Case Study: Regione Lombardia achieves citizen engagement and data-driven governance with Socrata's Open Data Platform

Lombardia Open Data: Designed for Growth

Regione Lombardia, the regional government in northern Italy, sought to lead Europe’s open data movement by making public datasets not just available but truly usable by citizens — easy to explore, map, analyze and share. Their challenge was to publish timely, high‑value data (from elderly care listings to government spending), boost civic participation and transparency, and do so efficiently without heavy investment in hardware or IT overhead.

They deployed the Socrata Open Data platform with publisher and consumer APIs, social sharing, GovStat performance tools, and later moved hosting to Microsoft Azure for better European‑based performance. The cloud solution automated data updates, reduced IT costs, and powered a growing portal of 430+ datasets; community initiatives like the OpenApp competition drew 111 app submissions. The result: faster, more sustainable data publishing, stronger citizen engagement, increased transparency, and deeper use of data in regional decision‑making.

Regione Lombardia

Daniele Crespi

Innovative Services and eID Development Manager