Moving towards ‘open by default’

"Interview: Wendy Carrara and Dinand Tinholt of the EU Data Portal project talk about the lessons from two new studies on open data This week’s launch of the European Data Portal has provided further momentum for the cause of open data in the EU, and been accompanied by two reports that provide fresh evidence that the UK is one of the star performers in the field. Capgemini Consulting, leader of the consortium that built the portal, compiled the studies – Creating Value through Open Data and Open Data Maturity in Europe 2015 – on behalf of the European Commission in an effort to clarify where the work on open data now needs to be focused. The lessons suggest that, while there is steady progress throughout the EU, there is still a need for a more structured approach, even in the UK. While the reports are not primarily for benchmarking, they include indicators of member states’ achievements so far with open data. The UK is second only to Spain on the maturity indicator, taking into account its readiness with policy, licensing norms, national coordination and use of data, and the maturity of its prime portal, data.gov.uk ..."