21 Open Data Teams

To open the databases of your agency, you need to think about which actors will be directly involved in the workflow of publishing these databases on the Web such that they are always updated and follow a consistent standard of disclosure. The number of people and the profile of the professionals involved will depend on the number of stars that your agency wants the open data to achieve. Below is information on the minimum required profile of the professionals for each of the stars.

Publish databases on the Web (whatever format) under an open license

Staff:

● Technician of the public sector, custodian or person responsible for the database that should be opened.

● IT professional who will be responsible for putting the documents on the website, together with the open license.

Streamlined workflow: The technician of the public sector sends the database (in any format) to the IT professional, who in turn makes the database available on the agency's website with an open license.

Publish databases in a structured format

Staff:

● Technician of the public sector, custodian or person responsible for the database that should be opened, paying attention to the fact that the database should be in a structured format (e.g., Excel file instead of a scanned image).

● IT professional, who will also make sure that the database is in a structured format and will be responsible for putting the documents on the website, together with the open license.

Streamlined workflow: Technician of the public sector, custodian or person responsible for the database that should be opened will, if necessary, convert the database into a structured format, getting help from the IT professional. This professional sends the document, together with its open license, to the website of the public agency.

Use non-proprietary formats

Staff:

● Technician of the public sector, custodian or person responsible for the database that should be opened, paying attention to the fact that the database should at least be in a structured and non-proprietary format (e.g., CSV file instead of Excel).

● IT professional, who will also make sure that the database is in a structured format and, if necessary, convert the database into an open format and will be responsible for putting the documents on the website, together with the open license.

Streamlined workflow: Technician of the public sector, custodian or person responsible for the database that should be opened will, if necessary, convert the database into an open structured format, getting help from the IT professional. This professional sends the document, together with its open license, to the website of the public agency.

Use URIs to denote things, so that anyone can point to them

Staff:

● Technician of the public sector, custodian or person responsible for the database that should be opened, paying attention to the fact that the database should be in a structured and open format.

● IT professional who will help prepare the database so that it complies with the standards described in the Semantic Web Guide.

● IT professional who will be responsible for maintaining these databases on the Web, together with the open license.

Streamlined workflow: Technician of the public sector, custodian or person responsible for the database that should be opened gets help from the IT professional to make the database comply with the standards described in the Semantic Web Guide. The database is then published (or updated) on the Website with adequate infrastructure to support Linked data.

Link your data to other databases to provide context

The staff and the streamlined workflow for five stars is almost the same as the four stars.