Open Data DK (DK0054)

What is the public problem that the commitment will address?: There is value in making freely available public data when developing cities and regions. With open public data, all interested parties will have a chance to make services or projects that meet citizens’ needs – and which businesses and entrepreneurs can profit from. Open data can help generate new products and services or improve existing ones – for the benefit of citizens. At the same time, open data can increase transparency in the public administration so that citizens and businesses become more active players in our democracy. Open Data DK also meets the challenge of all local governments and regional governments potentially publishing data individually. This would create confusion and a mess of non-standardised data, which would do nothing to promote the use of released data. Finally, Open Data DK supports the joint-municipal and joint-public sector initiatives in the area of open data.; What is the commitment?: Open Data DK helps local governments and regional governments get started working with open data. It is a new area in many local governments and regional governments so it may be difficult to get the process started. Open Data DK provides a framework for knowledge sharing about open data between public authorities – and businesses. The purpose is to create transparency in the public administration and provide a basis for data-driven growth by making data freely available for public authorities, private businesses and civil society in general. Municipal and regional data is made open and freely available on a shared data platform (open source) so that it can be easily accessed and used as raw material in the development of applications and services, or serve as the foundation for analyses, trend assessments, research, etc. Open data can create increased transparency in the public administration so that citizens and businesses can become even more active coplayers in their local democracy. In autumn 2017 and in 2018, a number of initiatives will be put in place to promote publication and use of public data. The initiatives include: • Information meetings for local governments and regional governments, which deal specifically with releasing the data which the local governments/regional governments possess: How to get started? What potential does public data hold? • Individual introduction meetings for local governments and regional governments • Updating and development of existing guidelines • Inspiration and dialogue meetings with businesses • Development of the open data platform, which serves to make it easier to release and use data, e.g. with focus on standardisation of data • Collaboration with educational institutions Open Data DK is organised with a board and a number of working teams that promote sharing among its members. It also focuses on regional/local needs, which means that Open Data DK’s finances are organised so that funds are earmarked for regional initiatives. This makes it possible to have an overall regional focus on tourism data in all of North Jutland and mobility data in all of East Jutland. Currently participating in the commitment are: 31 local governments, 3 regional governments and partners such as the Danish Business Authority, Local Government Denmark, GeoFyn and GeoSjælland. Besides the participation of public authorities, considerable focus is aimed at including businesses and citizens, e.g. in the form of dialogue meetings, hackathons, data drinks and collaboration with educational institutions.; How will the commitment contribute to solve the public problem?: The Open Data DK commitment helps create an open public sector by releasing data and thus creating a foundation for collaboration between the public and private sector, citizens, businesses and knowledge institutions on development and innovation.; Why is this commitment relevant to OGP values?: With open data everyone gets free access to information about the public sector and this makes Open Data DK instrumental in ensuring a more open and transparent public sector, in which civil society can participate. Open Data DK is also based on inclusion and involvement of stakeholders. A key part of the work of the commitment is to engender knowledge about the data that is in demand and needed – in businesses, for example. On many occasions, Open Data DK has provided the framework for a direct dialogue between public authorities and businesses on open data. Open Data DK is thus helpful in terms of, on the one hand, getting local governments/regional governments started on working with open data and acquiring more knowledge about the need and, on the other hand, making it easier for businesses and parties interested in data to engage in a dialogue with the public sector about open data.; Additional information: Open Data DK is financed by membership subscriptions of DKK 25,000 annually per member. Half of the subscriptions is earmarked for the five regional ambassadors of Open Data DK and is allocated by the members of the region. This increases the possibility of co-determination and influence among members and makes it possible to focus on selected efforts regionally/locally. The remaining half of the subscriptions is used centrally on the secretariat, operations and developing the platform, etc. Open Data DK is a partner of commitment 5.1 of the joint public Digital Strategy 2016-2020, under which a partnership has been created for open public data with the Danish Business Authority, Danish Regions, Local Government Denmark and Open Data DK. Open Data DK is on the steering committee of commitment 3.4 of the Digital Strategy. In collaboration with the Danish Business Authority, Danish Regions and Local Government Denmark, Open Data DK puts the spotlight on legal issues in opening data and how they can be tackled. The chairman of Open Data DK is the Danish representative in the global initiative Open and Agile Smart Cities (OASC, http://www.oascities.org).

Commitment 5: Open Data DK

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

Open Data DK helps local governments and regional governments get started working with open data. It is a new area in many local governments and regional governments so it may be difficult to get the process started. Open Data DK provides a framework for knowledge sharing about open data between public authorities – and businesses.

