The value of open data in the Mediterranean Region

[Summary] The public sector collects, creates, produces and disseminates a wide range of information from legal and administrative information, business and economic data, to geographic and meteorological information which is a key resource for the knowledge society, given its quality and variety. Therefore it is widely accepted that public sector information (PSI) if it becomes freely available as open data, constitutes a valuable raw material which can be re-used by third parties in added-value information products and services. This study addresses the impact of open data on the economy and society in the Mediterranean region. The study was implemented by Deloitte Limited, in the context of project HOMER (Harmonising Open Data in the Mediterranean through Better Access and Reuse of Public Sector Information). HOMER was funded by the European Union’s programme MED and was implemented in the period 2011-2014. The project focused on Open Data , a world-wide policy aiming at making available and exploitable public sector information, aiming to promote a coordinated and tailored approach in the eight participating Mediterranean regions/countries, in order to stimulate their accessibility and re-use.