No subject

tions and charges are still left to the public bodies to decide, within the=
 'reasonable' limit. Some datasets are free, but e.g. the geographic data a=
re not... So we're still a long way away from real open data...

best regards,
katleen
--
******************************************
dr. Katleen Janssen
Legal researcher
K.U.Leuven - Interdisciplinary Centre for Law and ICT
Sint-Michielsstraat 6
B-3000 LEUVEN - BELGIUM
[t]  +32 16 328 707     [f] : + 32 16 325 438
[e]  katleen.janssen at law.kuleuven.be
[w]  www.law.kuleuven.ac.be/icri/   -   www.ibbt.be
________________________________________
From: daniel.p.dietrich at gmail.com [daniel.p.dietrich at gmail.com] On Behalf O=
f Daniel Dietrich [daniel.dietrich at okfn.org]
Sent: Wednesday, September 28, 2011 8:24 AM
To: Katleen Janssen
Cc: open-government at lists.okfn.org; EU Open Data Working Group
Subject: Re: [open-government] open government data in Belgium - something =
is finally happening?

Dear Katleen, all

It's good to see the Belgian initiative. I had a short look at the site and=
 it looks great. Only the licensing of the data seams to be messed:

1. you can find data sets specified as "free" or "free for personal use" if=
 you then klick on "free" it brings you to a list with datasets with licens=
e "free". But there is no information about what free means. Same for "free=
 for personal use". In quite some cases it just says: "see website dataset =
provider". That's really not re-user friendly.

Also: could you please tell us more about the pricing of some datasets (as =
you mentioned reasonable charge)? I was not able to quickly  find examples =
of these. Thanks a lot.

Regards
Daniel



On Wed, Sep 28, 2011 at 5:37 AM, Katleen Janssen <Katleen.Janssen at law.kuleu=
ven.be<mailto:Katleen.Janssen at law.kuleuven.be>> wrote:

Dear all,

The Belgians are finally coming on board the open data train! The Belgian f=
ederal government has officially launched data.gov.be<http://data.gov.be>, =
a portal enabling all government bodies to make available their data to cit=
izens and companies. The portal starts off with around 60 datasets, but is =
supposed to grow in the near future. Most of the data is available for free=
, but in some cases 'a reasonable charge' is made - so not yet fully open d=
ata?

At the same time, the Flemish government has also launched a conceptual doc=
ument stating that open government data should be the default position for =
the Flemish public services, and that the data should be available for any =
use, either free of charge or against reasonable charges. Open standards an=
d open APIs, and authentic sources should be used as much as possible.  A g=
ood point in the document is that the need for an integral approach involvi=
ng all public authorities, including the local authorities, is emphasized, =
and also the need for awareness raising among public bodies and users.

The question remains how the federal and the Flemish initiative will relate=
. While the idea is that there will be coordination between the two initiat=
ives, leading to joint formats and licensing models and possibly even a joi=
nt portal, the concrete result of this coordination remains to be seen. By =
May next year, there should be a concrete result from the conceptual docume=
nt.

For more information, see http://www.bestuurszaken.be/vlaamse-overheid-kies=
t-voor-open-data; http://data.gov.be/.

Best regards,
Katleen


--
******************************************
dr. Katleen Janssen
Legal researcher
K.U.Leuven - Interdisciplinary Centre for Law and ICT
Sint-Michielsstraat 6
B-3000 LEUVEN - BELGIUM
[t]  +32 16 328 707<tel:%2B32%2016%20328%20707>   [f] : + 32 16 325 438<tel=
:%2B%2032%2016%20325%20438>
[e]  katleen.janssen at law.kuleuven.be<mailto:katleen.janssen at law.kuleuven.be=
>
[w]  www.law.kuleuven.ac.be/icri/<http://www.law.kuleuven.ac.be/icri/>   - =
  www.ibbt.be<http://www.ibbt.be>
_______________________________________________
open-government mailing list
open-government at lists.okfn.org<mailto:open-government at lists.okfn.org>
http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/open-government



--
--
Daniel Dietrich

The Open Knowledge Foundation
Promoting Open Knowledge in a Digital Age
www.okfn.org<http://www.okfn.org> - www.opendefinition.org<http://www.opend=
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