The working group will be composed of metadata experts involved in governmental data portals.
The European Commission invites metadata experts who directly or indirectly work for a governmental data portal to participate in a Working Group that will define a common model for exchanging information about data sets between data portals in Europe.
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There are a growing number of governmental data portals in Europe but currently there is no consensus on how to exchange information about datasets listed on these portals. As a consequence businesses and citizens face difficulties in finding and re-using public sector information, in particular if the datasets are in another Member State where language barriers may apply and the structure of government is unfamiliar. In its , the European Commission states that the availability of the information in a machine-readable format as well as a thin layer of commonly agreed metadata could facilitate data cross-reference and interoperability and therefore considerably enhance its value for reuse.
Therefore the European Commission sets up a working group to define a common metadata model for describing open data sets, based on the existing DCAT specification (i.e. a . This is a joint initiative of two Directorates-General of the European Commission: DIGIT () and and the who will chair the working group.
The DCAT application profile will ease the exchange of information between Data Portals and also with the upcoming pan-European data portal. The Working Group has 3 objectives:
1. Identify the essential classes and attributes of DCAT in the European context;
2. Identify the controlled vocabularies to be used in the European context; and
3. Identify the strict minimum classes and attributes to exchange descriptions of datasets between Data Portals in Europe.
How can you join?
If you are a metadata expert working directly or indirectly for a governmental data portal and you are interested in joining this working group, please feel free to submit your application, indicating for which governmental data portal you work, relating to which public administration. To do this, please use the contact form on Joinup.
Why should you join?
By joining the working group you would participate in 4 bi-weekly conference calls in April, May and June 2013 and make contributions to the DCAT application profile. You can find more information here.
To learn more:
• DCAT application profile for data portals in Europe –
• DCAT –
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