Valuing Public Sector Data in Scotland and Europe: Data Governance for Economic, Environmental and Social Development. SUII Knowledge Exchange Programmes Summary Report

Our programme considered the issue of public sector data and its uses and governance to serve the purposes of economic, environmental and social development, from a comparative Scotland-European Union perspective. Whilst the focus remained on examining the differences around practices, policies, definitions and cultures around public data between Scotland and Europe – especially within the post-Brexit environment – the programme also took into account cross-sector and cross-disciplinary insights from the rest of the UK and the rest of the world. Public sector data-gathering and use for government objectives, for research and for innovation and development are key issues for stakeholders internationally. This is due to the richness and comprehensiveness of data collected by the public sector, its functions to provide better government services but also its potential value for onward and secondary uses in research, innovation and development both within the public sector and by the private sector, third sector and academia. Another issue too is public authorities’ access to data held by other actors, especially in the private sector. These issues are highly relevant to the policy agenda in Scotland, with the Scottish Government´s Unlocking the Value of Data (UVOD) programme along with EU developments including the Data Act and the Data Governance Act.