In a recently published article by GIM International, Mick Cory and Joep Crompvoets, general-secretaries of Eurogeographics and EuroSDR respectively, discuss the impact and prospects of the new directive released last summer on Open Data and Reuse of Public Sector Information.
This directive establishes an updated set of rules on the reuse of information produced by any public sector body or with public funding (not subject to third-party copyright), establishing six categories of high-value data sets:
- Geospatial
- Observation of the earth and the environment.
- Meteorological.
- Statistics.
- Companies and company property.
- Mobility.
In the article, Mick Cory and Joep Crompvoets explain the benefits that this directive will bring for the geomatic industry, which will benefit from the opening of large volumes of data from the public sector, in addition to the large market that demands services related to the use and re-use of geographic information by third parties.
In this regard Andrus Ansip, the former EC vice-president for the digital single market, stated: “Data is increasingly the soul of the current economy. The full direct economic value of information and data for the sector is expected Public business ownership increase from € 52 billion [US $ 60 billion] in 2018 to € 194 billion [US $ 222 billion] by 2030 (these figures are based on EU, including UK, Ed.). With these new rules in place, we will make sure we can make the most of this growth. ”
Mick Cory and Joep Crompvoets also set out some of the fundamental features to understand the impact of this directive, where the authorized data from public sources, the trust that comes from the authorized bodies that offer this data and the funds or financing, are some of the key points that are exposed in the article.