Open Data at Sub-National Level (FR0036)
Overview
At-a-Glance
Action Plan: France Action Plan 2018-2020
Action Plan Cycle: 2018
Status:
Institutions
Lead Institution: Minister of State for the Digital Sector, attached to the Prime Minister
Support Institution(s): Ministry of the Interior, Local Government Directorate-General (DGCL) Opendata France
Policy Areas
Access to Information, Capacity Building, Local Commitments, Open DataIRM Review
IRM Report: France Transitional Results Report 2018-2020, France Design Report 2018-2020
Early Results: No IRM Data
Design i
Verifiable: Yes
Relevant to OGP Values: Yes
Ambition (see definition): Low
Implementation i
Description
Support local areas in implementing the open data by default principle
Lead institution(s):
Minister of State for the Digital Sector, attached to the Prime Minister
Other stakeholders:
Ministry of the Interior, Local Government Directorate-General (DGCL) Opendata France
Commitment building on: commitment no. 11 Co-produce with civil society the data infrastructure essential to society and economy; commitment no. 12 Further expand the opening of legal resources & the collaboration with civil society on opening the law and commitment no. 15 Strengthen government policy on the opening and circulation of data of the NAP for 2015-2017
OGP principles with which the commitment is associated:
Access to information, accountability, innovation and technology for openness
Challenges
The Digital Republic Act introduces a requirement for local communities with more than 3,500 inhabitants to publish their public information in open data format, from October 2018. To get a head start in laying the groundwork for this new requirement, in 2017 the Government backed the Opendatalocale programme led by the Opendata France association. By getting nine pilot local areas up and running, this programme enabled a set of tools and resources to be defined for local communities. This commitment is aimed at expanding on these initial efforts by supporting Opendata France's initiatives.
Ambitions
Support local areas in implementing the open by default principle governing public data by keeping the Opendatalocale initiative going and raising the profile of the progress local authorities are making in terms of opening up data.
Through the Opendatalocale project, a number of local areas have been able to embark on opening up their public data by creating a common database for all local areas and a range of teaching aids.
There are clear signs, though, that the legal framework is changing, and that political ambitions are growing steadily in this respect. So the Opendatalocale project has been continued for 2018 to keep supporting the many local authorities involved, by bringing all of the national stakeholders on board and offering various teaching aids and training programmes for local areas.
With a view to providing national and local public stakeholders, media observers, advocacy groups, researchers and economic specialists with precise information on the progress being made in terms of open data in local authorities, Opendata France has set up a community open data observatory tasked with producing indicators bearing on the committed local authorities, datasets made available and uses made possible through the publication of data for example.
The road map in detail
Maintain and add to the educational and methodological resources for local areas Semester 2 2018
Perpetuate and add to the training provision for local areas by capitalising on new partnerships and setting up a network of training leaders Semester 2 2018
Continue to support and update the common local database Ongoing
Set up a community open data observatory producing various summary indicators from the data collected on publication platforms:
Local authorities publishing information in open data format (number, type, geographic distribution)
Sets of open data (number, date, theme, access conditions, etc.)
Publication platforms (number, type, technical solutions, etc.)
Uses (re-use, traffic)
Local area coordination (stimulation of re-use and support
options for local authorities) Semester 2 2018
IRM Midterm Status Summary
7. Support local areas in implementing the open data by default principle
Language of the commitment as it appears in the action plan:
The Digital Republic Act introduces a requirement for local communities with more than 3,500 inhabitants to publish their public information in open data format, from October 2018. To get a head start in laying the groundwork for this new requirement, in 2017 the Government backed the Opendatalocale programme led by the Opendata France association. By getting nine pilot local areas up and running, this programme enabled a set of tools and resources to be defined for local communities. This commitment is aimed at expanding on these initial efforts by supporting Opendata France's initiatives.
Support local areas in implementing the open by default principle governing public data by keeping the Opendatalocale initiative going and raising the profile of the progress local authorities are making in terms of opening up data.
Through the Opendatalocale project, a number of local areas have been able to embark on opening up their public data by creating a common database for all local areas and a range of teaching aids.
