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From opening up government data to its impact assessment

valtiovarainministeriö
Publication date 24.4.2015 13.05
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Finland is among the leading countries in opening up government data. Contemporarily gathered and available data is not sufficient for the comprehensive assessment of the materialized socio-economic impacts of opening up government data. The prerequisite for this is a careful development of the monitoring and evaluation model for opening up government data as well as a systematic gathering of data for the impact assessment.

In Finland, the goal is to open up all significant data resources maintained by the public administration by 2020, so that the data therein will be available and usable in machine-readable format, free of charge and under clear terms of use.

Socio-economic research of open data use has been relatively scarce to date, and very little is known about the underlying economic and organisational mechanisms and implications of data use at the level of organisations or the economy as a whole. Various reports have evaluated the economic impacts of open data ex ante but the literature lacks ex post analysis focusing on the materialized economic impacts.

The Economic Impact of Open Data – preliminary study provides guidelines for impact assessment

Reported ex ante evaluations have estimated that the potential benefits of opening up public data resources are substantial. The Economic Impact of Open Data – preliminary study provides guidelines for the ex-post evaluation of the impacts of open data.

The preliminary study explores what is currently known about the impacts of open data, what research methods and indicators can be used for studying the socio-economic impacts of open data, which types of usable data are already being collected and what are the additional data needs. While the focus of the report is on measurable economic impacts, social impacts are also briefly addressed.

The report lays down a preliminary framework for the development of an assessment model depicting the impacts of open data. Finland has a chance to be among the most advanced countries in the impact assessment of open data.

The Economic Impact of Open Data – preliminary study
Opendata.fi
Open Data Programme

Additional information:

Heli Koski, Head of Unit, Elinkeinoelämän tutkimuslaitos, p. 09 60990 240, [email protected]
Anne Kauhanen-Simanainen, Ministerial Advisor, Ministry of Finance, Tel. +358 295530043, [email protected]
Suurhasko Margit, Programme manager, Ministry of Finance, Tel +358 2955 30404, [email protected]

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