The Impact of the OGP Technical Services Framework on Open Data & Data Management

Over the past four years, the OGP Technical Services Framework for Open Data and Data Management has played an important role in supporting the Irish public sector in publishing, managing, and reusing data more effectively.

Through the framework, public service bodies were able to procure specialist services to support open data and data management initiatives, helping strengthen data capabilities and make information more accessible.

With the framework now concluded, this article provides a summary of the key outcomes and projects delivered.

Over the lifetime of the framework, the following impact was delivered across the Irish public sector:

These activities supported organisations at different stages of their data journey — from understanding their current data landscape to publishing and visualising data for wider use.

Projects delivered under the framework covered several types of services.

 1. Data Management

A range of projects focused on helping organisations better understand and manage their data assets. These included Data Inventory Assessments, Data Maturity Assessments, ETL and data preparation services, and Data Publication Plans.

Examples of organisations that carried out projects in this category include:

• Department of Education – Data Maturity Assessment
• Met Éireann – Data Inventory Assessment and Data Maturity Assessment
• PublicJobs – Data Inventory Assessment, Data Publication Plan (& Open Data Portal)

These initiatives helped public bodies identify key areas for improvement and develop strategies to strengthen data governance and management practices.

 2. Open Data Platforms

Many organisations also invested in publishing and sharing data more effectively through open data platforms. This included the development of new open data portals as well as subscriptions to the datAdore platform, helping public bodies publish datasets in a consistent, accessible and reusable format.

Several public bodies developed new open data portals through the framework, including:

• Central Bank of Ireland – opendata.centralbank.ie
• Companies Registration Office (CRO) – opendata.cro.ie
• Teagasc – data.teagasc.ie

 3. Ad Hoc Consultancy and Technical Support

Additional projects provided specialist advisory and technical services, supporting organisations in areas such as data strategy, technical implementation, and data visualisation. The full list of services is outlined in this post about the Framework

Examples of organisations that carried out projects in this category include:

• National Council for Special Education (NCSE) – Data Strategy
• National Screening Service (NSS) – Data Ecosystem Roadmap
• Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation – Enhancements to the national Open Data Portal, including datAdore Insights dashboards and High-Value Dataset (HVD) functionality.

These services helped public bodies strengthen data strategies and governance, enhance open data publishing capabilities, and develop dashboards and visualisations to support better use of data.

As part of the framework, Derilinx committed a portion of delivery hours to environmental and social initiatives linked to open data, provided free of charge to participating organisations.

Over the course of the framework, over 700 Social & Environmental Value hours were delivered across a range of initiatives.

Examples include:

• Cork City Council – developing interactive dashboards to visualise pedestrian footfall, street activity and air quality datasets.
• Insight SFI Research Centre – supporting peatland open data initiatives, including the Alice Perry Mapathon and the publication of Ireland’s first open peat soil dataset.
• Circular IMTA Demo Project (Technological University of the Shannon) – developing a knowledge-sharing website to support collaboration around circular bioeconomy innovation.

These initiatives demonstrate how open data expertise can support wider environmental research, community projects and innovation beyond the core framework activities.

A key outcome of the framework has been the increased availability and usability of public sector data. Several organisations highlighted the value of these initiatives in strengthening transparency, improving internal data practices, and enabling better access to information.

Framework Clients

Although the OGP Technical Services Framework has now concluded, the need for strong data management and open data practices continues to grow across the public sector.

Public bodies interested in developing open data portals, improving data governance, or conducting data maturity or inventory assessments can still explore available procurement routes and engage with specialist providers.

If your organisation is considering new initiatives in open data, data management, data sharing, or data visualisation, we would be happy to discuss how similar projects could support your goals. Contact us.