According to the EU Commission, European public administrations are in possession of an actual gold mine, issued in an economic return for EU members of about 40 billion euro per year. The Commission refers to the huge amount of data produced or collected by public services and authorities which, if released to companies or the civil society, would boost entrepreneurial, cultural and civil initiatives throughout Europe. Such an information volume concerns cartographic, weather, statistical, environmental, tourist, maritime, scientific, cultural and transport data which, for free or with minimal costs, can be used and distributed by anyone.
For instance, the authorities regulating public transport may provide real time information on the position of buses, railway and underground trains, allowing anyone to use them without restraints. As consequence, we will observe, for instance, an increase in the number of free or paid apps for Smartphones – as it already happens in the US – which will certainly contribute to a much more efficient use of local public means of transport. Who knows how a Roman citizen may react to such an innovation! Are you planning to go out and enjoy a show in the city centre? An app may combine in real time the different data on cinema, theatres, means of transport, traffic, parking areas and restaurants and give you intelligent solutions in a few seconds. It is quite easy to imagine how useful this tool may be. Furthermore, the disclosure of detailed data on public expenditure would allow associations and single citizens to better know how the money raised by taxes is used – and identify possible wastes – developing, therefore, a more mature civic responsibility.
This is just the beginning, but the Commission’s press release entitled “Turning government data into gold” – one of the pillars of the Digital Agenda for Europe – will certainly focus member countries’ attention on the reduced cost of the actions they are required to adopt in order to generate high economic returns. Austria, Belgium, Estonia, France, Ireland, Moldavia, Norway, Netherlands, United Kingdom and Spain have already launched their open data platforms providing free information on State budget, quality of air, public subsidies, public health, demography and fiscal issues. Italy is part of this list as well. The Commission has also praised the open data portal of the Piemonte region, the first one in Italy and one the first platforms in Europe. Following this example, the Italian central government has recently inaugurated the portal dati.gov.it.
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