Ireland remain open data trend-setters in EU Open Data

The Open Data Unit, DPER, is delighted to announce that Ireland remain open data trend-setters in EU Open Data in 2022.

In December 2022, data.europa.eu published its eighth consecutive annual report on EU Open Data maturity. As one of eight top performing countries in this year’s EU OPEN DATA MATURITY REPORT 2022, Ireland ranked fourth place overall, just 2 points behind France and Ukraine and pipped to the post for third place by Poland. This means that Ireland remains a leader and trend-setter in EU Open Data for 7 years in a row.

The Open Data Unit has had a busy workload in 2022- we organised multiple events and knowledge sharing sessions, such as the “It’s time to open” webinar series, and a series of local events and meetings to assist data providers in the publication of high-quality data and metadata, with the aim of improving the use and re-use of data to generate positive sustainable impact in society.

The Open Data Maturity assessment 2022 benchmarks the development of European countries in the field of Open Data. In 2022, the ODM self-assessment was completed by 35 countries. It measures maturity against the four open data dimensions shown below, where you can also find Ireland’s ranking against Europe’s average:

• Open Data Policy: focuses on the open data policies and strategies in place – Ireland scored 99%, an increase of 5 points on 2021 and 13 points above the European average.
• Open Data Impact: analyses the willingness, preparedness and ability to measure both the reuse and the impact of open data. Ireland scored an impressive 100% for the second consecutive year, 29 points over the 71% EU average.
• Open Data Portal: assesses national portal functions, features, use and sustainability that enable users to access open data via the national portal and support interaction within the open data community – Ireland’s Open Data Portal is one of the strongest in Europe with a 97% score, 14 points above the 83% European average.
• Open Data Quality: focuses on measures adopted by portal managers to ensure the systematic harvesting of metadata from sources across the country – Ireland scored the weakest in this dimension with a score of 83%, down 9 points from last year, but still 6 points above the 77% EU average.

You can view Ireland’s factsheet here: https://data.europa.eu/sites/default/files/country-factsheet_ireland_2022.pdf

For 2023, the Open Data Unit will be working to maintain our position as leaders in the EU ranking. Our focus will be on the Open Data Quality dimension. Among our initiatives, we will be running a series of Impact Events covering themes such as Agriculture Data, Waste Management and the circular economy and a series of local events and meetings to assist data providers in the publication of high-quality data and metadata. This will ultimately improve the use and re-use of data to generate a positive and sustainable impact in society. We will be publishing the next Open Data Strategy and hosting the National Open Data Conference.

2023 dates for training courses on open data and general data management will be announced throughout the year. These courses are open to all public sector employees and include: General Introduction to Open Data; Introduction to the Open Data Directive; Open Data Audits & Data Publication; Introduction to Data Analytics & Visualisation; Data Anonymisation Techniques; and Introduction to Linked Data.

We would like to thank Derilinx as our key partner in Ireland’s Open Data Programme and look forward to continue working with them to maintain and improve Ireland at the top of the rankings in the EU, in the Open Data arena. You can view their blog on the EU OPEN DATA MATURITY REPORT 2022 here.