The Big Data Test Infrastructure (BDTI) was created by the European Commission in 2019 and is funded by the Digital Europe Programme (DEP). With a planned overall budget of €7.5 billion, the DEP aims to accelerate the economic recovery and shape the digital transformation of Europe’s society and economy, increasing the availability, quality and usability of public sector information in compliance with the requirement of the Open Data Directive.
The DEP is one of the activities supporting the implementation of the European Data Strategy, adopted by the European Commission in 2020, which aims to create a single market for data, ensuring that more data becomes available for use in the economy and society in Europe, keeping the companies and individuals who generate the data in control of them.
The regulatory environment
In response to the public consultation on the European Strategy for Data, the European Commission published the Data Governance Act in 2020, which is intended to foster a framework to facilitate data sharing across the EU and between sectors.
During February 2022, the commission presented a new Data Act, which complements the Data Governance Act, regulating who can access and use data generated in the EU in all economic sectors and under which conditions.
The Interoperable Europe Act, adopted in March 2024 establishes an interoperability governance structure with a view to creating an ecosystem of shared interoperability solutions for the EU’s public sector.
The AI Act is the first legal framework on AI, which addresses the risks of AI and positions Europe to play a leading role globally. The AI Act aims to provide AI developers and deployers with clear requirements and obligations regarding specific uses of AI.
BDTI for European public administrations
BDTI provides a free of charge cloud-based analytics test environment for public administrations in the European Member States to experiment with open-source tools and to prototype solutions before deploying them in the production environment on their own premises. Any public administration at any level can request to use BDTI to perform analysis and experiments on their public sector information, for a period of six months, completely for free.
The test environment provided by the BDTI consists of several open-source solutions, data sources and the required cloud infrastructure that includes the virtual machines, analytics clusters, storage facilities and networking facilities. BDTI offers public administrations the opportunity to derive insights from public information, and move towards data-driven decision making.
Further reading:
BDTI in the spotlight
We are proud to see the Big Data Test Infrastructure (BDTI) recognised and discussed across the data innovation landscape. BDTI is helping shape the future of data-driven decision-making in the public sector. Here are some of the places where BDTI has been mentioned:
Big Data Test Infrastructure: The EU’s approach to enhancing public sector efficiency - Eolas Magazine
Enhancing Public Sector Efficiency: The EU's Approach to Data - Apolitical
I big data motore di crescita per la PA: soluzioni e opportunità dall’UE - Agenda Digitale
Digital Europe Programme Big Data Test Infrastructure Initiative (BDTI) – 2zeroemission.eu
Big Data Test Infrastructure (BDTI) : Μια πλατφόρμα ανοιχτού κώδικα για τα δεδομένα του δημόσιου τομέα – digigov.innohub.gr
Big Data Test Infrastructure: A free environment for public administrations to experiment with open data - datos.gob.es
BIG DATA TEST INFRASTRUCTURE (BDTI) WEBINARS - data.gov.ie
Big Data Test Infrastructure (BDTI) Re-using public sector data with ready-to-use and free-of-charge solutions - living-in.eu
As BDTI continues to support public administrations across Europe in unlocking the power of data, we’re grateful for the recognition and contributions from our partners and stakeholders. If you have featured BDTI in your publication or analysis or would like to feature it, we’d love to hear from you. Please contact us here to let us know!