Open data fact sheet : High-value datasets in Luxembourg

High-Value Datasets (HVDs) are a crucial part of the European Union's strategy to improve data-driven innovation and transparency in the Member States. Regulation (EU) 2023/138, which comes into force in 2023, establishes specific guidelines for HVDs, focusing on their availability and re-use. This regulation aims to unlock the potential of public sector data, foster economic growth, improve public services and address societal challenges. In Luxembourg, the implementation of this regulation is monitored by the open data division of the Service information et presse (SIP), in collaboration with the Ministry of Digitalization and the Land registry and topography administration (ACT).

Overview of Regulation (EU) 2023/138

Regulation (EU) 2023/138 complements Directive (EU) 2019/2014 on open data and the re-use of public sector information, transposed into national law in the Act of 29 November 2021. It establishes a framework for the identification, publication and re-use of HVDs within the European Union. The regulation obliges public sector bodies to make certain datasets available free of charge, in machine-readable formats and via APIs, to ensure that they are widely accessible and usable. This measure aims to promote transparency, innovation and economic development by harnessing the power of data.

The Six Categories of High Value Datasets

Regulation (EU) 2023/138 classifies HVDs into six distinct categories:

  1. Geospatial data: Includes data sets related to the geographical location of features and boundaries on Earth. Examples: maps, cadastral data, addresses, administrative units.
  2. Earth Observation and Environment: energy sources, air, climate, land use, hydrography, waste, etc. This category supports research into climate change and environmental protection.
  3. Meteorological Data: Comprising measurements taken by national weather stations, weather warnings and weather forecast data. This data is vital for various sectors, including agriculture, transport and disaster management.
  4. Statistics: Includes demographic, economic and social statistics collected by national and regional authorities. These data sets are essential for policy-making, academic research and business planning.
  5. Companies and Companies Ownership: Includes information on business registration, business documents and accounts. This information is used to combat fraud and support economic activities (e.g. business directories).
  6. Mobility: Includes data relating to transport systems and inland waterways. This category aims to improve mobility and infrastructure planning.

Publication details

The regulation sets out a number of requirements for the publication and management of HVDs:

  • Mass download: it must be possible to download all the data easily.
  • Access via API: Public sector organisations should offer APIs to facilitate automated access to datasets.
  • Historical data: where possible, all historical data should be available
  • Formats: publication must be in open, machine-readable formats
  • Metadata: particular attention must be paid to the quality of metadata
  • Open licence: data must be made available under an open CC-BY or less restrictive licence (e.g. CC-0).

Like the Open Data Directive, the HVD Regulation does not require the production of new data, i.e. data that does not already exist.

HVD4Gov project and platform

Since 2023, the SIP has been managing the HVD4Gov project, which aims to facilitate the provision of HVD data in accordance with the requirements of Regulation 2023/138 by setting up a centralising platform. The platform should enable the legal obligations to be met without each data producer having to implement an individual solution for each of its data.

This platform, based on the INSPIRE infrastructure in place at the ACT, will offer data cataloguing as well as an API and mass downloading for all HVD data.

This project is funded by the Ministry of Digitalisation as part of the NIF4Gov call for projects.

Mapping the key players

The following players have been identified as responsible for HVD data at national level:

  • Environment
    • Water: Water management administration
    • Air, Emissions, Noise, Waste: Environment Administration
    • Climate: Ministry for the Environment, Climate and Biodiversity
    • Nature protection and biodiversity: Nature and Forestry Administration
  • Weather: Meteolux, ASTA, Water Management Administration
  • Statistics: STATEC
  • Mobility
    • Inland waterways: River Navigation Department
  • Businesses and business properties:
    • Basic company information: LBR
    • Company documents and accounts: "Centrale des bilans" / STATEC
  • Geospatial :
    • Reference plots and agricultural plots: ASTA

How can I find HVD data on the open data portal?

HVD data is identified by the "hvd" tag on the national open data portal.

This tag is complemented by the following tags for each of the 6 themes:

Search the portal by tags to find all the data published.

Note: HVD data will be published progressively, as all the data required by the HVD regulation will not yet be available in June 2024.

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