Last year we have launched the European Data Portal along with some publications assessing the benefits of Open Data and what European countries were doing about it.

Now the Portal has grown and references up to 600,000 datasets spread over 34 European countries, available in 15 different languages. On 6 October, we have published a first report on the state of play of Open Data in Europe.

What is happening in Europe regarding Open Data?

I was glad to see that most countries have increased their use of Open Data. They have launched activities to promote their Open Data policies and portals, as well as developed additional means to monitor their users.

In addition, in comparison to 2015, there is a clear increase in demonstrating the political, social and economic impact of Open Data, although scores differ largely between countries. Furthermore, a majority of the EU28+ countries have successfully developed a basic Open Data policy with 20 countries having an integrated and dedicated Open Data policy.

Having a policy in place is one thing. What also matters is whether the data is easy to access.

Therefore, the second aspect of the measurement assesses the portal maturity. Results show that portal maturity is not simply linked to more countries having a portal, but countries developing more systematic impact assessment and evaluation studies of the benefits of Open Data.

There are high levels of progress in this area: 41.7% to 64.3% compared to 2015. This means that countries are developing more advanced features on their data portals.

Which countries have accelerated the most?

When looking at Open Data Readiness, the report finds that Ireland, the Czech Republic, Luxembourg and Slovakia have accelerated most significantly in 2016. When considering overall Open Data Maturity, we found that Spain and France are frontrunners, followed by Ireland, the Netherlands, Austria, the United Kingdom, Bulgaria and Finland.

The Open Data Readiness aspect took into consideration the pro-active attitude of the public sector in disseminating data in an open manner: setting up portals where government data is available in interoperable, machine-readable formats, publishing practical guides on data re-use, providing necessary training to public officials and engaging with the re-users community to prioritise the release of high-value datasets.

You want to know more? Take a look at the dashboard on Open Data in Europe.

Stay in touch

The European Data Portal will continue monitoring Europe's open data landscape, extending its reach to cover new sources of European government data. It will intensify its community-building and advocacy role, disseminating best practice and organizing workshops and training seminars across the EU.

In parallel, the Commission will start assessing the impact of the amended PSI Directive, along with all accompanying measures on the national level, to prepare for the review of the legal framework on PSI re-use, due in 2018.

You are interested in learning more about Open Data and want to go to Open Data events? The easiest way to stay up-to-date about further developments is to subscribe to our Newsletter, visit our website or follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn.