"Data are the new gold''

"Data are the new gold'', according to European Commissioner Neelie Kroes (Digital Agenda) in her appeal to governments to make public data and statistics available to the public and businesses for free.

Radical change
If it is up to Kroes, a radical change will occur in the way in which governments share data. "Data collected by the government, have already been paid and can thus continue to be provided for free. The commercial use of this information will eventually yield the economy approximately 70 billion euros. This will also increase tax revenues. It's a gold mine ready to benefit from.''

Portal
The European Commission itself sets a good example by opening its databases trough their own data portal next spring. Kroes pointed out Britain, France and Denmark as countries, which already have made government data extensively available.

More information
Visit the website of the European Commission for more information on the Digital Agenda for Europe.