"Open data is an indicator of a country's progress and transparency, and the improvement in the country's position in this ranking shows that we are moving in the right direction. By opening up as much data as possible, we aim to become one of Europe's leaders in this area. All the legal and technical tools are in place, but we have room to improve and grow. It is up to all of us to make further breakthroughs in the use of open data," said Aušrinė Armonaitė, Minister of the Economy and Innovation.
"As part of the open data reform, we aim to create an efficient open data system and open up the widest possible range of datasets so that all groups in society can benefit from open data. Both active involvement of institutions in the process of opening up data and the role of business are crucial for further breakthroughs in this area. By taking a proactive stance on the need for data, business will provide the basis for the authorities to open up exactly the data they need to develop new, innovative services and products," said Erika Kuročkina, Adviser to the Minister of the Economy and Innovation.
The European Open Data Survey assesses improvements in 4 key areas: open data policy, the national open data portal, the impact of open data and data quality.
Lithuania has made progress in all the areas assessed, progressing the most in the area of data quality, where it moved up from 16th to 13th place. Moreover, Lithuania is above the European Union (EU) average in all areas, with the most notable excess of 10% in the open data portal.
Countries are divided into four groups according to their progress in opening up data, namely, trendsetters, fast followers, followers and starters. This year, just like in 2021, Lithuania is in the fast follower group.
This year, 35 countries took part in the survey: the EU states, countries of the European Free Trade Association –Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, the EU candidate countries Albania, Montenegro, Serbia, and Ukraine, as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina as a potential candidate country.
France, Ukraine, Poland, Ireland, Estonia, Spain and Italy and Cyprus, which joined the group of trendsetters this year, remain the leaders in this ranking.
In cooperation with all public institutions, the Ministry of the Economy and Innovation aims to open up as much personalised data as possible to the public and to business, and to publish it on the Lithuanian Open Data Portal – the main open data platform for business in Lithuania. In 2021, the number of open datasets almost doubled and the number of people interested in open data increased 5 times. In the first half of this year, the number of open datasets increased by another 22%.
Open data has a huge commercial potential and is an important source material for digital content products and services, in the development of smart technologies such as artificial intelligence or the Internet of Things. It is estimated that the rational use of data can generate an additional 2% of national GDP.
