This programme considered the issue of public sector data and its uses and governance to serve the purposes of economic, environmental and social development, from a comparative Scotland-European Union perspective.

The main objectives were:

• To facilitate knowledge exchange, dialogue and discussions between academics and practitioners, Scottish and EU stakeholders, and representatives of different sectors, on public data through a series of online workshops and a hybrid event, which included public engagement.
• To build, maintain and deepen relationships between Scotland and EU stakeholders in this area to understand how Scotland is situated alongside broader post-Brexit EU data governance frameworks, and the ongoing links between Scotland and the EU whilst also extending these connections more widely beyond the EU to other global partners.
• To understand the diversity of different publics and their interplay with public sector data in Scotland and the EU, and address inequalities in data to ensure economic, social and environmental development are both ethical and equitable.
• To produce a report containing recommendations for further policy and research in this area in Scotland and the EU.