A decade and a half of OECD action on data governance policy-making

Abstract

The OECD has long recognized the need to better understand how to reconcile the risks and benefits of data access and sharing to help governments reap the benefits of data-driven innovation. To guide policy-making, the OECD has produced over the last decade and a half a significant body of analytical work and legal instruments setting out principles and best practices to address sector-or domain-specific challenges in the governance of data. These Recommendations include: the Recommendation concerning Access to Research Data from Public Funding2; the Recommendation for Enhanced Access and More Effective Use of Public Sector Information3; and the Recommendation on Health Data Governance4. In what appears to be the latest strong demonstration of its commitment to the issue, the OECD Council adopted in 2021, the Recommendation on Enhancing Access to and Sharing of Data (EASD Recommendation)5. Differently from the preceding ones, the EASD Recommendation provides an overarching set of principles and policy guidance to help governments reconcile potential risks and benefits and unlock the re-use of all types of data across and within sectors, jurisdictions, organisations, and communities. The aim of this paper is to put in context this significant body of work and set out the main policy issues addressed by these OECD Recommendations.