Better Public Services - the value of Open Data for the Public Sector

CSO and UCD Collaboration highlights the value of Open Data for the Public Sector

A recent collaboration between the Central Statistics Office (CSO) and University College Dublin (UCD) demonstrates how openly available public sector data can be transformed into practical insights that support better decision‑making, innovation, and public understanding.

The initiative brought together CSO data experts, and students and staff from UCD’s School of Computer Science. The UCD students were invited to explore a selection of High‑Value Datasets (HVDs) published by the CSO. HVDs are specific categories of public sector open data that have been identified at EU level as having particularly strong potential to deliver social, economic, and environmental benefits.

As part of the project, students developed interactive dashboards and visualisations using the published HVDs. Their work explored a range of topics highly relevant to public policy and service delivery, including:

• Household income distribution
• Trade and business activity
• Regional employment patterns
• Population change and migration
• Measures of social and economic vulnerability

By turning complex datasets into clear visual stories, the projects showed how open data can help answer practical questions, reveal trends, and support evidence‑based discussion across government and society.

Five standout projects were shortlisted by UCD academic staff and presented at a dedicated showcase event in the CSO.

The collaboration demonstrates how, when public sector data is made open, accessible and reusable, it can be used far beyond its original purpose. Following the success of this initiative, there is now interest in expanding the approach to involve other third‑level institutions in the future, helping to further embed open data use across Ireland.

Ireland’s progress in using digital technology and open data to improve public services and support a thriving economy was recently recognised in two recent international reports. This progress supports Ireland’s wider national plans for digitalisation at scale in the recently published National Digital & AI Strategy and Digital Public Services Plan 2030.

The CSO is Ireland’s national statistical institute, responsible for collecting and publishing official statistics about the country’s people, society, economy, and environment. The CSO publishes its data openly through data.cso.ie, using the PxStat platform.

The Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Digitalisation and Reform oversees Open Data policy, manages the national Open Data portal data.gov.ie, and supports public service bodies in implementing the National Open Data Strategy 2023-2027. Visit data.gov.ie to learn more.