scholarly journals Making Access to Government Data Work

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 61-83
Author(s):  
Mireille Van Eechoud
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Open Data ◽  
Individual Member ◽  
Member States ◽  
The Public ◽  
Eu Directive ◽  
Public Record ◽  
Government Data ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Eu

The EU Directive on Re-use of Public Sector Information of 2013 (the PSI Directive) is a key instrument for open data policies at all levels of government in Member States. It sets out a general framework for the conditions governing the right to re-use information resources held by public sector bodies. It includes provisions on non-discrimination, transparent licensing and the like. However, what the PSI Directive does not do is give businesses, civil society or citizens an actual claim to access. Access is of course a prerequisite to (re)use. It is largely a matter for individual Member States to regulate what information is in the public record. This article explores what the options for the EC are to promote alignment of rights to information and re-use policy. It also flags a number of important data protection problems that have not been given serious enough consideration, but have the potential to paralyze open data policies. 

Are banks using leverage to target return on equity? Evidence from the US and the EU

2019 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. 863-892 ◽  
Author(s):  
Spyros Pagratis ◽  
Eleni Karakatsani ◽  
Helen Louri
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Commercial Banks ◽  
Publicly Traded ◽  
Return On Equity ◽  
The Public ◽  
Large Group ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Eu

Abstract We find evidence that banks actively use leverage to attain RoE targets and that leverage adjustments are primarily driven by capital distributions to shareholders. Using a large group of publicly-traded commercial banks from the US and the EU for the period 2001–2013, we demonstrate that this effect particularly holds for large banks before the crisis. Such behaviour may have led banks to enter the crisis with insufficient capital buffers to absorb losses, requiring unprecedented support by the public sector to maintain their solvency. Therefore, recent policies restricting the use of RoE as a metric in remuneration schemes and introducing constraints to capital distributions unless banks maintain certain buffers above the regulatory minimum, are in the right direction.

scholarly journals “Open”: the changing relation between citizens, public administration, and political authority

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 182-191 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ursula Maier-Rabler ◽  
Stefan Huber
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Open Data ◽  
Political Authority ◽  
Open Government ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The Public ◽  
Active Approach ◽  
Government Data ◽  
The Right

"Open" is not just a fancy synonym for transparent and accountable. The "Open" in Open Government, Open Data, Open Information, and Open Innovation stands for the changing relation between citizens and authorities. Many citizens no longer accept the passive stance representative democracy held for them. They take an active approach in setting up better means of collaboration by ICTs. They demand and gain access to their historically grown collective knowledge stored in government data. Not just on a local level, they actively shape the political agenda. Open Government is to be seen in the context of citizens‘ rights: the right to actively participate in the process of agenda-setting and decision-making. Research into open government needs to address the value of the changing relation between citizens, public administration, and political authority. The paper argues finally for the application of the Public Value concept to research into open government.

Creating value using public big data: comparison of driving factors from the provider's perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ji Yeon Cho ◽  
Bong Gyou Lee
Keyword(s):  
Big Data ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
Open Data ◽  
Analytic Network Process ◽  
Analytic Hierarchy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Open Government Data ◽  
Network Process ◽  
Government Data

PurposeThe revitalization of big data has gained attention in the public sector. However, such open government data (OGD) is facing major challenges with respect to data quality and limited use. To solve this problem, this study analyzes the factors driving the use of OGD from the perspective of data providers in the public sector.Design/methodology/approachUsing the analytic hierarchy process and analytic network process methodologies, the importance of the factors driving the use of big data in the public sector was ranked. In addition, the different characteristics of tasks among the departments in a public agency were compared based on expert interviews.FindingsThe factors driving OGD use are not only political environment or the technological environment. The importance of the institutional culture within the organization increases with the motivation of the data provider. The priorities of the OGD factors also depend on the objectives of the department involved.Originality/valueThis study provides implications for improving the publication of open data by analyzing the priorities of the factors driving its use from the perspective of big data providers. It focuses on different perceptions of the factors valued by public officials in charge of data in institutions. The results suggest the need to explore officials' perceptions of value creation in big data fields.

scholarly journals Consular cooperation in third states: Some aspects concerning europanisation of foreign service for EU citizens

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-83
Author(s):  
Erzsébet Csatlós
Keyword(s):  
Member State ◽  
Public Administration ◽  
Organizational Changes ◽  
Member States ◽  
Foreign Service ◽  
The Public ◽  
Eu Legislation ◽  
The Right ◽  
Substantive Law ◽  
The Eu

