data.gouv.fr
Overview
data.gouv.fr is the official French government open data portal, launched in 2011 and managed by Etalab, the open data department of DINUM (Direction interministérielle du numérique). It is the central catalogue and distribution point for all French public data under the Etalab Open Licence. It is not itself a research data repository, but it is the umbrella infrastructure within which two platforms directly relevant to open neuroscience operate: Recherche Data Gouv (for research data) and Health Data Hub (for health data).
What it is and is not
data.gouv.fr is a government open data portal, not a disciplinary research repository. Researchers would not deposit neuroimaging or neuroscience datasets here directly. The correct deposit destinations within the ecosystem are Recherche Data Gouv for research outputs from publicly funded projects (ANR, CNRS, Inserm mandates), and Health Data Hub for health data reuse and access to the SNDS national health data system.
Etalab’s Role
Etalab (a department of DINUM) does more than run data.gouv.fr. It also coordinates French government open data policy across all ministries, develops schema.data.gouv.fr (https://schema.data.gouv.fr), a catalogue of open data schemas promoting structured and interoperable public datasets, runs the Entrepreneurs d’Intérêt Général programme (civic tech fellowship), advises on responsible use of algorithms and AI in public services, and coordinates with the European EOSC and open government data initiatives.
The French Open Data Ecosystem (simplified)
DINUM / Etalab
│
├── data.gouv.fr ← general government open data portal
│ │
│ ├── Recherche Data Gouv ← research data (MESR mandate)
│ └── Health Data Hub ← health data (SNDS access)
│
└── schema.data.gouv.fr ← data schema catalogue
Connections
- Manages: Recherche Data Gouv, Health Data Hub (within its ecosystem)