Best Practice: Provide PSI at zero charge

Outline

Publishing PSI for re-use at no charge unlocks maximum commercial and non-commercial potential.

Links to the Revised PSI Directive

Charging

Challenge

It has been noted that the Public Sector has difficulties determining the commercial and non-commercial potential of PSI. It is also conceivable that by charging for PSI, the potential for re-use will be reduced.

Solution

As much as possible, Public Sector organisations should publish PSI at zero charge to lower the barriers for re-use.

Why is this a Best Practice?

For commercial re-use, zero charge for PSI means that developing products and services will have lower cost, increasing their viability; for non-commercial re-use, zero charges facilitate re-use that otherwise would not be possible.

How do I implement this Best Practice?

Develop and implement a policy that encourages Public Sector organisations to lower marginal cost and to provide access at zero charges. Where necessary, additional funding for agencies that provide PSI at zero charges may be necessary.

Where has this best practice been implemented?

This best practice has been implemented in an overwhelming number of data portals. The following list gives a number of examples but there are many more.

• European Data Portal
• European Union Open Data Portal
• Slovenia Meteo office
• Data Portal Austria
• Data Portal Germany
• Data Portal Netherlands
• Open Data Portal Spain
• Open Data CNMC
• Open Data Euskadi (Basque Country)
• Municipality of Madrid Open Data
• Open Data Gipuzkoa
• Municipality of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria
• Open Data Flanders
• Open Data Portal of Finland
• Helsinki Region Infoshare
• The Finnish Meteorological Institute
• National Land Survey of Finland

References

• Samos Workshop paper: A Federation Tool for Open Data Portals (PDF) Mª Dolores Hernández Maroto
• Samos Workshop: Many presentations and discussions at the Samos Share-PSI workshop mentioned how difficult it is for public sector bodies to assess the commercial potential of the information that they publish. Ease of publication is an identified requirement of the Open Group's Open Public Sector Data Business Scenario.
• Lisbon Workshop paper: A Federation Tool for Open Data Portals (PDF) Mª Dolores Hernández Maroto
• Timişoara Workshop paper: OpenMove: How Trentino opened public transportation data and benefitted of a mobile ticketing solution for free (PDF), Lorenzo Modena, CEO OpenMo