Hauts-de-Seine opens up

The French department Hauts-de-Seine has chosen the adoption of Open Data as a way to redefine the relationship between the administration and its citizens. The departmental council has adopted Open Data not only to commit itself to working open and transparently, but also with three other objectives in mind. In a short article, the council tells what they hope to create with their policies.

All of the Open Data published by the department is made available via the Open Data Hauts-de-Seine portal. With this information, the administration is foreseeing to fuel technical and organisational innovations for its organisation. Such innovations can lead to the optimisation and modernisation of work processes to meet the new requirements of modern public policy making. The second objective of the release of Open Data is to inform and involve citizens about the developments within the department and to stimulate debate. For example by offering the possibility to comment on the platform's data sets. Releasing great numbers of data sets also generates new information and knowledge which can lead to innovations and create economic opportunities. Supporting entrepreneurial initiatives with the Open Data is therefore the third objective that the departmental council is pursuing with its Open Data platform.

As can be read in our Goldbook, implementing a solid Open Data policy requires more than a portal. The French department Hauts-de-Seine is a clear example how to incorporate a portal in a broader policy, enhancing both the potential benefits for the society and for the administration itself.