IT&Telecom companies in roundtable with Minister of Civil Affairs Stefan Attefall on public data

Data Digital infrastructure Innovation Welfare technology

On March 5, IT&Telekomföretagen, together with a number of other business representatives, met with Minister of Civil Affairs Stefan Attefall (KD) to share our experiences on how public data can be used to support innovation and create citizen benefits.

The background to the meeting was partly that IT&Telecom companies had previously written a letter to ministers Hatt and Attefall about the potential of public data.

The following points were made by various business representatives at the meeting on March 5:

-An oversight function with some form of sanction is needed to ensure that data-owning authorities comply with the law
-Such supervision must also provide guidance for the authorities. Making their data available is a major challenge for many authorities, it should be respected but not accepted as an escape from complying with the intentions of the PSI Act.
-The marginal cost principle for data disclosure must apply - especially small businesses and innovators with little resources are currently affected by the fact that some authorities are required by the Ministry of Finance to finance parts of their activities with data sales fees
Many authorities' register regulations need to be supplemented with a statement that machine-readable media should be the norm
The value of publicly owned data lies in its use - the more people who are given the opportunity to refine tax-funded data, the greater the value that can be created.
Today, many good examples of reuse of public data are based on pure chance. A good administrator at the agency, a loophole in the agency's database interface and the like. With the idea of the value (for both business, government and citizens) of the relatively few innovations, given how much data actually exists at Swedish authorities, it is important that the government as well as individual authorities understand the need for structures that support increased reuse - something that is lacking today.

IT&Telecom companies are very positive about the Ministry of Social Affairs' initiative for roundtable discussions. It is good that the government is interested in the PSI issue. One responsibility that falls on the government is to motivate the authorities to release their data to innovators and service developers who contribute to building tomorrow's prosperity and welfare in Sweden. Something that is difficult as many authorities do not see the benefits. In addition, "open data thinking" challenges many prevailing government agency cultures and structures. This is perhaps the biggest challenge in getting data to build services from. This is why good examples and effective supervision are particularly important.