[open-government] open government data in Belgium - something is finally happening?

[Katleen Janssen]

Dear all,

The Belgians are finally coming on board the open data train! The Belgian federal government has officially launched data.gov.be, a portal enabling all government bodies to make available their data to citizens 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 data?

At the same time, the Flemish government has also launched a conceptual document 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 and open APIs, and authentic sources should be used as much as possible.  A good point in the document is that the need for an integral approach involving 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 initiatives, leading to joint formats and licensing models and possibly even a joint portal, the concrete result of this coordination remains to be seen. By May next year, there should be a concrete result from the conceptual document. 

For more information, see http://www.bestuurszaken.be/vlaamse-overheid-kiest-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	[f] : + 32 16 325 438
[e]  katleen.janssen at law.kuleuven.be
[w]  www.law.kuleuven.ac.be/icri/   -   www.ibbt.be