On 1 January 2023, the new law – Law on Official Statistics and State Data Governance of the Republic of Lithuania – enters into force. The Department of Statistics of the Republic of Lithuania becomes State Data Agency. Implementation of the changes requires extensive legal preparation. Several important pieces of legislation were adopted last week: The Government of the Republic of Lithuania approved the Regulations of the future State Data Agency, the Seimas – the Law amending Article 1 of Law No XIV-1396 amending Law No I-270 on Official Statistics of the Republic of Lithuania (hereinafter – the “Law”).

Pursuant to Article 5(1) of the Law on Official Statistics and State Data Governance of the Republic of Lithuania, the State Data Agency is an institution of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania participating in the formation of the state policy not only in the field of official statistics management assigned to the Minister of Finance but also in the field of state data governance.

The Regulations of the State Data Agency set out the institution’s objectives, functions and rights related not only to official statistics, but also to state data governance.

The objectives of the Law are to separate the use of the State Data Management Platform managed by Statistics Lithuania from the purposes of the use of state data defined in the Law on Official Statistics and State Data Governance, and to enable the State Data Management Platform managed by Statistics Lithuania to be used as a multifunctional and integral set of technological solutions, technical and software tools by state and municipal institutions and agencies, as well as by state and municipal enterprises and public bodies owned or co-owned by the state or municipality, statutory bodies and other budgetary institutions, regional development councils for the performance of their functions in the fulfilment of the tasks set out in laws or other legal acts, and by other entities in their implementation of tasks important to public interests.

The Law aims to make efficient use of the technological resources available to the state and to extend the use of the State Data Management Platform to address public welfare challenges.

State and municipal enterprises and public bodies owned or co-owned by the state or municipality, statutory bodies and other budgetary institutions, regional development councils, as well as other entities will be able to use the State Data Management Platform to implement the tasks important to the public interest.