Press Release: “Today, the Commission has published a list of high-value datasets that public sector bodies will have to make available for re-use, free of charge, within 16 months.
Certain public sector data, such as meteorological or air quality data are particularly interesting for creators of value-added services and applications and have important benefits for society, the environment and the economy – which is why they should be made available to the public…
The Regulation is set up under the Open Data Directive, which defines six categories of such high-value datasets: geospatial, earth observation and environment, meteorological, statistics, companies and mobility. This thematic range can be extended at a later stage to reflect technological and market developments. The datasets will be available in machine-readable format, via an Application Programming Interface and, where relevant, as bulk download.
The increased availability of data will boost entrepreneurship and result in the creation of new companies. High-value datasets can be an important resource for SMEs to develop new digital products and services, and therefore also an enabler helping them to attract investors. The re-use of datasets such as mobility or geolocalisation of buildings can open business opportunities for the logistics or transport sectors, as well as improve the efficiency of public service delivery, for example by understanding traffic flows to make transport more efficient. Meteorological observation data, radar data, air quality and soil contamination data can also support research and digital innovation as well as better-informed policymaking, especially in the fight against climate change….(More)”. See also: List of specific high-value datasets