About the Data Office

The Data Office of the Velocity Interoperability Network is responsible for the publication of open data by the departments and network services of the Velocity Interoperability Network, and for access to their data holdings. It maintains the open data catalogue and the register of data holdings, sets the standards to which data is published, handles requests for data that has not been published, and administers the licence under which the Network's data may be reused.

The Office was established on 6 September 2026. It does not itself collect data about members, staff or citizens: the data it publishes and releases is held by the departments and network services of the Network, each of which remains the controller of its own data. The Office's role is to make that data findable, to publish it in a consistent and usable form where it can be published, and to provide a single route for asking about data that has not been published.

The Office is distinct from the National Statistics Office, which compiles and publishes official statistics. The Data Office publishes the underlying records and registers of the Network's bodies; the statistics derived from them are the responsibility of the body that compiles them.

Responsibilities. The Office's work falls into five areas.

Open data publication

The catalogue of datasets published by departments and network services, the schedule of forthcoming releases and the checks applied before a dataset is listed.

Register of data holdings

A register of the principal data holdings of every department and network service, recording the controlling body, the classification of the data and whether it has been published.

Data standards

The formats, metadata, identifiers and conventions for dates and times to which every dataset published through the catalogue must conform.

Data requests

The service through which anyone may ask for data that has not been published, including extracts of published datasets and copies of personal data held about themselves.

Licensing and reuse

The Network Open Data Licence under which published data may be reused, and the data sharing agreements under which restricted and personal data is released.

Organisation. The Office is organised in three units and a press office. At establishment it employs 27 staff, transferred from the data and records functions of member organisations during the transition period from 10 August to 5 September 2026.

Publication Unit

Receives datasets from publishing bodies, checks them against the standards, lists them in the catalogue and maintains the release schedule.

Registry and Standards Unit

Maintains the register of data holdings, drafts and revises the data standards and advises departments and network services on preparing data for publication.

Requests Unit

Receives, logs and answers requests for data, coordinates with the controlling body, and prepares the Office's quarterly report on requests.

Office of the Spokesperson

Publishes the Office's press releases and official statements and answers enquiries from the press.

Reporting. The Office publishes a quarterly report on the requests it has received, the time taken to answer them and the number of datasets added to the catalogue. The first report, covering the quarter ending 31 December 2026, will be published in January 2027 and announced in the Newsroom.

For the Office's origins and the milestones since its establishment, see History. General enquiries may be sent to contact@data.gov.vin.