The EU does not aim to harmonize the public administration of Member States, although, in recent years, there have been several examples which prove that EU legislation in whatever policy inevitably and unavoidably results in some standardization. In 2015 the EU replaced its former decision with a directive to enhance Member States to co-ordinate consular assistance in third States. Every EU citizen has the right to enjoy, in the territory of a third State in which the Member State of which they are nationals is not represented, the protection of the diplomatic and consular authorities of any Member State on the same conditions as the nationals of that State. This provision of Article 23 of TFEU not solely requires the cooperation of administrative authorities of foreign service but implicitly means a kind of harmonization of substantive law, leads to organizational changes and affects administrative procedural rules of Member States.

scholarly journals The protection of customer personal data as an element of entrepreneurs’ ethical conduct

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (7) ◽  
pp. 27-44
Author(s):  
Ewa Kulesza
Keyword(s):  
Data Protection ◽  
Personal Data ◽  
Business Practices ◽  
Process Data ◽  
Member States ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Eu Directive ◽  
The Law ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Eu

The right to the protection of personal data, which is part of the right to privacy, is a fundamental human right. Thus, its guarantees were included in the high-level regulations of the European Union as well as the legal norms of the EU Member States. The first Polish law regulating the protection of personal data was adopted in 1997 as the implementation of EU Directive 95/46. The law imposed a number of obligations on public and private entities which process personal data in order to protect the rights of data subjects and, in particular, to guarantee them the ability to control the correctness of processing of their personal data. Therefore, the law obliged data controllers to process data only on the basis of the premises indicated in the legislation, to adequately secure data, and to comply with the disclosure obligation concerning data subjects, including their right to correct false or outdated data or to request removal of data processed in violation of the law. However, as complaints directed by citizens to the supervisory body—the Inspector General for Personal Data Protection—showed, personal data controllers, especially those operating in the private sector, did not comply with the law, acting in a manner that violated their customers’ rights. In the hitherto existing unfair business practices of entrepreneurs, the violations of the data protection provisions that were the most burdensome for customers were related to preventing them from exercising their rights, including the right to control the processing of data, as well as the failure to provide the controller’s business address, which made it impossible for subjects whose data were used in violation of the law or for the inspecting authorities to contact the company, a lack of data security and a failure to follow the procedures required by law, the failure to secure documents containing personal data or their abandonment, a lack of updating customer data, the use of unverified data sets and sending marketing offers to deceased people or incorrect target recipients, and excessive amounts of data requested by controllers. The violations of the rights of data subjects recorded in Poland and other EU Member States—among other arguments—provided inspiration for the preparation of a new legal act in the form of the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (which entered into force on 25 May 2018). The extension of the rights of people whose data are processed was combined in the GDPR with the introduction of new legal instruments disciplining data controllers. Instruments in the form of administrative fines and the strongly emphasised possibility to demand compensation for a violation of the right to data protection were directed in particular against economic entities violating the law.

Open-and-Shut Case

2021 ◽  
pp. 61-68
Author(s):  
Rob Kitchin
Keyword(s):  
Public Sector ◽  
Open Data ◽  
Civil Servant ◽  
Data Repository ◽  
Regional Data ◽  
Data Infrastructure ◽  
Data Services ◽  
The Public ◽  
Free Data ◽  
Government Data

This chapter details a conversation between open data advocates and a civil servant in charge of the process, which reveals the challenges of getting government data made open. Without an injection of funds, an open data initiative called the Regional Data Lab, was in danger of winding down. Government had very little interest in making their data available, and even less enthusiasm for spending money during austerity. And open data was not free data; somebody had to pay for the labour of preparing data for release and building the necessary data infrastructure. What the Regional Data Lab does is take what data are already openly available and make them useable for those that lack the skills to build their own tools so they can use them in formulating policy. Rather than negotiating separate contracts every time, it would make more sense to simply centrally fund the Regional Data Lab to provide a suite of core data services. However, the advocates are more interested in the development of a national open data repository and access to more data, and a coordinated approach to providing data analytics for the public sector.

“United in diversity” public sector financial, statistical and budgetary reporting in the European Union

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (2/3) ◽  
pp. 265-283
Author(s):  
Adriana Tiron-Tudor ◽  
Cristina Silvia Nistor ◽  
Cristina Alexandrina Stefanescu
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Public Sector ◽  
National Level ◽  
Significant Heterogeneity ◽  
Member States ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Reporting Practices ◽  
Reporting Systems ◽  
The Eu

