National Open Data Agenda (NL0019)

In the manifesto Onze Overheid, Onze Informatie (‘Our government, our information’), various civil society organisations call on the government to accelerate the process of making data available and accessible. “Only then can members of the public, data journalists and programmers assess the true value of the data and use it in their analyses and interpretations.” Open data will certainly make the government and its processes more transparent for the general public. It will also allow the private sector to develop new applications, products and services. All ministries are therefore working to make the data they hold available to society at large. The Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK), in association with those other ministries, must establish frameworks governing how the data is to be made accessible and the quality requirements it must meet. We shall do so by means of the National Open Data Agenda. The Ministry of BZK will also support and assist other public sector authorities and the (re-) users of the data. The online portal https://data.overheid.nl serves as the central access point for all government data.

1. National Open Data Agenda (‘NODA’)

Commitment Text:

In the manifesto Onze Overheid, Onze Informatie (‘Our government, our Information’), various civil society organisations call on the government to accelerate the process of making data available and accessible. Open data will certainly make the government and its processes more transparent for the general public. It will also allow the private sector to develop new applications, products and services. All ministries are therefore working to make the data they hold available to society at large. The Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK), in association with those other ministries, must establish frameworks governing how the data is to be made accessible and the quality requirements it must meet. We shall do so by means of the National Open Data Agenda. The Ministry of BZK will also support and assist other public sector authorities and the (re-) users of the data. The online portal https://data.overheid.nl serves as the central access point for all government data.

Milestones:

1. The portal https://data.overheid.nl is fully accessible and its datasets are ‘usable’

2. The government-wide inventory of datasets is to be repeated and updated regularly

3. The ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations will monitor progress in publishing datasets through the data.overheid.nl portal

4. The ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations will assist other governments in publishing data

5. The ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations will offer assistance registering, finding, and re-using data

a. Visitors of the data portal data.overheid.nl. can submit requests for the publishing of specific datasets by the government. The ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations will publish these data requests and the corresponding results on the data portal.

b. An open data users group is to be set up to assess the functioning of the portal. A public session will be held at least 4 times a year, in which data owners, re-users, developers and civil society organisations meet and exchange experiences and ideas.

Responsible Institution: Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations

Supporting Institution(s): All other departments, municipalities, water boards and provinces

Start date: 1 January 2016 End date: 30 June 2018

Editorial Note: This is a truncated version of the milestone text. For the full commitment text, please see The Netherlands National Action Plan (https://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2001/01/Netherlands_NAP-Appendix_2016-2018_EN_revised-with-changes.pdf)

Context and Objectives

This commitment builds on the open data measures in the first action plan and seeks to increase the number of published data on data.overheid.nl that aligns with the open data standard. Despite the fact that the amount of available open data has doubled, XX[Note60: Dutch Court of Audit, rekenkamer.nl/publicaties/rapporten/2016/03/24/trendrapport-open-data-2016.]XX the majority of data is being published by the Central Bureau of Statistics, and other government ministries lag behind. At the start of this commitment, around 10 percent of all government agencies published data on data.overheid.nl. The Dutch government aims to increase the number and quality of available datasets.

The commitment activities include establishing an inventory of datasets, monitoring progress on publishing datasets and providing assistance to other agencies to ensure their datasets conform to universal data description and re-usability standards. While commitment activities outline the responsibilities of different actors involved, the action plan does not specify the number or quality of datasets that should be made available, making it difficult to assess progress. Furthermore, the end dates and goals of listed milestones are not always clear.

By increasing the number of free, reusable, open government data and allowing the public to request publication of datasets, this commitment is relevant to access to information.

This commitment represents a positive step in improving the amount and structure of data provided. However, even if fully implemented, it is difficult to determine if the potential impact would be greater than minor. While 10 percent of government agencies currently disclose data on the portal, there is no specified target for increased disclosure.

