Launch of project on opening up and using public data – Aim to maximise access to public data with focus on quality and interoperability

On 30 April 2020, the Ministry of Finance set up a project on opening up and using public data. The term of the project is 2020–2022. The project focuses on promoting wider and more effective use of public data throughout society in decision-making, business, research and civic engagement.

The aim is to significantly increase the amount of public data that is available for use, such as statistical data and business ownership information. Measures will focus especially on datasets with the greatest potential for use and which could be made available either as open data or for the widest possible use primarily via application programming interfaces (APIs). The data made available should be of the highest quality, interoperable, easily accessible and understandable.

The project will put into effect the aims set out in the Government Programme of Prime Minister Marin’s Government, namely adding depth to the management of information policy and making the openness of public information the overarching principle of information policy. The project is part of a package of strategic measures on opening up and using public data. It also supports the national implementation of the Open Data Directive ((EU) 2019/1024). The project makes use of the valuable work already undertaken on furthering the opening up and use of public data by a great many contributors, for example in the Open Data Programme 2013–2015.

Extensive and open collaboration will be an essential part of the project’s implementation. The key stakeholders include central government, local government, joint municipal authorities and publicly owned companies.

The project has four priority areas that will together ensure the aims of the Government Programme are put into effect:

• Strategic objectives for opening up and using public data
• Promoting access to information
• Ensuring the quality of data
• Advancing the technical and semantic interoperability of data

A proposal will be drawn up concerning the strategic objectives for opening up and using public sector data, with the aim of guiding and directing the future work in this area. Access to information will be promoted by creating and adopting an operational framework that will help government entities and publicly owned companies release public data more systematically in the form of open data or for the widest possible use. To ensure data quality, a set of quality criteria will be established and introduced. National API guidelines will also be prepared and implemented, and an interoperability platform will be developed for supporting the technical and semantic interoperability of data.

A launch seminar for the project will be held online in June 2020. This will be open to everyone. The seminar programme and the instructions for signing up will be announced on the project website soon.

Inquiries:

Tanja Lahti, Project Manager, [email protected], +358 2955 30650
Miina Arajärvi, Senior Specialist, [email protected], +358 2955 30646
Heidi Innanen, Project Coordinator, [email protected], +358 2955 30315