Data Registers on a Shared Public Distribution Platform (DK0051)

What is the public problem that the commitment will address?: Before the Basic Data Programme, various basic information was registered differently in different public registers. This entailed a risk of conflicting information being registered at the same time in different registers. Furthermore, different data formats made it difficult for the public sector to share basic data across sectors. This could give citizens or businesses the sense of an incoherent process, where they risked having to provide the same basic information several times.; What is the commitment?: With the basic data programme, in 2012 the public sector as a whole decided to improve Denmark’s digital raw material. Coherence and quality of basic data about individuals, businesses, geography, addresses and properties have since then been improved by standardising data formats, increasing data quality and providing data on one shared platform. In 2017 and 2018, much of this basic data will become available on the new data distribution platform, ‘Datafordeleren’.; How will the commitment contribute to solve the public problem?: By making data sets available on Datafordeleren, a host of public and private users will gain access to retrieving reliable basic data easily, quickly and securely.; Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values?: A key part of the work of the basic data programme has consisted in refining data by standardising data formats and improving data quality. By only registering each piece of information in one register, it also becomes easier for the citizen or business to gain insight into the information the public sector uses in its case management.; Additional information: In the coming period, the programme will focus on how improvements and expansions of the basic data programme can contribute to ensuring even more benefits for the many users of basic data in the Danish society.

Commitment 2: Basic data registers will be made available on a shared public distribution platform

Language of the commitment as it appears in the action plan:

"With its basic data programme in 2012, a unified public sector took on the task of refining Denmark's digital raw material. Consistency and quality of basic data about persons, enterprises, geography, addresses and real estate properties have since been improved by standardising data formats, increasing the quality of data and presenting data on one common platform. In 2017 and 2018, a large amount of this basic data will be available on the new data distribution platform, which is called "Datafordeleren"."

Milestones:

2.1 Real estate basic data on the Data Distributor

2.2 Basic data about persons on the Data Distributor

2.3 Basic enterprise data on the Data Distributor

2.4 Address basic data on the Data Distributor

2.5 Geo ground data on the Data Distributor

Start Date: 3rd quarter 2017

End Date: 2nd quarter 2018

Editorial note: For the full text of this commitment, see "The Danish OGP National Action Plan 2017–2019," Danish Agency for Digitisation, https://en.digst.dk/policy-and-strategy/open-government/open-government-partnership-ogp-action-plan/, pp. 9–10.

Context and Objectives

The Basic Data Programme (2012) sought to refine Denmark's digital raw material to increase the consistency and quality of data about persons, enterprises, geography, addresses, and real estate. In 2017 and 2018, significant amounts of data are expected to be available on the new data distribution platform, called the Data Distributor.^{[Note : "Grunddata—Hvad er Grunddata," Danish Agency for Digitisation, http://grunddata.dk/hvad-er-grunddata. ]} The platform will make such information available on one common website. Previously, citizens or enterprises may have experienced a confusing process in which they had to submit the same information on several different websites. This commitment aims to enable authorities to register data in one place and to improve and manage inter-agency data. Thus, the data will be standardised and able to be combined and made available in different combinations. Furthermore, the commitment aims to make it easier for citizens and businesses to access information. The commitment also has the potential to improve the use of technology and innovation for transparency and accountability by using an electronic platform for the storage and use of this data.

This commitment is likely to be easily verifiable, as the five milestones all relate to data being placed on the Data Distributor. However, the terms in the milestones are not all clearly defined (e.g., "geo ground data"). The commitment describes "basic data" as data relating to "individuals, businesses, geography, addresses, and properties." However, it does not explain what kind of data this refers to.

The IRM researcher finds that the commitment could have a minor potential impact on larger social, political, or environmental problems, as it mainly seeks to streamline the use of information. Moreover, the process by which data will be made available on the platform could be further explained.

Next steps

Based on the analysis above, the IRM researcher recommends the following next steps:

· The AFD could carry out an information campaign for companies and citizens to demonstrate cases involving data that could be more easily available. This could be of interest for larger companies and data start-up companies.

· Since the commitment is already underway, the IRM researcher recommends not carrying this initiative forward to the next action plan.

2. Basic data registers will be made available on a shared public distribution platform

Language of the commitment as it appears in the action plan:

“With its basic data programme in 2012, a unified public sector took on the task of refining Denmark’s digital raw material. Consistency and quality of basic data about persons, enterprises, geography, addresses and real estate properties have since been improved by standardising data formats, increasing the quality of data and presenting data on one common platform. In 2017 and 2018, a large amount of this basic data will be available on the new data distribution platform, which is called “Datafordeleren”.”

Milestones:

• Real estate basic data on the Data Distributor
• Basic data about persons on the Data Distributor
• Basic enterprise data on the Data Distributor
• Address basic data on the Data Distributor
• Geo ground data on the Data Distributor

Start Date: Third quarter 2017

End Date: Second quarter 2018

Editorial note: For the full text of this commitment, see “The Danish OGP National Action Plan 2017–2019,” Danish Agency for Digitisation, pp. 9–10, https://en.digst.dk/policy-and-strategy/open-government/open-government-partnership-ogp-action-plan/.

This commitment aimed to enable authorities to register data in one place and to improve and manage inter-agency data. Thus, the data would be standardized and available in different combinations. Furthermore, the commitment aimed to make it easier for citizens and businesses to access information. [4]

The distribution platform (“Datafordeleren”) is now fully operational, as reported to the finance committee responsible for overseeing implementation. [5] The distribution platform can be found online and contain the datasets mentioned in the commitment’s milestones. [6]

The implementation of basic data on the distribution platform was a complex process involving a wide range of state and private institutions. Everyone can now access data within the overall rules of data protection, but users are responsible for the legal implications once it has been retrieved. According to the Danish Agency for Digitisation, the main users of the platform are primarily larger public institutions who benefit from the standardized data for improving social services, as well as private users like the banking sector. In the long term, the intention is to focus on user-friendliness of the portal to make it relevant for other types of users, including citizens. [7]

The commitment has contributed to improving the transparency and quality of already existing public data in an open and centralized format. Every Danish citizen or institution can now freely access, download, and combine data from a single location, in contrast to the previously dispersed and incompatible information available. However, the basic administrative character of data on the portal (addresses, properties, businesses, etc.) makes it more relevant for institutional efficiency than citizen engagement.

[4] ^“Denmark Design Report 2017–2019”, Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM), https://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Denmark_Design-Report_2017-2019_EN.pdf.

[5] See: “Document no. 16”, Folketinget, available [in Danish] at https://www.folketingstidende.dk/samling/20191/aktstykke/Aktstk16/20191_aktstk16_anmeldt.pdf.

[6] For an overview of the centralized data see: “Data overview”, Datafordeler.dk, available [in Danish] at https://datafordeler.dk/dataoversigt/.

[7] Per Gade (Danish Agency for Digitisation), Interview by IRM Researcher, 22 November 2019.