The text on this page was automatically translated and hence may differ from the original. No rights can be derived from this translation.
"Take the example of public sector information – possibly a €30 billion market in Europe. I have said it before, and I say it again: yes to open data! "
This was stated by Neelie Smit-Kroes in a speech at the end of last year.
Few know that the figure of €30 billion (27 to be precise) comes from one of Dialogic's researchers, Robbin te Velde. He calculated the size of the European market for government information back in 2004 in the MEPSIR study. Thanks to Obama, the focus on releasing government information has shifted from direct effects (making money) to indirect effects (broader societal benefits). In his very first memorandum as President, he introduced the concept of Open Data. In 2006 (OECD) and 2009 (US National Research Council), Te Velde had already pointed out that the costs of not releasing government information (the indirect effects) are many times greater than the revenue from selling that same information (direct effects). Ironically, the Dutch government in 2012 is once again actively creating 'business cases' for open data.
On the 16th of March, Robbin te Velde was one of the speakers at a major European Open Data conference in Rotterdam. He was invited there to present the theory on the pricing policy of government data.
The full annotated presentation from the 16th of March can be found here (pdf).
