the topic of open data in public administration, but had not achieved the set milestones - implementation was thus coded as limited. For further information, please see the mid-term IRM progress report.[Note 60: Denmark IRM mid-term report 2014-15, http://www.opengovpartnership.org/sites/default/files/Denmark_IRM%20Progress%20Report%202014-15_Final_eng.pdf%5D

End of term: Limited

The IRM researcher’s interviews with government representatives did not yield information to suggest that any progress happened during the last year of commitment implementation. Some of the milestones also lack specificity to determine the extent of their progress, stating for instance only “other key public datasets will be completely opened.” The IRM researcher was not able to determine what the “other” or “key” datasets were, to assess whether this milestone was completed. Government spending data that was meant to be “completely open” is only available via a freedom of information request and not in open data format.

The IRM researcher found a version of a standard license[Note 61: Most recent version of the standard license can be found here http://datafordeler.dk/om-data/vilkaar/)] comparable to the old standard license[Note 62: Standard license can be found here http://digitaliser.dk/resource/2432531%5D that was updated in September 2016 - after closing of the implementation period assessed in this report. There is no publicly available record of guidance and tools for supporting open data, or enough clarity in the commitment’s language to identify specifically what those tools were meant to be. Given that no further progress was made beyond that already reported in the mid-term assessment, this commitment remains limited in completion.

Did it open government?

Access to information: Did not change

On the Global Open Data Index, Denmark has a score of 70% for openness.[Note 63: Denmarks’ page on Global Open Data Index, Open Knowledge Foundation, http://index.okfn.org/place/denmark/%5D Work remains on effectively opening datasets, determining the quality and readability of the data released, and articulating criteria to identify key public data. Echoing the first action plan’s IRM report and the review of this action plan’s Commitments #12 and #13, the opening of more datasets and a cultural change in perception of bureaucrats concerning the importance of transparency is very important in this context.

The effect of this commitment on opening government was coded as “did not change” because it was not possible to verify the implementation levels for this commitment and because a freedom of information request was necessary to obtain government spending data.

Carried forward?

If this commitment is taken forward into future action plans, the IRM researcher recommends adding new activities to broaden its scope and scale:

•The mid-term self-assessment mentions the aspiration of this commitment to create a “manual” for citizens that describes different ways in which citizens can access and reuse public data.

•       The government could develop a mechanism that ensures the systematic publication of data year by year;.

•       The government could organize capacity building activities to teach citizens how to access and use data, for example via “hackathons.” A template or format for this might be the annual workshop on Denmark’s public finances of 2016, arranged by the Open Knowledge Foundation and the Danish newspaper Information[Note 64: Data workshop on public finances 2016, Open Knowledge Foundation on Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/events/450192911854060/%5D.;

•       The government could allocate proper funding to implement open data initiatives.

Denmark's Commitments

  1. Open data for citizens and media

    DK0050, 2017, E-Government

  2. Data registers on a shared public distribution platform

    DK0051, 2017, E-Government

  3. Information portal for day-care facilities

    DK0052, 2017, E-Government

  4. Open data and Smart City forum

    DK0053, 2017, Capacity Building

  5. Open Data DK

    DK0054, 2017, Capacity Building

  6. Overview of own cases and benefits

    DK0055, 2017, E-Government

  7. Nationwide deployment of telemedicine

    DK0056, 2017, E-Government

  8. My Log

    DK0057, 2017, E-Government

  9. Civil Society National Strategy

    DK0058, 2017, Marginalized Communities

  10. Report a rule

    DK0059, 2017, E-Government

  11. OGP Forum

    DK0060, 2017, OGP

  12. Denmark’s country program for Uganda

    DK0061, 2017, Aid

  13. The 18th International Anti-Corruption Conference

    DK0062, 2017, Anti-Corruption Institutions

  14. IATI (International Aid Transparency Initiative)

    DK0063, 2017, Aid

  15. Service check of local government consultations

    DK0034, 2014, Public Participation

  16. Call on all municipalities to facilitate advance voting

    DK0035, 2014, Marginalized Communities

  17. Letter of invitation to first-time voters urging them to vote

    DK0036, 2014, Marginalized Communities

  18. User friendliness requirements regarding digital self-service solutions

    DK0037, 2014, Capacity Building

  19. Plan for inclusion during the transition to digital communication

    DK0038, 2014, Capacity Building

  20. Common public sector digital communication campaign

    DK0039, 2014, Capacity Building

  21. Principles for collaboration on the modernisation of the public sector as well as the establishment of a centre for public innovation

