Digital-ready policies: How interoperability in sharing open data supports digital transformation
Alignment in the policy sector leads to better legislation and smoother implementation
In the dynamic landscape of digital transformation, European policymakers are making a shift in drafting legislation with digital-ready policymaking in mind. During the SEMIC conference that took place on 27 June, there was a focus on making policies and legislative acts future-proof and interoperable. Digital-ready means that policies and legislative acts facilitate seamless, digital-by-default implementation through optimal use of technology and data.
There are six different components that describe digital-ready policies, of which one is the ‘Once-only principle and reuse of data’. This component describes how people should only have to supply information once to public administrations in Europe, to which EU policies can contribute, minimising redundant requests for information. Here’s where open data can provide support, as by leveraging publicly available datasets, a smooth exchange of information between administrative systems can take place. With open data standards, cross-interoperability between Member States is promoted with over 1.7 million publicly available datasets on data.europa.eu.
Another component to highlight is the ‘Digital-ready drafting’, which describes the steps to consider when drafting future-proof legislations. Instead of approaching it as an afterthought, policies and legislation should consider interoperability from the start to ensure alignment between policy domains. Interoperability, namely, covers every aspect (e.g., organisational, semantic, legal, and technical) that influences the delivery of digital public services in the EU.
With a mindset that starts with interoperability and sharing open data, a transformation in the way policies and legislation are developed can be realised. Public administrations can then work together to provide better public services that benefit citizens and businesses in Europe.
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