Website Amsterdam Data Exchange launched

The website was launched during an informal meeting between seven cities and regions – among which Amsterdam, Andalusia, Barcelona, Berlin, Coimbra, Oslo and London – and various DGs of the European Commission to discuss how to cooperate and proceed with exchanging data according to transparent and European values.

In the Information Age, data powers growth and change, and offers new opportunities for fairer and more efficient societies. The world’s most valuable resource is no longer oil, it is data. But did you know that less than 1% of all data is actually used, shared and analyzed? A staggering 99% of all data is currently being unused. Which means we’re missing big opportunities. This has a number of causes: technical, legal, but above all a lack of trust for which purposes data will be used.

As a result sharing data is tedious. It is often so expensive, inefficient, and legally cumbersome that organizations prefer to avoid data sharing at all. Subsequently only a handful of global players are able to reap the benefits of our data. For a true and fair data economy to emerge we need different infrastructures and incentives for data sharing. The AMDEX is founded on the believes that this is possible if  data is in full control of the owner, and rules for the datamarket are determined by the respective participants. This way we guarantee that data is shared and used in line with our values, under our European conditions, with respect for our citizens’ privacy and our companies’ competitiveness. In Europe, we would like to see a dense network of those fair marketplaces, and that is why cities and regions aim to play a facilitating role in this.

In 2019, further developments will follow. Stay up to date by following the developments at www.towardsamdex.org