With the Data Governance Act (DGA), opens an external URL in a new window, the EU aims to promote the exchange and reuse of data for economic, social, and scientific purposes. The law is part of the European Data Strategy, opens an external URL in a new window and regulates the handling of both non-personal and personal data. It does not include an obligation to make data available.

The DGA is an EU regulation. It entered into force on 23 June 2022 and, following a 15-month grace period, is directly applicable in the member states since 24 September 2023. In Austria, the Federal Ministry of Finance (BMF) with its State Secretariat for Digitization and Telecommunications is the responsible body for data governance.

The focus of the Data Government Act

The DGA contains regulations on how (protected) data from the public sector can be reused beyond its original purpose. The shared data should be available without restriction of the group of users. So-called data intermediation services also play an essential role in data exchange, for which the DGA lays down corresponding regulations on registration and monitoring procedures. In addition, the DGA contains requirements for organisations that can be used to facilitate the exchange of data for altruistic purposes, e.g. voluntary donations of data by individuals or institutions for the common good.

The single information point - a one-stop shop

An essential requirement of the Data Governance Act is establishing a central information office at the national level. It is not yet known where this office will be located in Austria. The single information point is supposed to provide an overview of the available data stocks of the public sector and forward requests for data use to the responsible institutions. In addition, it is to be in charge of the standardisation and harmonisation of data and metadata, for example by creating a uniform metadata catalogue and setting standards for data quality.

Related to the topic

In September, we hosted a webinar on "[Open] Public Sector Data - The Data Ecosystem in Austria" with guests from the BMF, WWTF and the City of Vienna. The video recording and the presentation slides of the event are now available for viewing: https://doi.org/10.3217/ch2bt-hkk50, opens an external URL in a new window

Contact

TU Wien
Center for Research Data Management
Favoritenstraße 16 (top floor), 1040 Vienna

research.data@tuwien.ac.at

Twitter: @RDMTUWien