As European cities face growing pressure from urban congestion, tourist flows, sustainability targets and increasingly interconnected infrastructure, open data is evolving far beyond its original role as a tool for transparency. It is becoming a strategic layer of urban governance: a digital infrastructure capable of supporting decision-making, coordinating public services and enabling AI-driven systems.
This transformation became clear during the sixth edition of Open Data Hub Day 2026, held on 15 May at the NOI Techpark in Bolzano. Rather than a technical conference, the event demonstrated how open data, artificial intelligence, interoperable infrastructure and European regulation are converging towards a new model of governance for cities and regions.
At the heart of the debate is structural change that goes far beyond technology. Cities are gradually evolving into interconnected socio-technical systems, in which mobility, tourism, sustainability, public services and infrastructure management depend on the continuous orchestration of interoperable data flows. In this context, open data is no longer simply datasets published online, but is becoming the raw material for intelligent systems capable of helping local authorities, businesses and citizens to manage urban complexity.
Open data includes information generated by transport systems, tourism platforms, environmental sensors, mobility infrastructure and public services. Traffic flows, car park occupancy, public transport usage, air quality indicators, tourism trends and energy consumption all contribute to creating an ever-expanding digital layer around urban life. Their growing importance reflects a broader reality: modern cities generate enormous amounts of information which, if properly integrated and managed, can support more adaptive and evidence-based public decision-making.
Increasingly, the value of open data lies not only in transparency, but in its operational capabilities. Public administrations are no longer expected merely to deliver services, but also to build and manage digital infrastructures capable of collecting, integrating, storing and orchestrating data from fragmented systems. In practice, data governance is becoming a central function of public infrastructure.
Artificial intelligence further amplifies this transformation. AI systems are, in fact, structurally dependent on the quality, interoperability and reliability of data ecosystems. Without structured and reliable datasets, even the most advanced AI models struggle to generate truly useful outputs. Open data and AI are therefore evolving as mutually dependent infrastructures: data powers intelligent systems, whilst AI transforms vast volumes of information into actionable insights capable of supporting real-time decision-making.
This interdependence is becoming increasingly significant within the rapidly evolving European regulatory landscape. Although the EU Data Act officially came into force in September 2025, 2026 marks the first fully operational year in which its provisions on data sharing, interoperability, portability and cloud switching are being implemented across the European market (European Commission, 2024; European Union, 2023).
One of the most significant deadlines is 12 September 2026, the date on which ‘product-by-design’ requirements for connected products and related digital services will come into force. Under the regulation, products placed on the European market after that date must be designed in such a way as to allow users to access, transfer and share their data directly without technical or contractual barriers (European Union, 2023; Wendehorst, 2026).
In practical terms, digital product manufacturers and service providers are increasingly required to integrate interoperability, standardised APIs, consent management systems and data access capabilities directly into their product architecture. The legislation is also accelerating the transition towards greater cloud portability, reduced vendor lock-in and interoperable multi-cloud ecosystems, ahead of the removal of certain data-egress fees scheduled for September 2027 (Morgan Lewis, 2025; Snellman, 2026).
The implications go far beyond regulatory compliance. Industrial companies, SaaS providers, mobility platforms, cloud providers and public authorities are rethinking the way data is stored, shared, governed and monetised. For cities and public infrastructure, this transformation is particularly significant, as AI-enabled urban systems increasingly rely on continuous access to interoperable, real-time data streams.
At the same time, the AI Act is gradually reshaping the governance of artificial intelligence in Europe. The regulation introduces new requirements regarding transparency, risk management, traceability, documentation and human oversight for high-risk AI systems.
Together, the Data Act and the AI Act are accelerating a broader convergence between data governance and artificial intelligence governance. The broader strategic ambition underpinning these regulations is becoming increasingly clear: Europe is seeking to build sovereign and interoperable digital infrastructures capable of supporting the future European AI economy, whilst balancing innovation, cybersecurity, competition and public trust. The Common European Data Spaces represent one of the pillars of this strategy, fostering more structured and regulated data-sharing ecosystems across different sectors.
In this context, Open Data Hub Day serves as a concrete demonstration of how these concepts are already being translated into practical systems for cities and regions.
Following introductory remarks by Vincent Mauroit and strategic updates from Patrick Ohnewein, both of whom lead NOI Techpark’s innovation activities, the event showcased a number of practical applications in which open data is already helping to optimise mobility, manage tourism and improve public services.
One of the most significant examples concerned smart mobility. Open Data Hub, in collaboration with Ithel, has developed a predictive system capable of estimating car park occupancy using data generated by cameras. The platform, which is already in use in the Alpe di Villandro area, enables local authorities to manage access flows and car park infrastructure more efficiently.
Another project has demonstrated how open data can support multimodal transport systems. In collaboration with STA – South Tyrol Transport Infrastructure, the südtirolmobil platform integrates cycling and public transport through services based on real-time data, enabling users to check the availability of bike parking spaces, view timetables and purchase tickets via a single interface.