Completion

The commitment’s completion so far has been limited. In September 2017, 11,676 datasets were published on data.overheid.nl. XX[Note61: Data portal, data.overheid.nl/statistieken.]XX According to the government self-assessment report, 11,322 are available under open license. The commitment text aimed for at least 90 percent of the links to reusable data to be accurate: according to ‘link checker’ shown in the website, 97.9 percent of the links are correct. The self-assessment also reports that datasets are ‘usable’ and comply with set standards (milestone 1). XX[Note62: Midterm self-assessment report, opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2001/01/Netherlands_Mid-term_Self-Assessment-Report_2016-2018_EN.pdf.]XX However, there is no independent source that can confirm this. According to the website, only a minority of national, regional and local government agencies participate by publishing their data on the site. XX[Note63: Data portal, data.overheid.nl/monitor/organisaties.]XX For instance, out of nearly 400 municipalities, only 34 have uploaded one or more datasets.

In early 2017, the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations carried out a government-wide inventory (milestone 2). According to the self-assessment, the results have been published on data.overheid.nl and have been sent to Parliament. XX[Note64: Ministry inventory, zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/kst-32802-37.html.]XX Though the data managers check the data on the website every day, the original owners of the datasets (the government agencies) remain responsible for the data uploaded on to the portal, and there is no guarantee that all data are license free.

The Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations has not begun work on monitoring progress (milestone 3). There is a support team responsible for monitoring the published datasets on data.overheid.nl but that there is no publicly available information that the support team fulfills this task, and the government did not reply to requests for evidence of monitoring progress.

Unlike the statement in the government self-assessment report, the ministry’s spokesperson informed the IRM researcher that the manual (milestone 4) has not been updated yet. At the time of writing, no changes to the manual has been made. According to the government’s spokesperson, a support team of two full-time employees are available to assist government agencies in publishing their data (milestone 5). This support team also performs inventories of datasets and updates the manual for public sector authorities. The team initiated user group meetings that are open to the public. XX[Note65: Data portal, data.overheid.nl/bijeenkomsten.]XX

Early Results (if any)

According to the statistics page of data.overheid.nl, the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations has handled 615 data requests since 1 January 2015. XX[Note66: Data portal, data.overheid.nl/statistieken.]XX

Next Steps

The IRM researcher recommends the continued implementation of this commitment in the remaining period of the action plan. If taken forward into the next action plan, the government should consider the following modifications.

First, the government needs to reformulate the milestones to clearly list its goals and end dates. Second, the Dutch Court of Audit suggests the government consider the example of the UK for data infrastructure and the establishment of a Data Institute. XX[Note67: Dutch Court of Audit, rekenkamer.nl/publicaties/rapporten/2016/03/24/trendrapport-open-data-2016.]XX Third, the government should address CSOs’ calls for more open data apps or other tools that can be used by non-specialized users to extract the information they need. It may be a good start to cooperate with VNG/KING and OSF to add explanatory texts to local open spending information.

Commitment 1. National Open Data Agenda (NODA)

Commitment Text:

In the manifesto Onze Overheid, Onze Informatie (‘Our government, our Information’), various civil society organisations call on the government to accelerate the process of making data available and accessible. Open data will certainly make the government and its processes more transparent for the general public. It will also allow the private sector to develop new applications, products and services. All ministries are therefore working to make the data they hold available to society at large. The Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations (BZK), in association with those other ministries, must establish frameworks governing how the data is to be made accessible and the quality requirements it must meet. We shall do so by means of the National Open Data Agenda. The Ministry of BZK will also support and assist other public sector authorities and the (re-) users of the data. The online portal https://data.overheid.nl serves as the central access point for all government data.

Milestones:

1. The portal https://data.overheid.nl is fully accessible and its datasets are ‘usable’
2. The government-wide inventory of datasets is to be repeated and updated regularly
3. The ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations will monitor progress in publishing datasets through the data.overheid.nl portal
4. The ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations will assist other governments in publishing data
5. The ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations will offer assistance registering, finding, and re-using data
   1. Visitors of the data portal data.overheid.nl. can submit requests for the publishing of specific datasets by the government. The ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations will publish these data requests and the corresponding results on the data portal.
   2. An open data users group is to be set up to assess the functioning of the portal. A public session will be held at least 4 times a year, in which data owners, re-users, developers and civil society organisations meet and exchange experiences and ideas.

