Report on granular data governance systems for open data : a primer on the impact of the data governance act on open data ecosystems

Data governance generally refers to any human-based system comprising directing, overseeing and accountability, in relation to the availability, usability, integrity and security of certain datasets. These processes help to define the actions people must take, the processes they must follow, and the technology that supports them throughout the data life cycle. A key aspect of data governance relates to defining data control mechanisms and data usage rights - or in simpler terms, who is allowed to access data for which purposes, and through which systems. Data governance systems can therefore be very straightforward (e.g. "our data can be freely downloaded and used by anyone from an openly accessible server") or very granular (e.g. "accessibility and usage rights depend on the dataset; specific rules, procedures and requirements are defined per dataset, and prior registration is required before access and usage rights are granted"). The establishment of clear data governance rules therefore ensures that data will be made available to parties that have a right to access and use it, while reducing the risk of misuse. The European data strategy with its open data policy, aims to ensure that information (especially information held by public sector bodies) is made freely available for re-use for any purpose, wherever possible. This has contributed to the emergence of open data ecosystems, to be understood as networks of public administrations, companies and reusers of data that all contribute to increasing the availability and use of datasets. Examples of such open data ecosystems would be the various European open data portals and their surrounding communities of administrations that provide their data to the portals, as well as the organisations that support their growth and use, and the companies that build applications and services around such portals.