    DK0040, 2014, Capacity Building

  22. “Free Municipality” pilot projects

    DK0041, 2014, Subnational

  23. Recommendations from growth teams

    DK0042, 2014, Private Sector

  24. Strategy for Digital Welfare

    DK0043, 2014, E-Government

  25. Implementation of a new charter for interaction between Volunteer Denmark/Associations Denmark and the public sector

    DK0044, 2014, Civic Space

  26. “Open Data Innovation Strategy” (ODIS)

    DK0045, 2014, Capacity Building

  27. Data Distributor for the distribution of basic data

    DK0046, 2014, Open Data

  28. Open Government Camp 2014

    DK0047, 2014, Capacity Building

  29. Open Government Assistance to Myanmar

    DK0048, 2014, Aid

  30. Opening key public datasets

    DK0049, 2014, Capacity Building

  31. Online Open Government Partnership community

    DK0001, 2012, E-Government

  32. Online OGP handbook for public authorities and institutions

    DK0002, 2012, E-Government

  33. Starred commitment Management labs and new forms of co-operation

    DK0003, 2012, Public Participation

  34. Consultation and Transparency of Development Aid Programmes: Design aid programmes

    DK0004, 2012, Aid

  35. Innovate with Aarhus

    DK0005, 2012, Capacity Building

  36. Citizen self-services: Increasing the use of user ratings in the citizen’s port borger.dk

    DK0006, 2012, E-Government

  37. Open Government Camp

    DK0007, 2012, OGP

  38. Renewed effort for open government data

    DK0008, 2012, E-Government

  39. Regional initiative on open data

    DK0009, 2012, Open Data

  40. Reuse of open source software in the public sector

    DK0010, 2012, E-Government

  41. Citizen self-services: Binding guidelines for self-service solutions

    DK0011, 2012, Capacity Building

  42. Citizen self-services: Guidance and information on accessibility to digital solutions

    DK0012, 2012, E-Government

  43. Citizen self-services: Peer-to-peer learning programmes to help citizens use digital self-service

    DK0013, 2012, Capacity Building

  44. Citizen self-services: Location-based content and re-use of content in borger.dk

    DK0014, 2012, E-Government

  45. Less reporting through increased re-use of key data

    DK0015, 2012, E-Government

  46. MyPage” for businesses

    DK0016, 2012, E-Government

  47. Companies to be “born digitally”

    DK0017, 2012, E-Government

  48. Creating a mediation and complaints institution for responsible business behaviour

    DK0018, 2012, Human Rights

  49. International human rights conference

    DK0019, 2012, Human Rights

  50. Promote social responsibility in the fashion business

    DK0020, 2012, Private Sector

  51. Reporting on human rights and the climate

    DK0021, 2012, Human Rights

  52. Country by country reporting in the extractive and forestry industries

    DK0022, 2012, Extractive Industries

  53. Legislative principles for the digital age

    DK0023, 2012, Legislature

  54. Consolidated key data

    DK0024, 2012, E-Government

  55. App Store for digital learning resources

    DK0025, 2012, E-Government

  56. Starred commitment Preparing a digital reform of the public welfare areas

    DK0026, 2012, E-Government

  57. Consultation and Transparency of Development Aid Programmes: Transparency in aid

    DK0027, 2012, Aid

  58. Tracking progress of universities’ transition to digital-only administrative communication

    DK0028, 2012, Education

  59. Disclosure of status reporting from the National IT Project Council

    DK0029, 2012, E-Government

  60. Overview of public ICT architecture

    DK0030, 2012, E-Government

  61. Publication of Educational Materials on the Government’s ICT Project Model

    DK0031, 2012, Capacity Building

  62. Smart Aarhus and Smart Region: Smart Aarhus

    DK0032, 2012, E-Government

  63. Smart Aarhus and Smart Region: Smart Region

    DK0033, 2012, E-Government