Editorial Note: This is a truncated version of the milestone text. For the full commitment text, please see the Netherlands national action plan (https://bit.ly/30UBDHL).

Commitment Aim

This commitment aims to increase the number and quality of free, reusable, open government-published datasets on data.overheid.nl that aligns with the open data standard. Also, it includes an inventory of datasets, monitoring progress, and providing assistance to other agencies to ensure their datasets conform to universal standards.

Status

Midterm: Limited

By September 2017, 11,676 datasets were published on data.overheid.nl, of which 97.9% of the links were correct. However, only a minority of government agencies participated in publishing their data on the site. In early 2017, the Ministry of the Interior and Kingdom Relations carried out a government-wide inventory that was sent to Parliament. The team-initiated user group meetings that were open to the public. For more details, please see the IRM 2016–17 Progress Report. [1]

End of term: Limited

Since September 2017, there has not been much progress on this commitment. While there were some additional actions taken, overall completion remains limited. The data portal was completed before the start of the second action plan period. According to e-mails from lead institution’s spokesperson to the former IRM researcher on 18 and 19 September 2018, a government-wide data inventory in 2018 was done, but the results could not be disclosed yet. On 27 September 2018, 13,174 datasets were accessible on data.overheid.nl. This implies that during the second action plan year, 1,498 datasets have been added. A total of 153 dataset-owners, out of around 1,600 public authorities, have published their data on the website. This means that there is not much increase in the number of datasets, and that less than 10% of all public authorities participate on the portal. Therefore, the overall completion remains limited. There was no other monitoring activity that could be assessed other than the automated ‘counter’ on the website, so Milestone 3 has to be assessed as not changed since September 2017.

Though the lead institution initially stated that it offers assistance to requesters that fill in online data request forms, the spokesperson wrote in his e-mail that this means that the data-managers of the portal help the requesters to find the data, and that they keep up with the progress of the requests. With the information collected by the former IRM researcher, it is unclear what progress has been made to monitor progress and provide assistance to other governments regarding data disclosures. On 3 September 2018, the statistics page of data.overheid.nl states that the government has handled 394 data requests since September 2017. Since September 2017, two user-group meetings were held. [2] The spokesperson wrote that four meetings a year was considered normal. Therefore, assistance activities to support search and reuse of data have substantially taken place.

In 2018, government priorities may have shifted, impacting the implementation of this commitment. According to the website, the emphasis has shifted to High Value datasets, reference data and visualizations. [3] The latter would especially be welcomed by the general public and CSOs, since they asked for more usable information rather than more open data. [4] Also, government reports that the website is being prepared for the latest version of the EU standard for metadata, DECAT 1.1. [5]

Did It Open Government?

Access to Information: Marginal

By introducing and using data.overheid.nl as the open government data portal, the quality of open data, in terms of meeting the same standards and opening data in the same manner, has improved, compared to having no centralized data portal. The option for data users to file requests in a single portal is helpful. It is not possible to assess whether more information was disclosed, since most of the information was, according to the Dutch Court of Audit, already published on other websites, such as the site of the Central Bureau of Statistics and local government websites. [6] Along with the fact that a small minority of agencies use the portal, the changes in government practice is marginal.

According to the Open State Foundation, it is getting challenging now to open more government data, since the easier-attainable data has already been disclosed. They also note possible hesitation and a lack of widely spread knowledge on data technology among public-sector workers. Another challenge is aligning the information demand from society and the quality and quantity of the supply from government agencies.

Carried Forward?

This commitment is not carried forward in the 2018–2020 action plan. This does not mean that efforts to continue opening data have ceased. The new action plan carries on with the open data agenda at the municipal and provincial level.