Information generated and collected by public sector entities represents a veritable minefield; it might make a much greater contribution to EU economies and societies, if current legal barriers to access and re-use were removed.

The LAPSI (Legal Aspects of Public Sector Information) project intends to build a network apt to become the main European point of reference for high-level policy discussions and strategic action on all legal issues related to the access and the re-use of the PSI namely in the digital environment.

The debate is to be organized around four focal points: (1) implementation and deployment issues; (2) design of the incentives for public bodies and private players, both in the for-profit and non-profit sectors, to make available and, respectively, to re-use public data; (3) special consideration of infra- and supra-national levels of access and re-use policies and practices, intended to enlist the dynamic forces of regulatory competition and to bring out the full potential of cross-border, EU-wide services; and crucially (4) strategic vision and occasions for out-of-the box thinking for the next steps ahead in policy making.

The LAPSI network shall build on the COMMUNIA experience, which was coordinated by POLITO/Nexa Center for Internet & Society which today is acting as coordinator of the LAPSI proposal; it further intends to forge links to the extent possible with European projects of reference such as ePSIplatform and to eventually set up a working relationship with nationally relevant projects such as ASITA (Italy), APORTA and AVANZA (Spain) and others. The idea underlying this approach is that the LAPSI network follows up the PSI-related discussion so far structured and organized by other resources, in particular by striving to add to the current state of the art the coverage of the aspects which have not yet been considered, particularly in the field of PSI implementation and deployment, including through licenses, adding to the debate major issues such as the cross-border character of PSI re-use, related business models and the pricing issues.

The LAPSI network will cover a substantial part of the European Union Member States. Through the existence of an Advisory Board it will also build strategic relationships with third countries such as the United States and Switzerland, where similar policy discussions on the above topics are ongoing and have in some regards generated especially satisfactory outcomes. Even though LAPSI gives priority to the legal dimension, its Advisory Board is designed in such a way as to take into account cutting edge experience in advanced specialized fields, such as access and re-use of geographical data.

As a part of the CIP-ICT PSP program, LAPSI project will directly contribute to the i2010 strategy of the European Union. The LAPSI project will build a network of organizations that is intended to become the main European point of reference for deployment and implementation as well as high-level policy discussion and strategic action on legal issues related to the PSI. LAPSI network addresses areas which have a public interest and which would not develop or would develop at a slower pace if left only to the current incentives structure of monopolistic operators; state-of-the-art evidence has repeatedly shown that the PSI has difficulties thriving in today’s frame, which leads to excessive limits to PSI re-use, to the detriment of exploitation of common (cultural) resources; after a clear understanding of the issues involved, public action is therefore necessary: LAPSI network aims to make PSI in Europe more accessible, re-usable and exploitable, namely through an analytical work and the diffusion of information in areas of public interest at Community level; in particular the dissemination under “sharing” licensing models is apt to contribute to the dissemination of PSI information throughout the Community and beyond. This approach is intended to produce as a result a general enrichment of the players involved – the participants of the network and those who will be reached by the dissemination efforts – as well as, and most importantly, a set of strategic guidelines that will help all the stakeholders at all levels to approach the issues posed by PSI in a more effective and forward looking way.

LAPSI will take part in the GSDI 12 World Conference (Global Spatial Data Infrastructures) that will take place in Singapore from 19 to 22 October 2010.

In March 2010, the Thematic Network on Legal Aspects of Public Sector Information started its work. The network is led by the Polititecnico de Torino and consists of 20 partners that are experts in several legal fields related to public sector information. The project addresses legal barriers to access and re-use, and strategies to overcome them, from the perspectives of information law, IPR, privacy, competition law, administrative and environmental law, and public procurement rules. The discussion on these topics is organised around cycles of seminars and conferences, intended to foster debate among the researchers and stakeholders in the field, complemented by dissemination exercises, awareness-raising events and contests. These will result in a set of policy guidelines, addressed to the European Commission, that will help all interested stakeholders in their access and re-use policies and practices. While these policy guidelines may in first instance be oriented towards the European Union, the participation of partners outside of the EU should also make them useful on a broader level.

While the LAPSI project will deal with many different types of public sector information, including cultural data from archives, libraries, scientific information, environmental information, etc., of course the established areas of PSI, such as spatial data, will play an important role and the participation of stakeholders in this field is very important for the success of the project. This presentation will highlight the objectives and activities of the thematic network, and invite stakeholders in the spatial data community to share their views on the legal priorities for the development of the legal framework for public sector information.

( via LAPSI public wiki page – an abstract submitted by Katleen Janssen, Roger Longhorn and Gabor Remetey-Fullop to provide the GSDI-conference with a brief introduction to LAPSI project)

The GLOBAL SPATIAL DATA INFRASTRUCTURE ASSOCIATION,  is an inclusive organization of organizations, agencies, firms, and individuals from around the world. The purpose of the organization is to promote international cooperation and collaboration in support of local, national and international spatial data infrastructure developments that will allow nations to better address social, economic, and environmental issues of pressing importance.