Local decisions as linked open data - LBLOD

About

"Local decisions as linked open data" is a project of “Agentschap Binnenlands Bestuur” (the Flemish Agency for Domestic Governance) and is part of “Vlaanderen Radicaal Digitaal” and the broader transition of the agency towards an administration with a greater focus on policy development in terms of a better administrative organization of the government in Flanders. It is supported by V-ICT-OR and VVSG.

Together with iMinds-MMLab-UGent, MICT is developing in this project a methodology to aggregate data starting from the source (authentic local decisions) in a structured and integrated manner in order to make it available for reuse. In this way, local authorities can publish their decisions starting from their normal decision making processes as (linked) open data. Linked open data refers to a digital method to publish structured and opened data. This enables connecting open data files that are structured in the same way (e.g. according to the OSLO standard). Linking opened data sources between different local governments ensures that data can be exchanged automatically.

The first phase of the project is exploratory and will study the feasibility and conditions to publish local decisions as linked open data. In addition, the integrability of possible solutions in local processes, and their associated costs, will be taken into account to a maximum extend. Also, during this first phase, a standard will be developed for the publication of local decisions as files with meta-data. Finally, the concept will be demonstrated in a tangible way, by working with the contents of a number of local decisions, as well as the publication of these decisions in their entirety (files and metadata) in a 'living labs / testing ground' context.

This pilot or proof-of-concept demonstrator will show that publishing local decisions as linked open data opens up a wealth of information for data reuse, for lowering administrative overhead, for simplifying policy planning and for providing smoother and more efficient services to the citizens.

Duration of the project


The project runs from 12/10/2015 - 30/04/2016.

Staff involved

  • Mathias Van Compernolle

Financed by