In February 2020, the European Commission (EC) announced a public consultation on the 'European strategy for data’ – a strategic policy vision aiming to create a 'single market for data' and boost the EU data economy through a number of measures, including building a new legislative framework for data governance.
Following consultation on the strategy, the EC proposed a European Data Governance Act: a new set of rules governing data use, designed to ‘foster the availability of data for use by increasing trust in data intermediaries and by strengthening data-sharing mechanisms across the EU’. In November 2020, the EC launched a consultation on the draft act, inviting feedback on any aspect of the proposal.
The Open Data Institute (ODI)’s consultation response focuses on five key areas:
- Improving access to data so that more people and organisations can use it, and to tackle the market-distorting effects of data monopolisation; and the establishment of a European Data Innovation Board.
- The need for data ethics and responsible use of data to be embedded into every aspect of data policy.
- Broadening the definition of responsible and trustworthy data governance, based on principles of ethics, engagement, and equity, as an alternative to an exclusive focus on improving individual data protection.
- The role of data institutions in supporting people and communities to take a more active role in stewarding data about themselves and thus provide a way to improve data governance and increase trust.
- The need for concrete proposals on addressing both the opportunities and risks around data, and digital technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) that are based on large, rich datasets.
You can read the ODI's consultation response, submitted in February 2021, below.