The European Commission has proposed new measures aimed at increasing the availability and flow of non-personal data across the EU, acording Telecompaper. Part of its Digital Single Market plan, the measures include making more public sector data available at minimal costs and increasing the sharing of scientific, business and health data.
The main legislative change would be a revised law on Public Sector Information, covering data held by public organisations active in the transport and utilities sectors. The new rules would limit the exceptions that allow public bodies to charge more than the marginal costs of data dissemination for the reuse of their data. They would also facilitate the reuse of open research data resulting from public funding, and oblige EU states to develop open access policies. Finally, the new rules would require technical solutions like APIs to be made available where possible to provide real-time access to data.
The Commission also wants to encourage more private sector data sharing, both among businesses and between businesses and governments. A Communication from the EC entitled 'Towards a common European data space' provides guidance for businesses operating in the EU on the legal and technical principles that should govern data sharing collaboration in the private sector. A high-level round-table to discuss private sector data sharing in the business-to-government context will be held during the second half of 2018 and the first half of 2019.
Another Communication covers the use of healthcare data. The Commission wants citizens to have easier access to their own health data and also encourage the sharing of data across borders. This should help improve care by creating larger data sets for research, tackling epidemics and optimising healthcare systems. The proposal also covers the interoperability of electronic health records as well as a mechanism for voluntary coordination in sharing data – including genomic data – for disease prevention and research.