The purpose is to create transparency in the public administration and provide a basis for data -driven growth by making data freely available for public authorities, private businesses and civil society in general. Municipal and regional data is made open and freely available on a shared data platform (open source) so that it can be easily accessed and used as raw material in the development of applications and services, or serve as the foundation for analyses, trend assessments, research, etc. Open data can create increased transparency in the public administration so that citizens and businesses can become even more active coplayers in their local democracy.

In autumn 2017 and in 2018, a number of initiatives will be put in place to promote publication and use of public data. The initiatives include:

· Information meetings for local governments and regional governments, which deal specifically with releasing the data which the local governments/regional governments possess: How to get started? What potential does public data hold?

· Individual introduction meetings for local governments and regional governments

· Updating and development of existing guidelines

· Inspiration and dialogue meetings with businesses

· Development of the open data platform, which serves to make it easier to release and use data, e.g. with focus on standardisation of data

· Collaboration with educational institutions

Open Data DK is organised with a board and a number of working teams that promote sharing among its members. It also focuses on regional/local needs, which means that Open Data DK's finances are organised so that funds are earmarked for regional initiatives. This makes it possible to have an overall regional focus on tourism data in all of North Jutland and mobility data in all of East Jutland. Currently participating in the commitment are: 31 local governments, 3 regional governments and partners such as the Danish Business Authority, Local Government Denmark, GeoFyn and GeoSjælland. Besides the participation of public authorities, considerable focus is aimed at including businesses and citizens, e.g. in the form of dialogue meetings, hackathons, data drinks^{[Note : A "data drink" refers to an event during which coders, programmers, public employees, designers, academics, entrepreneurs, and students meet over a drink to discuss cases and scenarios regarding open data. See, for example, "Aarhus Data Drinks," Alexandra Instituttet, https://alexandra.dk/dk/aktuelt/arrangementer/2013/aarhus-data-drinks-2. ]} and collaboration with educational institutions."

Milestones:

5.1 60 local governments have joined Open Data DK

5.2 4 regional governments have joined Open Data DK

5.3 7 dialogue meetings have been held

5.4 Study related to mapping tool (standardisation) has been initiated

Start Date: 2016

End Date: Unspecified

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. 14–16.

Context and Objectives

This commitment seeks to improve transparency in public administration and allow for data-driven growth through the provision of free data for civil society, private business, and public authorities. The initiative provides municipal and regional data on a shared open-source data platform. This data can be used in applications and services, analyses, and research.

Specific solutions proposed through Open Data DK include information meetings for local and regional governments, individual introductory meetings, updates of existing guidelines, inspiration meetings with businesses, development of the open data platform, and collaboration with educational institutions.

Open Data DK has a regional concentration, including a focus on tourism data in North Jutland and mobility data in East Jutland. Thirty-one local governments, three regional governments, and a variety of partners (including the Danish Business Authority, Local Government Denmark, Geo Fyn, and GeoSjælland) participate in the initiative.

Analysing the commitment in the context of OGP values, the seven dialogue meetings, as well as the anticipated hackathons and "data drinks," aim to involve citizens, businesses, and educational institutions in the development of Open Data DK. The commitment therefore has the potential to strengthen civic participation. The commitment aims to make extensive use of technological innovation, which may further advance transparency in public administration.

The IRM researcher considers the commitment specific enough to be verifiable, because its milestones are concrete. (This is the case regarding the number of local and regional governments expected to join Open Data DK, the number of dialogue meetings, and whether a study related to the mapping tool has been realised.)

The IRM researcher considers the potential impact of the initiative to be minor. While the engagement with start-up communities and private businesses constitutes a positive step for open government, the scope of the milestones, as described, centre mostly on intra-governmental coordination and organisation.

Next steps

· The IRM researcher recommends that, moving forward, commitments that are similar in nature (such as Commitments 4 and 5 on open data) be joined together, to give citizens a more comprehensive overview of government efforts on a particular theme.

· Since the commitment is already significantly implemented, the IRM researcher suggests that this commitment not be carried forward to the next action plan.

· The IRM researcher recommends that future commitments focus more on strengthening civil society engagement, rather than intra-governmental processes.

5. Open Data DK

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

“Open Data DK helps local governments and regional governments get started working with open data. It is a new area in many local governments and regional governments, so it may be difficult to get the process started. Open Data DK provides a framework for knowledge sharing about open data between public authorities – and businesses.

The purpose is to create transparency in the public administration and provide a basis for data -driven growth by making data freely available for public authorities, private businesses and civil society in general. Municipal and regional data is made open and freely available on a shared data platform (open source) so that it can be easily accessed and used as raw material in the development of applications and services, or serve as the foundation for analyses, trend assessments, research, etc. Open data can create increased transparency in the public administration so that citizens and businesses can become even more active coplayers in their local democracy.