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to approach, both theoretically and empirically, public sector reporting at European Union (EU) level. It contributes to the accounting harmonisation literature by revealing the actual status of governmental reporting at the national level. Design/methodology/approach The paper carried out an exploratory data analysis of the harmonisation of statistical, budgetary and financial reporting at the EU level. A mapping visualisation offers a comprehensive overview of the current state of connections between these reporting systems. Findings The results reveal the complexity of governments’ reporting systems homogeneity, although all stakeholders recognise the struggle for the principles of performance and transparency in the public sector. Thus, these are following the EU Commission’s study, which concludes that there is significant heterogeneity in the accounting and reporting practices applied transversely throughout all Member States. Research limitations/implications The relevance of the study is comprehensive, from the economic environment to the practitioners, from the international regulatory bodies to the national ones, all can assess and quantify the significance of the past, present and future changes, considering their needs. The limitations of the research regard the documentation background because uniformly accessing some information presented by the EU Member States is relatively tricky. Future research might focus on the effects of these changes as they occur. Originality/value The study contributes to the scientific literature in the public sector through a comprehensive, well-supported and statistically grounded analysis performed at EU level, able to provide reliable results and to support valuable future recommendations towards harmonised reporting. Moreover, it supports and encourages all national and international efforts for improving the comparability of financial, budgetary and aggregated statistical reports.

BIOETHICAL AND LEGAL ASPECTS OF THE USE OF ANIMALS FOR SCIENTIFIC PURPOSES

2020 ◽  
pp. 10-15
Author(s):  
D. A. Lebedeva ◽  
Yu. A. Shcheglov
Keyword(s):  
Legal Aspects ◽  
Modern Concept ◽  
Member States ◽  
Ethical Attitude ◽  
Eu Directive ◽  
History Of ◽  
History Of Bioethics ◽  
The Eu

This work scrutinizes modern bioethical concepts of the use of animals for scientific purposes, as well as legal aspects of its use. Initially, the authors present a brief excursion into the history of bioethics and then focus on the modern concept of ethical attitude to the animals used for scientific purposes. The authors analyze the EU Directive on the protection of animals used for scientific purposes, as well as the EAEU acts and by-laws of the EAEU member states, and conclude that it is necessary to adopt a supranational act within the EAEU that will regulate the use of animals for scientific purposes in accordance with the principles of reduction, replacement and refinement.

scholarly journals A Law and Economics Perspective on the EU Directive on Representative Actions

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. Visscher ◽  
M. Faure
Keyword(s):  
Law And Economics ◽  
Class Action ◽  
Third Party ◽  
Collective Actions ◽  
Member States ◽  
Eu Directive ◽  
Opt Out ◽  
Contingency Fees ◽  
Party Funding ◽  
The Eu

AbstractThis article provides an analysis of the Directive on representative actions for the protection of the collective interests of consumers of 25 November 2020. The Directive enables qualified entities to bring representative actions on behalf of the consumer. The article uses a Law and Economics approach to stress the advantages of collective actions as a tool to remedy rational apathy and free-rider behaviour. The article therefore in principle welcomes the fact that this Directive will lead to all Member States having some form of collective redress. However, it is rather difficult to fit this Directive into the economic criteria for centralization as there is no obvious danger of cross-border externalities or a race-to-the-bottom. The article is critical of the fact that the Directive only provides for a representative action and does not mention the alternative of a group action (sometimes referred to as a class action). This is especially problematic if there are very few qualified entities that could bring the representative action. Furthermore, the fact that Member States may choose an opt-in procedure instead of an opt-out procedure is critically evaluated. The most problematic aspect of the Directive is the funding of the representative action. Punitive damages and contingency fees are rejected, and the possibility of third-party funding is restricted. It is therefore to be feared that this Directive, notwithstanding the good intentions, may not lead to much application in practice, since the question of how the representative action is to be financed is not resolved in any satisfactory manner.

scholarly journals Data ideologies of an interested public: A study of grassroots open government data intermediaries

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 205395171769075 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Schrock ◽  
Gwen Shaffer
Keyword(s):  
Open Data ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Software Developers ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Landscape ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
Open Government Data ◽  
Government Data ◽  
A Site ◽  
Institutional Actors

Government officials claim open data can improve internal and external communication and collaboration. These promises hinge on “data intermediaries”: extra-institutional actors that obtain, use, and translate data for the public. However, we know little about why these individuals might regard open data as a site of civic participation. In response, we draw on Ilana Gershon to conceptualize culturally situated and socially constructed perspectives on data, or “data ideologies.” This study employs mixed methodologies to examine why members of the public hold particular data ideologies and how they vary. In late 2015 the authors engaged the public through a commission in a diverse city of approximately 500,000. Qualitative data was collected from three public focus groups with residents. Simultaneously, we obtained quantitative data from surveys. Participants’ data ideologies varied based on how they perceived data to be useful for collaboration, tasks, and translations. Bucking the “geek” stereotype, only a minority of those surveyed (20%) were professional software developers or engineers. Although only a nascent movement, we argue open data intermediaries have important roles to play in a new political landscape.

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