European Data Forum 2015 took place in Luxembourg

The European Data Forum (EDF) is a meeting place to discuss the challenges of Big Data and the emerging Data Economy and to develop suitable action plans for addressing these challenges.

The range of topics discussed at the EDF ranged from novel data-driven business models (e.g. data clearing houses), and technological innovations (e.g. Linked Data Web) to societal aspects (e.g. open governmental data as well as data privacy and security).

Special focus for the EDF 2015 were Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), since they are driving innovation and competition in many data-driven economic sectors.

During the first day of the EDF in Luxembourg, European Commission Vice-President for the Digital Single Market Andrus Ansip stressed the importance of data to "be able to move freely, across national borders" and "any unnecessary or unjustified barriers should be stopped".

During the second day of the European Data Forum, EU Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society Günther H. Oettinger stated that the European Data Portal is an "important element of EU Open Data policy for the development of applications".

Both on the first and second day of the conference, the European Data Portal project team shared several presentations and a demo of the portal with participants of the conference, including Vice-President Andrus Ansip, Director General DG CONNECT Roberto Viola, and Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel.

Find about more about the EDF 2015 by visiting http://2015.data-forum.eu/ or read the speech of Andrus Ansip here https://t.co/TGhIEvvbHh