Open Data Portal (IT0020)

The aim of this action is to boost transparency of administrative actions and foster the open data economy through the following activities: 1. Reinforcing the National Open Data Portal dati.gov.it. Firstly, the number and quality of datasets published on the national portal will be increased, through the release of all data mentioned in the National Agenda 2014 for the enhancement of public information resources; the portal will also host the catalogue of the applications developed through the re-use of PA open data; 2. Publishing the most important data for citizens and businesses. In parallel, a public consultation open to citizens and businesses will be launched in the portal dati.gov.it; it will be open to citizens and business for the identification of further information to be released in addition to those already provided by the National Agenda. The future versions of the National Agenda will include the results of such consultation; 3. Hackathons and contests will be organized to promote the re-use of published data. These will involve specific categories (students, associations, start-ups) or will be thematic (data concerning food, traffic, public expenditure, etc.). A national contest will also be organized to reward the best applications developed using data from the portal. The action is in line with similar international initiatives, for example the G8 Open Data Charter signed by Italy in 2014. AgID shall take all necessary actions to provide standards for the creation of qualitative PA open data.

Commitment 4. Open Data Portal

Commitment Text:

The aim of this action is to boost transparency of administrative actions and foster the open data economy through the following activities:

1. Reinforcing the National Open Data Portal dati.gov.it. Firstly, the number and quality of datasets published on the national portal will be increased, through the release of all data mentioned in the National Agenda 2014 for the enhancement of public information resources; the portal will also host the catalogue of the applications developed through the re-use of PA open data;
2. Publishing the most important data for citizens and businesses. In parallel, a public consultation open to citizens and businesses will be launched in the portal dati.gov.it; it will be open to citizens and business for the identification of further information to be released in addition to those already provided by the National Agenda. The future versions of the National Agenda will include the results of such consultation;
3. Hackathons and contests will be organized to promote the re-use of published data. These will involve specific categories (students, associations, start-ups) or will be thematic (data concerning food, traffic, public expenditure, etc.). A national contest will also be organized to reward the best applications developed using data from the portal.

The action is in line with similar international initiatives, for example the G8 Open Data Charter signed by Italy in 2014. AgID shall take all necessary actions to provide standards for the creation of qualitative PA open data.

Specific objectives

For citizens: a) greater transparency; b) possibility to use innovative online services; c) improved quality of life.

For companies: a) availability of open data to develop goods and services; b) greater transparency; c) possibility to use innovative online services; d) simplified relations with the PA.

For PA: a) rationalization of expenditure; b) encouraging the reuse of open data; c) greater confidence; d) increase of productivity.

Responsible institution: AgID

Supporting institution(s): all

Start date:   January 2015                                                End date:  December 2015

Commitment Aim:

This commitment aimed at improving transparency and facilitating the re-use of data by making it available in open format.   More specifically, the commitment set out to:

· Reinforcing the National Open Data Portal dati.gov.it;

· Make “public interest” data widely available to for citizens and businesses;

· Increase the re-use of open data by promoting civic initiatives like hackathons and national context.

Status

Mid-term: Substantial

Based on the information gathered by the IRM researchers, this commitment had been substantially completed in the first year of implementation, with ongoing improvements to the number of datasets released and on the quality of data being released.

An upgrade of the website http://www.dati.gov.it, was completed on 05 June 2015. However, the quantity and the quality of the datasets need further improvement and many national institutions had not released datasets in open format, and in other cases the datasets were not updated.

The AgID had made further attempts to give citizens a tool for re-using open data with four main updates:

- OpenEXPO (http://dati.openexpo2015.it/it), related to expenditure on the international Exhibition held in Milan from May to October 2015;

- SoldiPubblici (http://soldipubblici.gov.it/), related to the expenditures of Public Administrations;

- ItaliaSicura (http://italiasicura.governo.it/) on hydro-geological instability.

- Maker Faire (http://ed2015.makerfairerome.eu/thebighack/?lang=it/) a hackathon targeted at developing apps related to online communication.

In particular, the publication of data on the expenditures of all Public Administrations was achieved in part on 20 January 2015 (http://www.soldipubblici.gov.it), a month after the publication of the plan.

For more information, please see the 2014-2015 mid-term IRM report.

End of term: Substantial

Based on monitoring activity on the website conducted by the IRM researcher on monthly basis, there was no further progress on the implementation of the commitment since the mid-term IRM report.

Apart from minor updates and a review of the information architecture of the website, the IRM researchers could not find evidence of any further attempts by the government to make progress on the commitment whose level of implementation remains substantial as in the mid-term report. The government’s self-assessment report is silent on this point.   

Did it open government?

Access to Information: Marginal

Improving participation and accountability on public spending and the policy making process requires that the most relevant information be accessible, in an open machine-readable format, and available to all stakeholders. However, until the establishment of the Open Data portal, there was no single platform ensuring easy access to sharable public data. Given that the portal has been established only relatively recently, the effect that this commitment has had on government openness in Italy, to date, is incipient. By completing an upgrade of the online portal in 2015, the government provided stakeholders with access to relevant and updated information regarding the public administration reform.

However, given that the quantity and the quality of the datasets need further improvement and many national authorities had not released datasets in open format, and in other cases the datasets were not updated, the change in government practice has been marginal.

Although the commitment was not considered to be relevant for civic participation per the language, as it was implemented, the government began to engage more with citizens through hackathons and public initiatives. However, not to an extent that suggests sustained, changes in government practice to this extent.

Carried forward?

The scope of the commitment has been carried over to the next action plan and it has still been assigned to AgID. In fact, commitment 1 includes the implementation of the National Agenda for the promotion of the Public Information Assets as part of a new strategic framework called "Three-Year Plan for ICT in Public Administration".

This commitment would provide for: i) Databases of interest national, ii) data sharing between public authorities and iii) Re-use of public data (Open data). In particular, the new tool will be represented by a "dataset basket" (updated annually) that will be used to identify databases that administrations would make available in open format from 2016 onwards. That basket will support the government for the effective opening of datasets with the overall objective to increase the availability, usability, how to access and re-use of government data, in order to pursue effectively the objective of an overall enhancement of public information.