Publishing Open Data

This section explains some basic principles on the publication and access to the functions to upload open datasets in the portal.

For uploading processes and automatic integration with the portal, consult the API documentation.

If you are the administrator or manager of an open data portal or if you hold the metainformation of your entity organized as a catalogue, contact us for the setting of an harvester for automatic collection of the data.

Who may publish data at dados.gov?

Dados.gov is a portal intended for the opening of data by Public Administration’s bodies and services, as characterized by art. 4 of Law no. 26/2016 of 22 August, but any citizen or organization may sign in at the portal and upload, or reference, data which are deemed as public interest.

How to publish datasets at dados.gov

To publish a dataset on the portal, you need to create an user account or, if you are already signed in, to log in. After you create an account and login with the registry in the portal, you only need to choose the option “Contribute” at the upper bar. Alternatively, you may press the “+” icon from the backoffice area.

If your organization is not yet registered at dados.gov, you must create it by selecting “Create or find your organization”. You may also upload data on your behalf (not recommended for public bodies).

On the process of data upload, you must choose the organization under which you wish to publish the dataset. Then you must characterize the dataset and load the associated resource(s) or indicate the link where the data may be found.

Datasets and resources

A single dataset may have several associated resources (files).

For instance, we may create a specific set which provides the same information in different formats (so that it is adequate to the different types of reuse):

Or we may create a dataset regarding a specific time period (i.e. year, month, other) and upload a set of sequential resources:

Upload or index data?

The decision to upload or index (link to) the data is fully on the supplying body’s side.

AMA recommends that the bodies with their own webpages or portals accommodate the files in these portals and reference them through the URL indication (or an API, if applicable) at dados.gov. In this case, the supplying body is only responsible with the data management at its original source and the indexation at dados.gov is carried out automatically throughout time.

If the body does not hold a web infrastructure deemed adequate to provide and maintain data, it may load them directly through the backoffice or API of dados.gov.

In the case of bodies who hold their own open data portals or catalogues, the publication process may be carried out through an harvester, which collects the metainformation on these datasets in a regular and fully automatized way. The harvester setting is carried out by AMA, in partnership with the entity, if necessary.

Certification of public bodies

In order to differentiate the datasets from official State sources, the Public Administration’s organizations and entities will be certified with an “Official Supplier” seal. The certification may be requested through the email address dados@ama.pt.