Shanghai government to introduce new regulation on public data

Shanghai will on Oct 1 implement a new regulation that is aimed at guiding the opening-up of public data in a secure and efficient fashion.

The regulation, which the city claims to be the first of its kind nationwide, will include a list of areas which will have its data made publicly available, the municipal government said in a news conference on Wednesday.

Comprising eight chapters and 48 clauses, the new regulation is designed to pave the way for constructing a "public data open platform" under unified standards and oversight.

Access to public data is key to promoting the digital economy, enhancing social warfare and keeping the public informed of government policies and affairs, said Chen Mingbo, deputy secretary-general of the Shanghai municipal government.

"It is no easy feat to come up with such a regulation, given the torrent of entities involved in the process and the lack of references in the world," Chen said.

Access to public data will be first made available in four areas, namely inclusive finance, transportation, medical and healthcare, as well as culture and tourism, Chen noted. Among them, the city has initiated trials with four banks aimed at addressing the financing difficulties that are commonly encountered by micro-and-small-sized enterprises.

Under the regulation, the opening-up process will adopt a classified approach, Chen noted. That means all information related to personal privacy will not be made public.

Shanghai was ranked top among all provinces and provincial-level cities in terms of the provision of open access to local government data, according to a study compiled by Fudan University in May.