There are clear signs, though, that the legal framework is changing, and that political ambitions are growing steadily in this respect. So the Opendatalocale project has been continued for 2018 to keep supporting the many local authorities involved, by bringing all of the national stakeholders on board and offering various teaching aids and training programmes for local areas.
With a view to providing national and local public stakeholders, media observers, advocacy groups, researchers and economic specialists with precise information on the progress being made in terms of open data in local authorities, Opendata France has set up a community open data observatory tasked with producing indicators bearing on the committed local authorities, datasets made available and uses made possible through the publication of data for example. [34]
Milestones
7.1 Maintain and add to the educational and methodological resources for local areas
7.2 Perpetuate and add to the training provision for local areas by capitalising on new partnerships and setting up a network of training leaders
7.3 Set up a community open data observatory producing various summary indicators from the data collected on publication platforms:
- Local authorities publishing information in open data format (number, type, geographic distribution)
- Sets of open data (number, date, theme, access conditions, etc.)
- Publication platforms (number, type, technical solutions, etc.)
- Uses (re-use, traffic)
- Local area coordination (stimulation of re-use and support options for local authorities)
Start Date: 2018
End Date: 2019
Context and Objectives
As of October 2018, reforms have required local governments with over 3,500 inhabitants to publish their public information in open data format. The end-of-term report on the 2015–2017 action plan pointed to the lack of capacity of many local governments, if not most, to fulfill this legal obligation. It noted that there is an important discrepancy between large metropolitan areas and smaller rural cities. The latter often lack financial resources, knowledge, and data literacy. The Observatory of Open Data in Territories (Observatoire Open Data des Territoires) provides an indication of the level of compliance with local governments. Currently, only 343 local governments out of 4,510 are actively moving toward opening their public data. [35]
In 2017, to support local governments in complying with these legal obligations, the government supported the Opendatalocale program, led by the Opendata France association. The association provided support for nine pilot projects in local governments and enabled the development of a set of tools and resources for local governments. This commitment aimed to expand this program through the development of learning material, trainings, and the harmonization and standardization of data throughout the common local dataset. The aim of the latter is to facilitate small municipalities’ access to relevant technology and to help them validate their data and comply with legal standards. Etalab is also developing a platform (schema.data.gouv.fr) to provide public officials with an entry point to the standardized open data schemas. [36]
This commitment is relevant to access to information and technology and innovation. It explicitly involves publication of summary indicators by a community open data observatory. It also entails further standardization of data and appropriate training of officials in charge of the publication of data. These characterizations could also apply to the milestone to further standardize local government data.
Although this commitment is a continuation of previous activities, the formulation of the milestones is vague (e.g., “maintain,” “perpetuate,” “continue to support”). More specific information about the activities would have made the commitment clearer and easier to measure.
The IRM researcher considers this initiative to have a minor potential effect. The commitment responds to a need to support local governments in opening public data by default. However, the commitment does not require the publication of any information apart from indicators on the performance of local government transparency.
Next steps
The IRM researcher recommends that the commitment be carried on in the next action plan and that:
- A thorough evaluation be conducted to assess why there are so few local governments involved in the open data agenda, to inform the development of trainings and documentation;
- The government ensure that the types of data that should be included in the common local dataset are clearly identified; and
- Local civil society and residents of the targeted local governments be included in the implementation of the commitment, either through the provision of information on local governments’ obligations or through access and use of the data provided in the common local dataset, to make the commitment more inclusive.
IRM End of Term Status Summary
7. Support local areas in implementing the open data by default principle
Completion: Limited
The government has set up a Local government data observatory to centralize data published by local governments and provide information on the impact of open data at the local level. [xxxiv] Etalab is also in regular contact (at least twice a year) with local government representatives through the programme DCANT (Programme on the concerted development of digital local administration) to develop roadmaps on open data at the local level (no evidence available on the number of type of local governments participating). [xxxv] A number of local governments have expressed their concern since the government change in 2017 that the DCANT programme might not take their needs into account in the future. [xxxvi] However, according to the government self-assessment, few efforts were made in order to offer training or develop training resources for local governments. No new partnerships were established, nor was the network of training leaders.