Increasing Availability of High-Value Data (NL0062)

Brief Description of the Commitment

Open data stimulates entrepreneurship, innovation, and transparency, but is not yet fully utilized in the Netherlands. Increasing engagement and addressing privacy issues are necessary to harness its potential.

Problem Definition

1. What problem does the commitment aim to address? • Government organizations produce and use a wide variety of data to carry out public tasks. The increased availability of open data can stimulate entrepreneurship and lead to innovations that help address various societal challenges, such as climate change and social inequality. Moreover, broader availability of open data can result in greater openness and transparency of governments. • However, at present, the potential of open data in the Netherlands is not fully utilized due to challenges such as lack of engagement and concerns about privacy. The European High Value Dataset Regulation provides an opportunity to boost the availability of open data, as a list of specific ‘high value’ datasets must be made available free of charge by June 2024. • To fully harness the potential that this regulation has to offer, stakeholders need to be appropriately motivated and supported. By supporting stakeholders (in terms of content) in making high-quality datasets available, while respecting public values such as privacy, we enable various stakeholders and users, such as media, NGOs, and startups, to benefit optimally from the improved and expanded availability of open datasets in the Netherlands.

2. What are the causes of the problem? • Making high value datasets available faces several challenges: - Privacy concerns; - Lack of engagement from government organizations: Other projects may take precedence as there are no immediate financial benefits associated with making datasets available. - Lack of capacity, knowledge, and expertise within government organizations regarding the process of releasing open data. - Lack of centralized governance regarding open data policies.

Commitment Description

1. What has been done so far to solve the problem? • One of the solutions is to promote the use of the national open data portal, which was launched in 2011. The open data portal ‘data.overheid.nl’ provides an overview of all available datasets from government organizations in the Netherlands. - The portal and the registry were initiated and are managed by the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. The Knowledge and Exploitation Center for Official Government Publications (Kennis- en Exploitatiecentrum Ofciële Overheidspublicaties or KOOP) is responsible for the maintenance and development of the portal. - Over 185 Dutch government organizations make data available through the platform in approximately 16,051 datasets. The data portal is updated daily through data retrieval, API updates, and individual users. - The DCAT standard for data exchange is used and has been extended for use in the Netherlands (DCAT-AP-NL). Version 1.1 is currently in use. - The data registration is based on the software platform CKAN and Drupal 8. Currently, there are over 1,194 Dutch datasets available in English. • In 2016, the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations published the National Open Data Agenda (NODA), which later merged into the broader Government Data Agenda. • Additionally, from 2016 to 2021, the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations organized the Stuiveling Open Data Award to promote and raise awareness about the use of open data.

2. What solution are you proposing? • Assisting stakeholders in the implementation and updates of European high-value datasets through guidance and support is crucial. Previously, such support was not always provided, and as a result, the high-value datasets have not been fully implemented. - This support will help increase stakeholder engagement as they are encouraged to make more open data available. - Additionally, it can partially address the issue of lack of centralized governance concerning open data policies. - Furthermore, it can include guidance and guidelines on how to address privacy issues related to open data. • The Interadministrative Data Strategy (Interbestuurlijke Datastrategie or IBDS) will also seek collaboration with policy developments such as the Federative Data System. This involves an optimized system for responsibly using data from different sources, thereby maximizing the potential of data in a responsible manner. The data sources made available within the scope of HVDL are added to the Federative Data System (the further development of the system of basic registrations).

3. What results do we want to achieve by implementing this commitment? • Increasing the availability of open government data to stakeholders, in line with the Value-Driven Digitization Work Agenda. • The agenda mentions the promotion and utilization of open data, as well as the expansion of open data offerings from the national government, local governments, and public organizations (for example, the KNMI Data Platform or RIONED for urban water management). This commitment aims to provide tangible implementation in this regard. • Creating more awareness about the value of making open government data available for addressing societal challenges.

Commitment Description

1. What has been done so far to solve the problem? • One of the solutions is to promote the use of the national open data portal, which was launched in 2011. The open data portal ‘data.overheid.nl’ provides an overview of all available datasets from government organizations in the Netherlands. - The portal and the registry were initiated and are managed by the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations. The Knowledge and Exploitation Center for Official Government Publications (Kennis- en Exploitatiecentrum Ofciële Overheidspublicaties or KOOP) is responsible for the maintenance and development of the portal. - Over 185 Dutch government organizations make data available through the platform in approximately 16,051 datasets. The data portal is updated daily through data retrieval, API updates, and individual users. - The DCAT standard for data exchange is used and has been extended for use in the Netherlands (DCAT-AP-NL). Version 1.1 is currently in use. - The data registration is based on the software platform CKAN and Drupal 8. Currently, there are over 1,194 Dutch datasets available in English. • In 2016, the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations published the National Open Data Agenda (NODA), which later merged into the broader Government Data Agenda. • Additionally, from 2016 to 2021, the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations organized the Stuiveling Open Data Award to promote and raise awareness about the use of open data.

2. What solution are you proposing? • Assisting stakeholders in the implementation and updates of European high-value datasets through guidance and support is crucial. Previously, such support was not always provided, and as a result, the high-value datasets have not been fully implemented. - This support will help increase stakeholder engagement as they are encouraged to make more open data available. - Additionally, it can partially address the issue of lack of centralized governance concerning open data policies. - Furthermore, it can include guidance and guidelines on how to address privacy issues related to open data. • The Interadministrative Data Strategy (Interbestuurlijke Datastrategie or IBDS) will also seek collaboration with policy developments such as the Federative Data System. This involves an optimized system for responsibly using data from different sources, thereby maximizing the potential of data in a responsible manner. The data sources made available within the scope of HVDL are added to the Federative Data System (the further development of the system of basic registrations).

3. What results do we want to achieve by implementing this commitment? • Increasing the availability of open government data to stakeholders, in line with the Value-Driven Digitization Work Agenda. • The agenda mentions the promotion and utilization of open data, as well as the expansion of open data offerings from the national government, local governments, and public organizations (for example, the KNMI Data Platform or RIONED for urban water management). This commitment aims to provide tangible implementation in this regard. • Creating more awareness about the value of making open government data available for addressing societal challenges.

Commitment Planning (Milestones | Expected Outputs | Expected Completion Date)

Collecting and elaborating on key themes from the impact analyses of the High Value Data List (HVDL). | Detailed analysis of key themes shared with HVDL stakeholders in the Netherlands. | Q4 2023/Q1 2024

Establishing governance and providing substantive support for optimal implementation of the High Value Data List (HVDL). | Elaborated governance/support plan for the HVDL. | Q1 2024

Preparing fact sheets and organizing information sessions about the High Value Data List (HVDL). | Elaborated factsheets for HVDL implementation and organized information sessions. | 2024-2027

Action Plan Review

Commitment 11. Open data