CSC’s feedback on the European Commission’s proposal for an implementing act on High-Value Datasets held by the public sector
The data economy development has the potential to boost research and innovation, that are highly necessary for enhancing the wellbeing and competitiveness of Europe in the future. The proposal for an implementing act of the Open Data Directive on High-Value Datasets (HVDs) is one of the key tools in implementing the European Strategy for Data and opening and expanding the data economy. The datasets identified in the proposal create major potential for providing added value and support the creation of common European data spaces included in the data strategy. Therefore, CSC supports the proposal and calls for swift enforcement of the HVDs.
CSC is particularly happy to see, that the proposal is firmly rooted in the FAIR principles. CSC also supports the selection of the high-value datasets based on the thematic categories listed in the proposal and sees the arrangements for the publication and reuse of such datasets as well justified and clear. In addition, the data sets’ accuracy, geographic coverage and conditions are set to an adequate level. However, the timeline for the implementation of the act may prove to be slightly too ambitious.
In CSC’s view, it is important to include geospatial and climate related data in the proposal and hence we are happy to see that those are laid out in the proposal. Including climate-related data is particularly important to support research, digital innovation and coordinated policy-making in tackling climate crisis. Also, the availability of data about companies has positive consequences in improving the transparency of markets.
In order to have re-usable data for the purposes of innovation, it is crucial to focus on the quality of open data. As the amount of data is constantly growing, continuous efforts in this regard are needed in Europe. Openly available high-quality public datasets will encourage all stakeholders to enhance the re-usability, accessibility, quality and availability of their data. This will increase the efficiency of public administration as a result of wider re-use of public sector data.
Since data is by nature horizontal and cross-sectoral, it requires an approach that is holistic and comprehensive. Systematic avoidance of the establishment of new barriers for data movement is needed in Europe and harmonisation of legislation is needed in this regard. Therefore, CSC welcomes the efforts made in the context of implementing the European Strategy for Data. Moving forwards, soft law and common practices approaches must continue to be the preferred option for regulating the data economy and critical assessments should be made regarding the need for new regulation with a goal to reduce it where possible.