The Information Office of Shanghai Municipality held a press conference today (September 25), where Chen Mingbo, deputy secretary-general of the municipal government, introduced the recently issued “Temporary Measures of the Opening of Shanghai Public Data." Wu Jincheng, director of the Municipal Economic Informationization Committee, Zhu Zongyao, deputy director of the Municipal Government Office and director of the Shanghai Data Center, and Luo Peixin, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Justice, attended the conference.

Opening up public data is an important driving force to boost digital economy and safeguard people's livelihood. It is also an inherent requirement for promoting open government affairs, improving the government's management philosophy and modernizing government governance capabilities. The Shanghai Committee of the Communist Party of China and the municipal government highly valued development and utilization of public data. Shanghai started to open public data in 2012, the first city doing so nationwide.

From 2017 to 2019, Shanghai ranked top in the third-party evaluation of China's local government data openness for three consecutive years. Up to now, the “Temporary Measures for the Opening of Public Data in Shanghai" (hereinafter referred to as the "Measures") has been reviewed and approved by the municipal government executive meeting. It will be officially implemented since October 1 this year.

I. Overall consideration

As the first local government regulation on opening up public data, the Measures will guide the city's public data development and utilization work into a new stage. The focus is on four relationships:

First, the relationship between open service and management responsibility. Public data opening is one of the important contents of public services. It is necessary to provide effective data resources to the market and society and to serve the people's needs for a better life through data development and utilization. At the same time, public administration departments should establish complete data open standards and norms and clarify relevant management authority and obligations.

Secondly, the relationship between data openness and data security. It is necessary to promote the openness and deep use of public data and to and ensure data security and legal compliance. The development of strict full-process data security protection measures is an important consideration in this legislative work.

Thirdly, the relationship between international principle and the local situation in Shanghai. Based on the internationally accepted principles such as “completeness, timeliness and originality”, the Measures take data classification, data masking and anonymity as the key requirements before the opening. Individual privacy and trade secrets are fully protected as their legal rights. The Measures provide a variety of open methods for different users.

Fourthly, the relationship of a unified platform and a multi-element cooperative ecosystem. The city requires public data to have a unified standard and open through a unified portal. Meanwhile, it encourages and guides market players to conduct data governance, provide data services, and regulate data usage to jointly build up a healthy and inclusive ecosystem that can empower all industries and assist the development of digital economy.

II. The main content of the Measures

The Measures have 48 articles in eight chapters to elaborate on general principles, mechanism, platform construction, data usage, multi-element openness, supervision and legal responsibility.

First, to release public data in selected industries based on the principle of security. It should be “demand-oriented, safe, classified, standardized and efficient” with clear duties and responsibilities. There should be designated articles in the general principle on responsibility for data security to prevent public data from being obtained illegally or used improperly. The city will coordinate in important moves to open public data and introduce an advisory mechanism by experts to make it scientific and professional in releasing public data, and to improve the city’s awareness of the open data system and related services.

Secondly, to establish a long-term mechanism for data openness and usage, actively serving social demand and serving it in a good order. Based on previous works, Shanghai will take the initiative to make a list that can meet social demand, giving priority to releasing data closely related to people’s lives, urgently needed by the society, having notable market potential and of strategic importance for industrial development. Shanghai is the first to put forward a classified model for open data system, which manages data in a standardized and subtle way to satisfy the public’s demand for data.

Thirdly, to lift capabilities in services and security protection through a unified platform. Based on the city’s big data resources, Shanghai will improve its comprehensive services capabilities in releasing public data with the establishment of a platform with unified standard and unified management. The city will make the rules clear to set up a whole-process management mechanism that is transparent, auditable and traceable with measures such as action record, data correction and interest protection to become a service platform that is efficient and reliable.

Fourthly, to advocate legality and legitimacy as the principle of data utilization and to strengthen behavior supervision while encouraging data development. The use of data should be based on the premise that it is lawful and legitimate and must not harm the national interests, social public interests and the legitimate rights and interests of third parties. On this basis, it is encouraged to carry out various forms of public data utilization activities, especially the application of data in administrative supervision and public services.

On the other hand, we will build a system for the disclosure of data sources and prevent illegal acts by tracking the data utilization and the reporting of illegal acts. For example, strict measures such as closing the use authority and implementing publicity and disclosure will be taken for acts such as obtaining data by illegal means and exceeding the prescribed data application scenarios.

Fifthly, to create an ecological system that integrates innovation to help the development of digital economy. Through measures like industrial policy guidance, the introduction of social capital, innovative application modes, recommendation of excellent services and joint innovation lab, we will promote the cooperative development of "production, research and application" and build a good ecological environment for the innovative applications of data.

At the same time, we will promote the multiple integration and standardized circulation of public data and non-public data, promote the establishment of a standard system and technical specifications for data opening and sharing, carry out exchanges and cooperation at home and abroad, enhance the city's public data governance and innovative application capabilities to help the high-quality development of the digital economy.

Sixthly, to stick to the bottom line of legal responsibility and establish a multiple supervision and guarantee system. We will clarify the legal responsibilities and safety management obligations of various subjects for data opening, data utilization, platform management and safety management. Through the establishment of special posts, strengthening professional training, carrying out assessment and evaluation, reasonable exemption of responsibilities and other systems, we aim to boost the professionalism and enthusiasm of all subjects and ensure the effective promotion of data opening.

The opening and utilization of public data is a forward-looking and systematic work that needs optimization and innovation in continuous practice. At present, four areas including inclusive finance, transportation, medical care and health as well as culture and tourism have been identified as the opening priorities for this year according to social needs. For inclusive finance, in particular, Shanghai has launched pilot and authorized opening and application of public data related to enterprises among eight departments and four pilot banks, aiming to help solve the problems of financing difficulties and high funding costs for small and micro-sized enterprises. Relevant achievements will be seen by the end of this year.

Next, Shanghai will speed up the implementation of the Measures, strengthen the organization and coordination and promote all work in a safe and orderly manner. In practice, we will continue to improve the Measures, accelerate the improvement of the government's public governance capacity and inject new impetus into the high-quality development of the economy and society.