The Scottish Government’s Digital Directorate has set out recommendations for increasing the value of open data from the country’s public sector.
Its open data services team has published a report calling for a more strategic approach in publishing open data to maximise its impact.
It emphasises the need for two major steps – to establish a vision for open data in Scotland and develop a pathway for implementation – and sets out five recommendations.
The first of these is a reiteration of the need for a vision, which should align with the principles and priorities of the Scottish Government’s digital strategy. This would involve an agreement on thematic priorities and taking a purpose led approach to publishing open data.
Second is to emphasise long term collaboration and commitment, followed by the creation of a realistic implementation strategy including the targeted production and sustainable publication of data.
Fourth is to set the standards for publication, with data quality tailored to a context, mandated technical standards and an emphasis on discoverability; and finally to provide technical guidance and support for publishers and users of the data.
Strategic approach
In an accompanying blogpost, Martin Macfie, head of open data at the Digital Directorate, said: “We want to be more strategic in the way we approach the publishing, messaging and culture around open data.
“We want to maximise the impact and value of open data to better meet user needs, in line with the public service reform agenda, to improve outcomes for the people of Scotland.”
He said his team’s next steps will be develop a project plan and roadmap for open data policy, to complete the discovery phase of a project to improve the statistics.gov.scot platform, and to work with partners on the digital and data commitments in Scotland’s Open Government Action Plan.
Amended on 2.9.24 am to change reference to Open Data Scotland platform to statistics.gov.scot platform.
