General information

•   Introduction and Background
•   Re-using Public Sector Information
•   Aporta Project

Introduction and Background

Today, information is an essential resource to develop any type of activity in our society. We live in the knowledge economy, an economy featured by the use of information as a key element to generate value and wealth. At political level, information is a condition to exercise our democratic rights appropriately. In this context, the new technologies have changed our relation with information facilitating its access and ways of re-using it.

In this regard, the Directive 2003/98/EC on re-using public sector information pinpoints that the evolution towards the knowledge information society affects the life of every citizen by allowing them to acquire knowledge via new media. Within this framework, digital contents play a very important role.

In the digital age, specially the digital content industry ¿which is booming in our country¿ uses large amounts of information and arouses great interest among citizens and particularly among entrepreneurs and all stakeholders (designers, producers, editors, distributors, aggregators and operators), due to both the industry's growth expectations in the coming future and the huge effect on citizens' habits and way of life in terms of entertainment, work and their daily life, in general.

The digital content industry, encompassing activities of dynamic sectors such as video, music, television, filmmaking, communications, advertising, videogames and mobile and Internet contents, is becoming an increasingly clearer strategic asset for our country.

Re-using Public Sector Information

The Concept of Re-using Public Sector Information

Re-using public sector information implies the use by individuals and legal entities of information generated by public agencies for commercial and non-commercial purposes. However, Law 37/2007 excludes from the concept of re-using information that exchanged between Administrations and public agencies in exercising their relevant civil services.

The public sector generates a great variety of information, which can be potentially re-used by citizens and the digital content industry such as social, economic, geographical, statistical, weather, tourist, business and education information.

Said information has characteristics that make it particularly appealing to the digital content industry, since it is complete, reliable and of quality.

In turn, new information and communication technologies (ICTs) have radically changed the ways to access information in general and public sector information in particular. Indeed, they have facilitated its collection, dissemination, availability and transformation markedly.

Therefore, re-using public sector information in the knowledge economy offers a considerable economic potential, as it represents an essential foundation for many digital information products. For this reason, it becomes crucial ensuring the efficient re-use of public sector information to take full advantage of its potential and thus develop new products, services and markets that may further economic development and create more jobs in the Spanish digital content industry.

The Commercial exploitation of Europe's public sector information study conducted by the European Commission in 2000, known as the Pira report, shows the economic relevance of this resource highlighting that in 1999 this industry represented virtually 1% of the EU's gross national product. Said report analyses the value of the various types of information in the public sector.

In addition, the MEPSIR "Measuring European Public Sector Information Resources" 2006 study estimates the market value of re-use between 26 and 47 thousand million euros in the European Union.

Re-using public sector information can also contribute to enhance administrative transparency.

An appropriate re-use of public sector information provides a number of benefits to citizens, businesses and public administrations:

For citizens, re-using public sector information offers the possibility of improving information and knowledge about public institutions' activities, rendering them more transparent and bringing them closer to citizens. Additionally, citizens can benefit from added-value services based on the re-use of public sector information when carrying out day-to-day activities. In turn, citizens can re-use public sector information generating new services and products suitable to their needs.

Below are examples of the new added-value services and products:

• In terms of weather, customised weather forecasts.
• In terms of legal information, compilation of national and international laws and jurisprudence.
• In relation to mapping information, some examples are car navigation systems and digital mapping information.
• Other sources of public sector information that may be re-used are information on subsidies, statistical information, tourist information, economic studies or traffic information.

For businesses and the economy in general, re-using public sector information offers a considerable economic potential, as it is crucial to innovative digital services.

Re-using public sector information facilitates the development of new products, services and solutions, as well as job creation in the digital content industry.

Creating new added-value products and services promotes new technologies to access and exploit information.

On the other hand, the development of knowledge as a strategic economic asset expedites decision-making by economic agents, as administrative, legal and financial information is more easily accessible and available. For public administrations, the re-use of public sector information can provide society with knowledge and economic benefits derived from re-using information generated and managed during their activities and contributes to enhance transparency.

Aporta Project

Avanza2 Plan

Avanza2 Plan (2009-2012) faces the challenge of delivering increasingly more advantages to citizens through the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).

Avanza2 Plan is also geared to aiding in our country's economic recovery through the intensive and widespread use of ICTs, fostering business development in key sectors such as Future Internet or digital contents.

Aporta Project and its Objectives

Aware of the potential of public administrations-generated information for the development of the information society, the Ministry of Industry, Tourism and Trade, through the State Department for Telecommunications and Information Society (SETSI) and its related public business entity red.es has implemented the Aporta Project.

The Aporta Project aims at working to place Spain at the European forefront in re-using public sector information.

Framed within the Avanza2 Plan, Aporta Project promotes, therefore, a culture of information re-use in the public administration sector, aware of the importance and value of public sector information and its re-use, with the aim of enabling Administrations and public bodies to access available information, thus tapping the market potential of re-using public information in Spain.

Project Initiatives

In order to meet these objectives, Aporta Project has set into motion various initiatives classified into two types: on the one hand, training and public awareness raising activities and, on the other, the development of a Guide on re-using pubic sector-generated information.

The purpose of training and public awareness raising activities is to disseminate a culture of re-use within Public Administrations, including the organisation of events, seminars and information and training sessions, supported by the project's website (www.aporta.es).

These dissemination activities on re-using public sector information, aimed at both public administrations and entities that re-use information, as well as businesses and citizens as its end users, are focused on facilitating the availability of information generated by public administrations.

In turn, the project created the Aporta Guide on re-using public sector-generated information. This guide considers and states the most relevant aspects in re-using public sector information. It is an information document including a number of guidelines for government and public institution managers intended to boost the re-use of information available in their institutions.

The Aporta Guide consists of a simple format of questions and answers, which analyse all those matters necessary to channel the information re-use process adequately, thus facilitating access to public information to public content managers for re-use thereof.

Pursuant to identified national and international best practices, the document focuses on the main aspects of public sector information:

• What does re-using public sector information mean?
• Who are the agents of re-use?
• What information can be re-used?
• What can be done with re-usable information?
• Which modes can be applied to offer re-usable information?
• Can economic considerations be applied?
• How can re-use be internally boosted?

Aporta Project will organise training activities related to the Aporta Guide on public sector information re-use, which will be based on the dissemination of key points about the re-use process included therein. The Aporta Guide can be accessed by all stakeholders involved in re-use and it can be downloaded free of charge from the website. An abridged audiovisual format is also available at: Download Guide