Public Sector Information
Public Sector Information - Raw Data for New Services and Products
Public sector information (PSI) is the single largest source of information in Europe. It is produced and collected by public bodies and includes digital maps, meteorological, legal, traffic, financial, economic and other data. Most of this raw data could be re-used or integrated into new products and services, which we use on a daily basis, such as car navigation systems, weather forecasts, financial and insurance services.
Re-use of public sector information means using it in new ways by adding value to it, combining information from different sources, making mash-ups and new applications, both for commercial and non-commercial purposes. Examples include real time traffic information and bus timetables together with maps downloaded to smart phones. Public sector information has great economic potential. According to a survey conducted by the European Commission in 2006 (MEPSIR study), the overall market size for PSI in the EU is estimated at 27 billion. Increase in the re-use of PSI generates new businesses and jobs and provides consumers with more choice and more value for money.
In 2003, the EU adopted the Directive on the re-use of public sector information (PSI Directive). It has introduced a common legislative framework regulating how public sector bodies should make their information available for re-use in order to remove barriers such as discriminatory practices, monopoly markets and a lack of transparency. All 27 EU Member States have implemented the PSI Directive into their national legal orders. PSI rules in the Member States.
In 2009, the Commission reviewed the way in which EU PSI rules were being applied, which confirmed that PSI-re use has been on the rise but also that to realise the full potential of PSI for the EU economy, EU Member States must remove remaining barriers to re-use.
The Commission is currently working on the review of the PSI Directive. An on-line public consultation on the existing PSI Directive was launched on 9 September 2010 and closed on 30 November 2010 (see the statistics and the responses in the news item of 20 January 2011). The press release announcing the consultation.
The review of the Directive has been signalled as one of the key actions of the "Digital Agenda for Europe" as well as of the Commission's work programme for 2011. See the press release of the Letter by President Barroso to the Members of the European Parliament.
Latest news and further information
- What's new?
- Forthcoming actions and events
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- What's new
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25 March 2011 - Full report of the on-line public consultation on the PSI Directive.
25 March 2011 - Minutes of the 14th PSI Group meeting.
25 March 2011 - Call for Participation. Workshop: Removing the roadblocks to a pan European market for Public Sector Information re-use Brussels, 10-11 May 2011. Submit a position paper: Deadline: 21 April 2011. The Digital Agenda for Europe identifies public sector information as an important stimulant for content markets in the EU.
4 February 2011 - Conclusions of the European Council. The Commission is invited to make rapid progress in key areas of the digital economy to ensure the creation of the Digital Single Market by 2015, including the promotion and protection of creativity, the development of e-commerce and the availability of public sector information.
27 January 2011 - 14th PSI Group meeting Agenda and Presentations
24 January 2011 - The LAPSI (Legal Aspects of Public Sector Information) Thematic Network is calling for papers for their 1st public conference which will take place in Milan (Italy) on 5 and 6 May 2011. The call for papers will be closed on 20th of March 2011 (16:00 hrs CET).
24 January 2011 - Public tender "Follow up to the PSI Platform" - the contract award notice 2011/S 15-022216 has been published in TED (Tenders Electronic Daily).
20 January 2011 - Statistics and the responses to the on-line public consultation on the PSI Directive launched on 9 September 2010 and closed on 30 November 2010. See above for the full analysis of the responses.
- Questionnaire (PDF)
- Selected statistics (Excel)
- Responses (Excel)
- Individual responses submitted off-line: EuroGeographics (PDF), Wirtschaftskammer (PDF), Microsoft (PDF), EFAMRO and ESOMAR (PDF), STM (PDF), ISPA (PDF), ARD/ZDF (PDF)
- Submitted MS position papers: Denmark (PDF), France (PDF), Belgium (PDF), The Netherlands (PDF)
31 December 2010 - Prior notice of a call for tenders has been published in TED (Tenders Electronic Daily) for data.gov.eu. The procurement action(s) would support the definition and launch of an initial data.gov.eu initiative for the benefit of reusers across Europe and eventually becoming the recognised and widely used European access point to government information.
3 December 2010 - On 3 November 2010 we invited experts with practical experience on publishing government open data to discuss the opportunities for and technical challenges of establishing a pan-European open data portal: what would be the benefits? How should it be established? What services could it and should it offer? We are now publishing a complete summary of this discussion in this report.
30 September 2010 - The Commission decided to close the infringement proceedings against Italy and Sweden for incorrect transposition of the PSI Directive. In both cases, the national authorities have accepted to adapt their legislation to transpose the PSI Directive along the lines of the remarks expressed in the letters of formal notice addressed to them by the Commission: new PSI Act Lag 2010:566 entered into force 1st July, in the case of Sweden, and Article 44 of Legge Comunitaria 2009 entered into force 10 July 2010, in the case of Italy.
10 September 2010 - Additional information concerning the public tender "Follow up to the PSI platform".
9 September 2010 - Today the Commission launched a public consultation on the PSI Directive. All interested parties – public sector bodies, re-users, developers, researchers and citizens – are invited to participate in the consultation which includes questions on the PSI re-use context and possible action to consider, substantive issues regulated by the PSI Directive, practical measures, changes that have taken place and barriers that still exist, and other issues. The consultation will feed into the debate on possible policy options that should be considered for the review, and will contribute to the impact assessment that will be carried out subsequently, associated with proposals for possible legislative or other measures. The consultation will close on 30 November 2010.
8 September 2010 - The report on the work undertaken by the Commission's PSI Group and sub-working groups on Economic Indicators and PSI Charging Models has been finalised. More information on the economic analysis page.
8 September 2010 - The reports to identify the potential existence of Exclusive Agreements for Belgium, Austria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Poland, Spain, Italy and France have been finalised. Whilst most of the studies have yielded leads to potential Exclusive Agreements in Member States, overall the studies have found out that the number of potential Exclusive Agreements are very few in the EU, and that these are not a major obstacle hindering the full potential of PSI re-use in Europe. The studies also provide some insight into the current PSI developments in Member States and hint to those areas which may be preventing PSI re-use in each respective Member State.
- Forthcoming actions and events
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Ongoing: Monitoring implementation and application of the Directive 2003/98/EC on the re-use of public sector information in the Member States
Ongoing: Awareness and stimulation actions, report developments and monitor progress towards a stronger and more transparent environment for the growth of national and European PSI re-use markets through the Commission's ePSIplatform project
Ongoing: LAPSI Network - Legal aspects of public sector information
Ongoing: Economic analysis of the EU PSI marketsOngoing: Work with the Member States in the PSI Group
Ongoing: Work with stakeholders (public sector bodies, industrial associations)
Ongoing: Review of the Directive 2003/98/EC on the re-use of public sector information in 2012
- Brochures
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