Socrata (www.socrata.com), a Seattle-based cloud software company focused exclusively on democratizing access to government data, today announced that it is working with the European Commission (EC) – the executive body of the European Union (EU) that is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the EU – to develop and deploy an open data platform focused on EU Cohesion Funding data, that will help the EC increase transparency, improve performance and ensure that EU investments deliver results.
Enhancing and Enriching Data
In order to deliver its reform of EU Cohesion Policy for 2014-2020, the EC needs to be able to explain to people in a simple and convincing way how EU investments are making a difference for Europeans. The open data platform that it launched on 23 July 2014 with the help of Socrata is intended to make that possible.
Kevin Merritt, Socrata’s Founder and CEO, commented: “We’re so pleased to expand our presence in Europe as a result of the dynamic relationship we’re building with the European Commission. This partnership has tremendous potential, because the European Commission clearly understands that government in the 21st century can use open data to provide increased connection and quality of life for the people they represent and serve.”
Tracking Progress and Increasing Accountability
Socrata is working with the European Commission´s Directorate General for Regional and Urban Policy (REGIO), which manages more than €50 billion of EU funding per year. This funding is disseminated to regional development projects – such as support for research and innovation, the low-carbon economy, small and medium enterprises, broadband, roads, water and renewable energy.
Socrata will provide REGIO with a robust data presentation solution, aggregating data across multiple dimensions. Socrata will also provide a goal definition and visualization platform for tracking progress on hundreds of measures in dozens of projects. For more information on the investments made and the results obtained, please go to https://cohesiondata.ec.europa.eu.
About Socrata
Socrata is the cloud software company focused exclusively on democratizing access to government data. Its solutions help government leaders improve transparency, modernize citizen access to information and bring facts into every decision – all with unprecedented speed and cost savings. Delivered as turnkey cloud services, Socrata’s data consumerization products unlock data in enterprise silos and transform it into useful information that everyone can easily access, visualize, share and reuse. To learn more about Socrata, visit www.socrata.com or follow us on Twitter @socrata.
