First Open Data portal for Malta in the pipeline

Open data has been a hot topic for the last few years around the EU and around the world. Many national governments of developed and not so developed countries have already launched their open data portals and now provide fast and easy public data access to their citizens.

Open data revolves around the concept that public sector information or, in other words, public data and information, should be freely available to everyone to use and republish as they wish, without restrictions from copyright, patents or other mechanisms of control.

To enable the idea, the EU has formulated the Directive 2003/98/EC, which is respected and recognised by the Maltese law. Therefore, a legal framework exists in Malta but the Government has not yet taken the initiative to launch an open data portal. Such a portal will increase transparency and will also result in sustainable growth and increase knowledge. It is a time-saving solution for public entities and citizens, resulting in increased efficiency, knowledge and economic growth.

The Local Councils Association has taken the first steps towards this initiative and it is planning to launch Malta’s first open data pilot portal with freely available information to citizens to use and re-use as according to their needs.

The pilot portal will be developed as a result of the EU project HOMER (Harmonising Open Data in the Mediterranean through Better Access and Reuse of Public Sector Information) funded under the MED Programme.

More information is available from the Local Councils’ Association at lvasileva@lca.org.mt.