<h2 class="posttitle">
EU Digital Commissioner: Open Public Data, The Oil Of The Digital Age </h2>
<small><a href="http://www.ip-watch.org/2012/03/05/eu-digital-commissioner-open-public-data-the-oil-of-the-digital-age/?utm_source=post&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alerts">http://www.ip-watch.org/2012/03/05/eu-digital-commissioner-open-public-data-the-oil-of-the-digital-age/?utm_source=post&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alerts</a><br>
<br>Published on 5 March 2012 @ 7:20 pm</small>
<p>Intellectual Property Watch</p>
<div class="entry">
<p>Neelie Kroes, vice-president of the European Commission
responsible for the Digital Agenda, today called for public data to be
opened up for all to use, somewhat akin to providing the free oil of the
digital age. </p>
<p>“Let me underline one initiative that I am supporting to make digital
technology work for governance and transparency: by opening up public
data. In the digital age, data takes on a whole new value, and with new
technology we can do great things with it. Opening it up is not just
good for transparency, it also stimulates great web content, and
provides the fuel for a future economy,” she said in prepared remarks
entitled, “<a href="http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/12/149&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en">From Crisis of Trust to Open Governing</a>“, given today in Bratislava, Slovakia. </p>
<p>“That’s why I say that data is the new oil for the digital age. How
many other ways could stimulate a market worth 70 billion euros a year,
without spending big budgets? Not many, I’d say,” she said. “So we are
planning to shake up how public authorities share data. We have recently
proposed amendments to the Public Sector Information Directive: these
would make it cheaper, simpler and more automatic for you to use and
re-use public data.”</p>
<p>“Under our proposals,” Kroes added, “instead of needing complicated
authorisations, people would be automatically allowed to re-use public
data. And we propose to extend the existing rules to valuable cultural
material from libraries, archives and museums: while recognising their
special commercial vulnerability.” </p>
<p>Kroes concluded with a nod to the delicate balance western diplomats
are straddling to encourage openness online while encouraging strong
intellectual property rights. “[F]reedom of speech, in particular on the
internet, is something that needs to be protected too. This is
something I am particularly vigilant about,” she said. “Transparency
does not mean that privacy disappears nor that everything is made
available without respecting the rights of individuals, including their
property rights and their private data. Collectively, we need to become
more sophisticated about these issues, so that rights and
responsibilities are fully preserve and enhanced, and so that we can be
safe and experience open democracy.” </p>
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