Towards a set of PSI re-use economic indicators

If one wishes to regularly measure the economic activity related to the re-use of public sector information there is a need to identify a set of economic indicators that can be utilised when undertaking economic measurements. So what indicators could be used?

One approach could be to consider the economic indicators that have been used in economic studies that have been already undertaken and published at the pan European and Member State levels. The task would involve reviewing each study in turn to record the economic indicators used and then to collate the individual set of indicators identified to establish a combined list of the economic indicators which in turn would provide a frequency of use. The process could then be repeated by reviewing further economic studies that cover specific jurisdictions as well as economic studies within particular public sector information domains. The process could be repeated until it is clear that there is a set of economic indicators that are regularly used irrespective of the jurisdiction or the thematic information sector measured. As a result of the process it becomes self evident after several iterations that to continue the process of reviewing economic studies is not materially changing the set of indicators that have already been identified.

If one considers that the re-use of public sector information is a new developing economic activity then it is possible that the indicators used in past economic studies may not be applicable today. As such the set of indicators derived from reviewing past studies may not be useful for measuring the economic activity today or over the short term horizon of 18 to 24 months. Why would this be the case? There may be a range of reasons for this that will include amongst others for example the:

• Changes brought about from the implementation and compliance with the European Union PSI re-use framework;
• Impact of other European Union Directives and frameworks that are applicable to public sector information. For example the INSPIRE Directive;
• Impact of technological advances; and
• Quantity of public sector information that is held electronically.
• With this in mind the potential list of economic indicators would need to be assessed and tested in order to establish whether each economic indicator is suitable in today’s environment and for regular measurement of economic activity arising from the re-use of public sector information.

The process described above is that which the European Commission PSI Group’s Economic indicator work group has adopted. The first two iterations of reviewing past published economic studies and research papers in one particular thematic sector have been completed. The first iteration reviewed six economic studies – three at the pan European level and three at Member State level. The second iteration reviewed nine research papers from the geographic information sector. Further iterations are in process. The process so far has identified over 25 indicators of which only six have been used in three or more of the studies or research papers reviewed. The six indicators identified ranked in the order of use include:

1. Number of staff employed (6 occurrences)
2. The Organisations financial turnover (5 occurrences)
3. The data supply income (4 occurrences)
4. The number of licences (4 occurrences)
5. The total income (3 occurrences)
6. The PSI procurement cost (3 occurrences)

The list already raises a number of questions for which answers are now being sought:

• Are there indictors missing that one would expect to be regularly used in measuring economic activity related to the re-use of PSI?
• How robust are the indicators listed to change?
• How easy will it be to use each indicator in regular measurements?
• Are the indicators applicable to the supply side or the demand side or both in the value-chain?

Views on the above and other questions and concerns related to measurement of PSI re-use economic activity would be very welcome.

If you would like to participate in round table public discussions on the PSI re-use indicators at the public meeting that will be held on the 8^th June 2010 in Madrid then please contact the meeting co-ordinators (Ministerio de Industria, Turismo y Comercio, Spain (MITC) or ePSIplatform).