Beyond operational efficiency, however, the debate has focused primarily on a more profound transformation of urban governance. Cities are seeking to evolve from reactive administrations towards adaptive and predictive systems supported by interoperable data and infrastructure enabled by artificial intelligence.
This perspective emerged clearly during the panel discussion “Listening lands. How data and AI can make our green regions smarter”, organised in collaboration with City Vision and moderated by director Domenico Lanzillotta. Participants including Claudio Corrarati, Ivano Marchiol from the Municipality of Bolzano, Margherita Cera from the Municipality of Udine and Roberto Cavaliere from the Municipality of Padua discussed how local authorities are experimenting with data-driven governance models capable of coordinating mobility, tourism, sustainability and public services.
The experiences shared by regions such as Bolzano, Padua, Udine, Trento and the Villandro Alps have shown how local authorities are making use of interoperable datasets to support coordinated urban decision-making and improve the management of increasingly complex territories.
What has become increasingly clear is that open data is gradually becoming a tool to support public decision-making. By integrating information on transport, tourism, the environment and infrastructure, public authorities are seeking to move away from reactive measures towards more proactive and adaptive models of governance. From this perspective, the objective goes beyond mere technological modernisation: the broader aim is to improve public services, strengthen regional coordination and promote the common good through more informed and transparent decisions.
At the same time, the event also highlighted the tensions arising from this transformation. As cities become increasingly reliant on AI-powered infrastructure, issues such as data quality, interoperability, cybersecurity, traceability, governance and regulatory compliance are becoming strategic operational risks rather than mere technical matters. The challenge is no longer simply to collect greater quantities of data, but to ensure that information ecosystems remain reliable, governable and usable within increasingly autonomous AI environments.
These issues became even more apparent during the afternoon sessions on artificial intelligence.
Eduardo Guerra from the University of Bolzano addressed the topic of AI-ready infrastructure head-on in his presentation “Are your APIs and data sources suitable for AI Agents?”, emphasising how future AI ecosystems will increasingly rely on semantically structured APIs and interoperable datasets.
Chris Mair from 1006.org presented “Stuart chatbot: a simple yet powerful RAG system”, showcasing applications of retrieval-augmented generation built on open data platforms. Meanwhile, Marco Montanari from Open History Map explored the evolution of open data hub infrastructures towards “agent-queryable worlds”, where AI agents interact directly with structured public datasets.
The issue of reliability also emerged as a key concern. Safoura Jolfaei of the Iranian Institute for Research in Information Science and Technology discussed the creation of reliable datasets for low-resource languages as a strategy to mitigate hallucinations in large language models. Her presentation reinforced an increasingly evident trend in the AI sector: the future competitiveness of intelligent systems may depend less on raw computational power and much more on data quality, governance and interoperability.
The final part of the event focused on data spaces and the wider European push towards sovereign digital ecosystems. Sessions featuring Lukas Künig of T-Mobile Austria, Matthias Repke and Vincent Maholetti of T-Systems Austria, and Riccardo Crescini of PwC explored how interoperable infrastructure and European regulation could reshape the future of industrial and urban data sharing.
Ultimately, what emerged in Bolzano is that open data is no longer merely a matter of transparency initiatives or technical assets. It is becoming the operational foundation of urban governance enabled by artificial intelligence.
In the emerging European landscape, characterised by new regulations and the growing prominence of AI, cities capable of transforming interoperable data into coordinated decision-making systems could gain a structural advantage in managing complexity, sustainability, mobility and public services in the coming years. (photo by ANOOF C on Unsplash)
References
European Commission. (2024). Data Act. European Commission Digital Strategy. European Commission – Data Act
European Commission. (2025). EU Data Act gives users control over data generated by connected devices. European Commission Digital Strategy. European Commission – EU Data Act Gives Users Control Over Data Generated by Connected Devices
European Commission. (2026). Common European Data Spaces. European Commission Digital Strategy. European Commission – Common European Data Spaces
European Union. (2023). Regulation (EU) 2023/2854 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 December 2023 on harmonised rules on fair access to and use of data (Data Act). EUR-Lex. EUR-Lex – Regulation (EU) 2023/2854 (Data Act)
European Union. (2024). Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down harmonised rules on artificial intelligence (Artificial Intelligence Act). EUR-Lex. EUR-Lex – Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (AI Act)
Morgan Lewis. (2025). EU Data Act begins September 12, impacting cloud services, connected products, and other data industries. Morgan Lewis. Morgan Lewis – EU Data Act Impact on Cloud Services and Connected Products
NOI Techpark. (2026). NOI Techpark official website. NOI Techpark
Snellman. (2026). EU Data Act digital compliance tracker. Snellman Digital Compliance Tracker. Snellman – EU Data Act Digital Compliance Tracker
Travers Smith. (2026). The EU Data Act compliance countdown for connected products. Travers Smith LLP. Travers Smith – EU Data Act Compliance Countdown for Connected Products
Wendehorst, C. (2026). EU Data Act – Article 50 timeline and applicability. EU-Data-Act.com. EU Data Act – Article 50 Timeline
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