On the open economic model of public data

With the popularization and implementation of the public data opening strategy, more and more public sectors will join the Open Data Army. However, the cost of information processing, data storage and maintenance of data opening will also cause the public sector financial pressure.

How to guarantee the benign development of public data opening without increasing the government's financial burden, the French Ministry of Culture has discussed several economic operation models for the reference of French relevant organizations.

Economic model of public data opening project

For the public sector (including government agencies, public utilities and non-profit organizations), there are three types of financing options for launching public data-opening projects: Public-private partnership (PPP model, public-private-partnership), fundraising and capacity-sponsoring.

(i) Public-private partnership system (PPP model)

Public-private cooperation system, that is, "Government departments through the form of government procurement, with the successful bidder to form a special purpose company, signed a concession contract (special purpose companies are generally awarded by the construction company, service operators or investment in the project of the third party), the concessionaire is responsible for financing, construction and operation."

The government usually has a direct agreement with the financial institutions that provide the loans. This agreement is not an agreement to guarantee the project, but rather a commitment to the lending institution to pay the fees in accordance with a contract with a special purpose company, which enables the concessionaire to obtain loans from financial institutions more smoothly.

The essence of this form of financing is that the government, by giving private companies long-term franchises and benefits, is in exchange for the effect of speeding up the construction of infrastructure and ensuring its effective operation.

The use of public-private partnership projects requires three prerequisites:

One is complexity, and the public sector is unable to provide the technical means required for the project or to provide adequate financial and legal support;

Second, the emergency, the slow progress of the project and the impact of overall effectiveness;

Third, economic benefits, the public sector needs to prove that the public-private cooperation system can bring economic benefits.

When public-private partnerships are used for public data-opening projects, they should choose the institutions that provide the best economic benefits rather than the lowest-bid providers as partners, while paying attention to any form of risk of privatizing public data.

(b) Public financing

The word "crowdfunding" from English, that is, public financing or mass financing. Through the Internet, the public is a powerful and efficient lever of financing, which can help the government to get popular investment.

At present, the rising financing mode is also a good choice for the public data opening project. There are three types of platforms that can be found in many forms, such as donations, unpaid or paid loans, subscription shares or debt securities.

1. Donation Platform

Donations can be a non-monetary donation or a monetary donation (usually depending on the outcome of the project), and the donor platform is equivalent to a financial intermediary, raising capital until it reaches the project's required quota.

When the platform provides such services, it is necessary to obtain prior approval from the payment agency of the "Prudential Supervision Authority" of the French financial regulator.

2. Loan Platform

Loan platform can carry out free or paid loans, equivalent to the agency of banking and credit operations. Such platforms are subject to a monetary and financial code and must be licensed by the French Prudential Authority. Interest-free loans do not need to be approved because they are not part of the banking business.

A platform operated by a number of institutions that meet certain conditions can also provide lending without access to credit, such as non-profit organizations, non-profit associations or public utilities, which, in some cases, can make loans in the context of their terms of reference.

Non-qualified institutions operate as intermediaries, with the corresponding lending institutions responsible for lending operations.

3. Securities Platform

Securities platform can provide a variety of types of investment services, such as unsecured investment, subscription shares or debt securities, investment advisory, but must obtain the qualification of the investment service operator, or the investment service Operator Agent authorization, or have the status of financing advisers, and when it as a professional platform to provide investment services, Must obtain the investment service operator qualification or the financing advisory Agent authorization.

(iii) Capacity sponsorship

The private sector provides other professional services, other than financial sponsorship, to the public service to help its public projects fall or achieve the desired objectives, collectively referred to as "capacity sponsorship". Public data open projects can also choose the ability to sponsor the way.

Capacity sponsorship cannot be regarded as public procurement by the Government, so there is no need for open tendering and bidding. The sponsorship contract between the sponsor and the beneficiary shall include the contents of the sponsorship, the conditions of the completion of the project and the guarantee period, and the compensation for the breach.

Ii. economic model of Open data reuse

Open access to public data also means more opportunities for data reuse. Generally, the types of public open data reuse include: commercial reuse, that is, in economic activities, through the use of open public data to create third-party free or paid form of products or services, non-commercial reuse or educational use, that is, the reuse of data does not charge any direct or indirect costs; internal reuse of economic activities, Economic entities are used for internal purposes, such as market research or business forecasts.

"Free and free" is the principle of open public data. On this basis, the public sector can draw on the freemium business model, carry out the market operation of the Open data reuse, and construct an innovative ecological system. freemium business model, that is "to attract users with free services, and then through value-added services, will be part of the free users to pay users, to achieve the revenue of the site." As a result, the public sector can develop distinctive custom services and products that provide value-added services through business-to-business (business-related) or business-customer models, and charge a fee.

In addition, a "Data reuse application pool" can be created, bringing together all sectors of the community to open data development applications (paid or free), mobilizing public enthusiasm and encouraging industrial innovation.

Generally speaking, public data opening is not only a powerful driving force for government information publicity, but also a rare opportunity to promote the innovation of public service development mode and promote industrial innovation.

French Ministry of Culture Open Data report

Compiling: Center for international Economic and Technical cooperation, Ministry of Industry and Information technology Zhang Jing

(Responsible editor: Mengyishan)