The DECIDE (Data-driven Exploration in Contextual Information on Decisions) research project aims to improve the quality of political decision-making processes, make public services more efficient, and increase democratic transparency. The focus is on developing a Legislative and Decision Data Space (DS) that links local and regional government decisions with thematically relevant contextual data. The structured publication of legislation and decisions as Linked Open Data (LOD) creates an interoperable, machine-readable data infrastructure that enables data-based analysis, decision support, and citizen participation.

Data-driven applications are being tested in the pilot cities/regions of Flanders, Ghent, Freiburg, and Bamberg, for example, to analyse mobility zones, environmental measures, or support programmes for sustainable construction. These real-world application contexts serve to validate the data space concept and develop transferable models for other European cities and regions. Scientifically, DECIDE contributes to the digitalisation of the public sector by integrating concepts from linked data, semantic interoperability, and data governance into municipal decision-making.

The project combines research, teaching, and practice. Students develop practice-oriented applications and analyses as part of project work, seminars, and final theses. The content is incorporated into lectures on open data, smart governance, and digital administration. In addition, excursions to the pilot cities promote exchange with administrative partners and enable students to learn about data-based decision-making processes in real contexts. In this way, DECIDE contributes to the qualification of future specialists and the sustainable anchoring of data-driven innovation processes in public administration.