Access to PSI-Regulation in Europe Open Access OAR Conference, Brisbane QLD 24 September, 2008 Frederika Welle Donker - researcher geo-information OTB Research Institute for Housing, Urban and Mobility Studies, section Geo-information and Land Development

24 September Brief history No EU-wide policy for access to Public Sector Information (PSI)‏ Push from private sector to unlock PSI during 1990s like USA Pira International Ltd., University of East Anglia & KnowledgeView Ltd (2000). Commercial exploitation of Europe’s public sector information. Final report for the European Commission Directorate General for the Information Society US National Weather Service, PWC (2002), Peter Weiss, Yvette Pluijmers, “Borders in Cyberspace: Conflicting Public Sector Information Policies and their Economic Impacts” PSI Directive (2003/98/EC)‏

24 September European Regulation UN/ECE Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (1998). UN Economic Commission for Europe. (Aarhus Convention)‏ Directive 2003/98/EC on the reuse of public sector information (PSI Directive) Directive 2007/2/EC establishing an Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE)‏

24 September Aarhus Convention (25 June 1998)‏ Links environmental rights to human rights Sustainability can only be achieved with public and private participation and interaction Grants free access to environmental information (not just documents but web services)‏ PS can set up web services that may compete with the private sector

24 September PSI Directive (2003)‏ Regulates reuse of all public PSI Cannot oblige reuse of PSI Ensures non-discriminatory conditions for reuse Does not affect Intellectual Property Rights Allows for cost recovery pricing regime Transparency of cost (o n request, an indication of the calculation basis for the published charge must be provided)‏ Does not regulate market activities of PS bodies No avenue for redress / complaints against PS

24 September INSPIRE Directive (2007)‏ Regulates sharing of spatial data Indented for use between EU Public Sectors “Collect once, reuse many times” With economic spin-off for the private sector Sets strict framework for an SD Infrastructure Standards, interoperability, licensing, metadata, etc. Leaves PSI & Environmental Directives unaffected cost recovery pricing regime IPR restrictions Free viewing (if possible)‏

24 September Effects so far Aarhus Convention ratified by > 40 countries PS actively setting up environment web services Little complaints from private sector re Aarhus PSI Directive under review More PSI becoming available Lot more complaints from private sector INSPIRE yet to be implemented Already many regional / national SDIs under way

Thank you for your attention section Geo-information and Land Development Acknowledgements: This presentation has been written as part of the activities of the project GeoPortal Network – Liberty United (Geoloketten – Vrijheid in Verbondenheid) within the framework of the Bsik program ‘Space for Geo-information’. Participants in this consortium are: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License