CRO Open Data Portal

Tá leagan Gaeilge den mhír seo ar fáil anseo.

In late 2024, the Companies Registration Office (CRO) launched an innovative Open Data Portal, sharing national company registration data and company financial statements in compliance with the Open Data Directive.

The Open Data Directive which came into force in June 2024 required that the CRO make available basic company information free of charge and in machine readable format. In addition, company financial statements were identified as one of the high value data sets which had to be made available under the Directive.

The CRO is the central repository of public statutory information on Irish companies, business names and limited partnerships. All of the information held by the CRO is available to the public on payment of a small fee.

In order to meet its obligations under the Open Data Directive the CRO worked with Derilinx, who had been selected under the OGP Framework for Open Data and Data Management for the Irish Public Sector.

How the Project Began

The project began with a strategic collaboration to ensure compliance with Regulation (EU) 2023/138. The initial steps included:

1. Identifying High-Value Datasets: Derilinx assisted the CRO in identifying key datasets for publication and reuse in line with EU requirements.
2. As-Is Assessment: A review of CRO’s existing systems was conducted to assess compliance with the Open Data Directive and Implementing Regulation.
3. Roadmap and Implementation: A clear roadmap was developed, outlining the necessary steps to achieve full compliance, including the deployment of the new Open Data Portal.

The CRO’s new Open Data Portal offers a range of unique features designed to make company registration data more accessible and engaging. It is fully compliant with EU Regulations and meets requirements such as making data available via API and in bulk, ensuring that datasets such as the main Company Record and Financial Statements are accessible without undue delay.  

Data from the portal is automatically transferred to data.gov.ie, Ireland’s National Open Data Platform, and shared on data.europa.eu, the EU’s central data portal. This automated process ensures that Irish company registration data is easily accessible across Europe, streamlining the distribution of public-sector data for wider use.

The portal uses dynamic, easy-to-understand visualisations to help users navigate complex company data. These interactive tools allow users to explore and interpret information in a clear, visual format.

Public dashboards display essential company information, such as registration details and ownership structures, in an intuitive layout.

With the launch of the Open Data Portal, the CRO has set a new standard for data transparency in Europe. CRO is leading the way in sharing national company registration data in such an accessible format, the CRO is demonstrating a strong commitment to openness and innovation. The portal provides a user-friendly platform that exceeds EU Open Data Directive requirements, offering both public and internal dashboards, interactive visualisations, and automated data publishing to the European Portal.

This initiative sets a positive example for public sector organisations, showing that complex data can be made both accessible and actionable.

The launch of the CRO Open Data Portal is just the beginning. The platform will continue to evolve, with new datasets and features planned for future releases. CRO’s ongoing commitment to transparency and innovation will ensure that the portal remains a valuable resource for businesses, researchers, and the public.

This new initiative marks an exciting step forward for the CRO, strengthening its commitment to transparency and accessibility. By providing free and easy access to company registration data, the CRO is setting a positive example for data sharing across Europe.