Open data is publicly available data that can be universally and readily accessed, used and redistributed free of charge. It is structured for usability and computability.

As part of the activities of Action Group 5, a study was developed to identify the open data initiative leaders, study current policies and legislation framework on privacy, data protection, information access rights, disclosure policy, study the structure (different skills, decision making models, capacity to work with open data, data flows) and current status of data and datasets, analyse the demand for open data, identify potential champions with regard to data users, identify how this would be financed, study the technical infrastructure and propose guidelines and recommendations for the Open Data in Alpine Space.

As part of the study, an Open Data Handbook was developed to explain the technical framework for ODs in the Alpine Space, data formats and metadata, reference frameworks for ODs, platforms for ODs, data spaces, FAIR status, general technical guidelines and recommendations.