In autumn 2017 and in 2018, a number of initiatives will be put in place to promote publication and use of public data. The initiatives include:

• Information meetings for local governments and regional governments, which deal specifically with releasing the data which the local governments/regional governments possess: How to get started? What potential does public data hold?
• Individual introduction meetings for local governments and regional governments
• Updating and development of existing guidelines
• Inspiration and dialogue meetings with businesses
• Development of the open data platform, which serves to make it easier to release and use data, e.g. with focus on standardisation of data
• Collaboration with educational institutions

Open Data DK is organised with a board and a number of working teams that promote sharing among its members. It also focuses on regional/local needs, which means that Open Data DK’s finances are organised so that funds are earmarked for regional initiatives. This makes it possible to have an overall regional focus on tourism data in all of North Jutland and mobility data in all of East Jutland. Currently participating in the commitment are: 31 local governments, 3 regional governments and partners such as the Danish Business Authority, Local Government Denmark, GeoFyn and GeoSjælland. Besides the participation of public authorities, considerable focus is aimed at including businesses and citizens, e.g. in the form of dialogue meetings, hackathons, data drinks [18] and collaboration with educational institutions.”

Milestones:

• 60 local governments have joined Open Data DK
• Four regional governments have joined Open Data DK
• Seven dialogue meetings have been held
• Study related to mapping tool (standardisation) has been initiated

Start Date: 2016

End Date: Unspecified

Editorial note: For the full text of this commitment, see “The Danish OGP National Action Plan 2017–2019,” Danish Agency for Digitisation, pp. 14–16, https://en.digst.dk/policy-and-strategy/open-government/open-government-partnership-ogp-action-plan/.

This commitment sought to improve transparency in public administration and data-driven growth by providing free municipal and regional data on a shared open-source data platform (Open Data DK). The aim was for data to then be used by civil society, private businesses, and public authorities for applications, services, analyses, and research.

By the end of 2019, Open Data DK includes 40 municipalities, two regions, and a number of public institutions, including Local Government Denmark (KL) and the Danish Business Authority. However, these numbers are less than were originally envisioned in the action plan (60 municipalities and four regional governments), so the commitment is considered to be substantially—but not fully—complete. Eight dialogue meetings have been conducted with municipals and enterprises and single events (hackathons and “data drinks”) have been held and overseen by Open Data DK in accordance with the commitments’ milestones. Remaining activities concern ongoing dialogues with enterprises and regions as part of the Danish Digitization Strategy (2016–2020). The final milestone concerns technical consolidation of the data platform, which is still in progress as of the end of 2019. [19]

The strategies to raise awareness of open data through multi-stakeholder activities have emphasized both the need for and potential of sharing locally-available information. The activities (dialogue meetings with enterprises, hackathons, etc.) conducted by Open Data DK have been especially valuable in facilitating collaboration with data users and municipal representatives. Open Data DK and KL have documented examples of projects that have emerged from the commitment (e.g., hackathons), including data visualization tools and maps, traffic applications, and a general overview of municipal services. ^[20]

According to Open Data DK, the main challenges that have occurred during implementation primarily concern the need for more dialogue between enterprises and municipalities. Another concern is the lack of resources in smaller municipalities to cope with the open data agenda, [21] which explains the limitations in Open Data DK membership (Milestones 5.1 and 5.2).

Overall, the commitment has had a positive contribution towards data use at the local level resulting from closer dialogue between municipalities, regions, enterprises, and citizens. This ultimately increases the accessibility of information, as these projects present local data through open-source applications. However, given the focus on municipalities’ capacities to utilize open data and the nature of projects (infrastructure, energy, and geography), the commitment has had a marginal impact on improving access to information.

[18] A “data drink” refers to an event during which coders, programmers, public employees, designers, academics, entrepreneurs, and students meet over a drink to discuss cases and scenarios regarding open data. See, for example, “Aarhus Data Drinks”, Alexandra Instituttet, https://alexandra.dk/dk/aktuelt/arrangementer/2013/aarhus-data-drinks-2.

[19] “End-of-term report on Denmark’s OGP Action Plan 2017–2019”, Danish Agency for Digitisation, forthcoming.

[20] ”Små åbne data succeser – Konkrete eksempler på anvendelser af åbne data”, KL & Open Data DK, available at [in Danish] at http://reader.livedition.dk/aarhuskommune/874/html5/.

[21] Birgitte Kjærgaard (Open Data DK), interview with IRM researcher, 14 November 2019.