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Linked Open Data - Part 4 From Local Catalog to Europe – How Our Data is Harvested and Discoverable Across Borders

10 June 2026

Ariticle series on Linked Open Data
Part 1: The Foundation and Context – Link.
Part 2: Ontologies and Code Lists in Practice – Link.
Part 3: From JSON to Knowledge Graph – Link.
Part 4: From Local Catalog to Europe – Link.

In the previous parts of this series, we dived deep into how Svenska kraftnät Data Service makes the data itself smart, linked, and machine-understandable under the hood. But how do we ensure that developers, analysts, and researchers actually find our datasets? The answer lies in automated metadata sharing via the DCAT-AP-SE standard, putting our datasets firmly on the national and European map.

For open data to create real value, it is not enough for it to simply sit on our own portal. It must be discoverable where the users are looking. By using open, semantic web standards for our data catalog, other data portals can automatically fetch – or "harvest" – our metadata.

What is DCAT-AP-SE?

When discussing a data catalog, it is not sufficient to merely describe the underlying tables; we must also describe the catalog itself in a structured manner. For this, we use DCAT (Data Catalog Vocabulary), a W3C standard designed specifically to model data catalogs and datasets on the web.

To ensure that public data across Europe speaks the same language, the EU developed a joint specification called DCAT-AP (Application Profile). In Sweden, DIGG (The Agency for Digital Government) has further adapted this into the national profile: DCAT-AP-SE.

This profile mandates that we describe our datasets using standardized semantic properties:

  • Who is the publisher (dct:publisher)?

  • What license applies (dct:license)?

  • What geographical area is covered (dct:spatial)?

  • What distribution formats are available (dcat:distribution), such as our linked Datastore API?

Since our new platform is fundamentally built on Linked Data principles, it generates this DCAT-AP-SE metadata completely automatically as a machine-readable RDF graph.

The Digital Lifecycle: From Sundbyberg to Brussels

Because our data catalog speaks DCAT-AP-SE, it integrates seamlessly into the wider public digital ecosystem. This process occurs across three automated steps:

[Svenska kraftnät Data Service]
 │ (DCAT-AP-SE / RDF)
 ▼
[Sweden's National Data Portal: dataportal.se] (DIGG harvests and presents catalog)
 │
 ▼
[The Official European Data Portal: data.europa.eu] (EU harvests and presents catalog)

  1. The Source (Svenska kraftnät): We publish and update our datasets regarding the power system and the electricity market. Our platform exposes the catalog via a permanent DCAT-AP endpoint.

  2. National Level (dataportal.se): DIGG’s national data portal regularly visits our endpoint and "harvests" (ingests) our metadata. Consequently, all our datasets instantly become searchable for everyone in Sweden on the national data portal, complete with our categorizations and multilingual descriptions.

  3. European Level (data.europa.eu): In the next tier, the official European Data Portal harvests metadata from DIGG. Because the data has flowed through an unbroken chain of semantic standards, Svenska kraftnät’s datasets automatically populate the shared European data portal.

Why is This Vital for the Energy Sector?

Making the data catalog harvestable and discoverable in this manner yields several fundamental benefits:

  • Increased Visibility Without Overhead: We only need to document a dataset once within our own platform. Automations handle the distribution of this information to both national and international developers.

  • Frictionless Cross-Border Analysis: A European researcher looking for market data or bidding zone time series does not need prior knowledge of Svenska kraftnät, nor do they need to navigate a Swedish website. They will discover our data directly via data.europa.eu, localized and cataloged according to European standards.

  • Standardized Licenses and Terms: By programmatically declaring terms and formats via DCAT, external systems can automatically evaluate whether they have the right to utilize the data in their applications or AI models, removing legal ambiguities.

Summary: A Platform Designed for the Future

With this fourth piece of the puzzle, we come full circle on the architecture of our new platform (Svenska kraftnät Data Service):

From capturing raw telemetry and market clearing results in our secure databases, through structured tables enriched by ontologies and code lists, made accessible via CSVW in our API, to finally being rendered globally discoverable via DCAT-AP-SE.

By investing in Linked Open Data, we have built a platform that not only solves today's data-sharing requirements but is fully geared toward the future of smart grids, automated integrations, and AI-driven analytics – both in Sweden and across Europe.