An institutional structure accountable for the governance and protection of personal data in society. This structure is typically established by the country’s personal data law and is responsible for enforcing it.

An open data portal is an online platform which supports users in accessing collections of data that have been opened for public re-use. Government open data portals may be in response to requirements of freedom of information laws or open data laws.

Institutionalized executive-level staff or oversight committee responsible for coordinating between actors for the opening of (usually government) datasets for re-use, among many other potential activities. The body must oversee the implementation of a strategy or policy, and not merely be the operator of the country’s open data portal, the task force that wrote the strategy, or the civil society dialogue mechanism mandated by participating in the Open Government Partnership.

Institutionalized executive-level staff responsible for coordinating public sector data assets to extract or exploit the value of data in the public sector, in ways that go beyond opening datasets for public re-use. This often means it is responsible for supporting data sharing within and between governmental entities, or managing digital identity or base registry programs or other such initiatives. This category does not include data departments of individual ministries, unless it is a ministry with remit over digital issues, and does not include statistical, evidence-based decision making, digital transformation, digital economy, or ICT departments unless they deal explicitly with data governance or coordinating data sharing in the public sector. Advisory bodies commissioned and/or chaired by governmental authorities also count.