Conference rallies industry behind call for.....

27 June 2009, 12:33pm

Conference rallies industry behind call for fairness in information markets

The PSI Alliance’s Annual, held in Brussels this week, was hailed as a great success, accelerating the momentum of the campaign to achieve a fair and level playing field for public sector information (PSI) in Europe. The Alliance seeks to remove the barriers that prevent companies in the private sector from achieving a fair price and having reasonable freedom to re-use information collected by the public sector. Alliance members provide a range of information including legal, environmental, geoinformation and corporate.

The PSI Alliance intends to use the conference as a launch pad for their work establishing a new landscape for public sector information in response to the European Commission’s Communication on the Re-Use of PSI Directive.

During the conference, the work of the PSI Alliance was endorsed by the Commission, whose representative, Head of the Information Unit Javier Hernandez-Ros, told delegates that he looked forward to working with the Alliance following the publication of the Commission’s Communication. Examples were given from across the EU of good and bad practice from member state governments including Sweden the Netherlands and Slovenia.

PSI Alliance Chair, Rolf Nordqvist, said ‘The conference’s success is a clear indication of the progress that the Alliance has made since last year and how the appetite for change has grown, both politically and within the PSI re-use community. It is now vital that this momentum is converted into results, and the PSI Alliance’s work plan for the next year will ensure that this happens.

‘The Commission need to move beyond the Communication published earlier this year, providing clearer guidance and oversight of the Re-Use of PSI Directive. For a fair and level playing field for the Public Sector Information marketplace to be achieved, the Commission must have the necessary teeth to implement the Directive.’

PSI Alliance members include Lexis Nexis, Bisnode, Google, Intelligent Addressing, PRIMET and Compass Verlag.

For more information about the Alliance please contact Harriet Crosthwaite via harriet@quintuspa.com or info@psialliance.eu

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