An Open Government study on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of the Interior

The free access to and the proactive provision of information and governmental data contribute substantially to increased transparency, the facilitation of participation and an increase in quality and efficiency. In addition, data is a valuable resource if it is refined by commerce and industry through processing and provision for everyone’s benefit. On this basis, the German Federal Ministry of the Interior has commissioned a study concerning Open Government Data from January to the middle of 2012 and, as an option, the subsequent realisation of a prototype of an Open Government data platform.

Project objectives

It is the goal of the project to provide decision makers from politics and government as well as other stakeholders with an overview of the current status of open governmental data in Germany from a content-related, organisational, legal and technical perspective that demonstrates existing potential as well as the need for action in these areas.

Steps

• Determination of the basis for open governmental data
• Identification of target groups
• Identification and analysis of existing data sets
• Selection of suitable data and apps
• Overview of relevant technical standards
• Safety aspects of the Open Government platform
• Demonstration of relevant legal aspects concerning Open Data
• Identification of legal obstacles and scope of action
• Demonstration of the existing legislative potential and possible need for action
• Utilization payments, payment and billing models
• Operator model of the portals
• Sustainability of Open Government data

Project partners

Contractors of the German Federal Ministry of the Interior are:

• Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communication Systems (FOKUS),
• Lorenz-von-Stein-Institut for public management and administrative sciences at Kiel University,
• ÖPP Deutschland AG.