List of Service Models

The UK Data Service is a digital archive run by universities and responsible for maintaining and making available social science data in the UK. Much of these data are openly accessible. However, anyone who wants to access protected data must fulfill certain conditions (depending on the type of data) and apply for a license to use those data. The more sensitive the data are, the more conditions that must be met in order to obtain the license.

The US government invests in research and innovation through universities, research grants, and pro-curement. If these investments lead to patents, those also belong to the US government. It is therefore not surprising that the government owns the most patents in the country. These government-owned patents can be licensed for commercial purposes.

The Canadian government has introduced open data licensing for data created by different government units. In particular, it includes geographic data, such as for the expansion of road and rail networks or the National Hydro Network. The license also explicitly allows commercial use by private parties.

Like many other northern European countries, Iceland has established a monopoly on the sale of alcohol. The State Alcohol and Tobacco Company of Iceland is state-owned and has the sole right to sell alcoholic beverages on the island. This is intended to limit advertising and marketing and promote conscientious alcohol consumption.

Due to temporary water shortages, the government of Andalusia has implemented a reformed conces-sion system. Concessions for the use of water rights are granted to companies for a period of 20 years and managed by so-called “water banks” for a public initiative. The goal is to achieve partial flexibilization of the water market.