Where do the 28 European countries plus Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland (EU28+) stand with regard to the deployment of Open Data? An overview of the most important findings of the Open Data Maturity Assessment, including Open Data Readiness and Portal Maturity. Where do European countries stand with regard to Open Data? What key policies have been set up? What are the key features of national data portals? To measure Open Data Maturity two key indicators have been selected. These indicators cover both the maturity of national policies promoting Open Data as well as an assessment of the

Can we see an acceleration in the development of Open Data Maturity in the 28 European Union countries plus Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland (EU28+)? A second assessment in a series of annual studies highlighting the most important findings of the Open Data Maturity Assessment has just been published. Open Data Maturity is measured by taking into account Open Data Readiness and Portal Maturity. These indicators cover both the level of development of further national activities promoting Open Data as well as the level of development of national portal features In 2016, on average, with 28

More and more European Union Member States are recognising the potential value of Open Data and are acting upon it. Open Data portals are in place, increasingly backed by solid Open Data policies. But it is not only the national level that matters. For a successful national Open Data initiative, the whole publication chain should be taken into account. Cities have an important role to play here. Specifically the larger European cities publish a lot of data on topics such as urban planning, tourism, and increasingly real-time data in the transport and mobility area, such as datasets on

To support organisations on their path to 'open by default', the Open Data Goldbook for Data Managers was created. This Goldbook, serving as a practical Open Data guide, is a summary of all you need to know to successfully implement an Open Data initiative within your organisation. You can expect this Goldbook to cover the basic organisational, technical and day-to-day challenges related to Open Data; from terminology to processes, from implementation to execution. The Goldbook includes 12 different sections. In the section ' Open Data in a Nutshell', it sets out the definition of Open Data

Today, 21 December, is the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere also known as Winter Solstice. In many countries, this day to mark the end of autumn and the start of winter and is therefore celebrated. The most famous example of a tradition concerning winter solstice is the Stonehenge monument in the United Kingdom, of which one side is aligned with today's sunset. While a query on ' Stonehenge' on the European Data Portal results in only 6 Open Data sets, looking for ' winter' results in many more. What can these 920 data sets tell us about the new season? Perhaps not

It is that time of the year again. With the end of the year approaching fast, activities for the holiday season are already planned and everything is geared up for Christmas. Many European city centres come alive during this period with the arrival of a Christmas market, festive gatherings at the town's central squares or places and a sign the year is running to its end. Originating in Germany, Christmas markets can now be found throughout Europe. With great food, warming drinks, traditional gifts and live music Christmas markets attract many visitors, with Dortmund and Cologne for instance

With December around the corner, people all over Europe are preparing themselves for winter traditions and gatherings such as New Year Eve, Christmas or other activities. While most of these activities are taking place in the warmth of everybody's houses, for many it is also the time of the year to go outside and have fun in the snow. Many of Europe's mountains will soon be covered in snow and be ready for activities such as skiing or snowboarding. Although not all countries are mountainous enough for ski runs, many of them do collect information about snow. With the snowmonths around the

Open Data is made available in a wide variety of domains and for various reasons. One of the main reasons governments provide their citizens with Open Data is transparency. For example the city of Los Angeles has published data about accidents on its streets. Journalists have developed maps of the location of these accidents. Citizens understand now better that when construction is taking place at a specific crossing in the city causing delays or road closure, it will increase the safety which is needed because of the amount or severity of traffic accidents taking place at that location. In

With August coming to its end, also the summer weather is about to leave and autum will soon arrive. While the last week of August is treating Europe well with some (last) rays of sunlight, the weather is about to change. All European countries also collect data about the weather, for example to use it for scientific research, traffic information or simply to forecast the weather itself. Many of these countries also publish this data as Open Data, sharing the information with others. The data sets with metereological information come in many forms, content and angles. For example, Luxembourg

The 31st Modern Olympic Summer games will start in Rio de Janeiro. Until the 21st of August, more than 10,000 athletes from over 200 different countries will compete in 28 different sports. This year there are three new sports introduced: golf, sevens rugby and kite surfing. The Olympic Games show that sport fanatics can be found around the whole world. But what if you are visiting a country and you would still like to keep on doing your favourite sport, how do you know where to go? The solution for this is Open Data. There is Open Data available on all types of sport facilities, for example