From pilot to production – building a full data inventory at the Environment Agency 

In today’s data-driven world, the ability to easily find, understand and reuse data is essential – not only in the private sector but also across public institutions. Recognising this, Luxembourg’s Environment Agency (Administration de l’environnement – AEV) partnered with Luxembourg National Data Service (LNDS) to take on the challenge of organising and documenting its vast and varied environmental datasets. As a result, the initiative evolved from a small pilot project into a full-scale data infrastructure effort. The project culminated in the launch of a production-ready, populated metadata inventory in May 2025, setting a precedent for public sector data management in Luxembourg.

Why data findability matters

In any organisation, data is only valuable if people know it exists and can actually use it. When datasets are hard to locate, or their purpose, origin, or status is unclear, organisations risk wasting time and resources recreating data they already have. Along with that, valuable insights may never be uncovered because the data simply remains unused.

In public institutions like AEV, the challenge is even greater due to the diversity of data types and the number of units and teams involved. The effort to build a structured data catalogue was driven by a fundamental need: improving data findability and avoiding the inefficiencies caused by siloed, undocumented, or duplicated datasets.

Read more about data cataloguing and why it is important.

Unlocking the value of environmental data

Like many public administrations, AEV is responsible for managing data across numerous domains – from air and soil quality to waste, noise pollution, and environmental permits. However, these domains and the associated data types are extremely diverse. Data comes in many formats, such as statistical dashboards and online forms, and are managed across different teams and systems. 

While each unit within AEV holds valuable information, much of it was documented to different standards or stored in inconsistent ways, making collaboration difficult and the potential reuse of existing data not as efficient as it could be. For data-driven processes to work efficiently, it is essential to understand where data comes from, where it is stored, how it is structured, and whether it meets the necessary quality standards. However, without a shared central structure, it is difficult to get a complete picture of what data exists and how it can be reused. As a result, data was often recreated, duplicated, or simply overlooked. To truly unlock the value of this data, AEV wanted to find a structured, organisation-wide approach for handling their data.

To address these challenges, AEV initiated a collaboration with LNDS in 2023, aiming to improve data findability through a structured metadata inventory – a catalogue that would describe what data exists, where it resides, and how it can be used.

A sustainable approach to data: Reduce, reuse, recycle 

While AEV had the data but lacked a structured overview, our team at LNDS provided technical support, tools, training, and helped design and implement a system to document all the datasets. Together, we ran multiple phases over two years: starting with a pilot project, moving to a more advanced metadata system, and finally a fully working data catalogue within AEV’s internal systems.

From idea to implementation: a step-by-step journey

Let’s take a closer look at each phase of this collaboration and how it contributed to the final result.

Pilot phase – 2023

Collaboration between our two teams started with a small-scale pilot project in order to establish the basic requirements – what kind of data, who will use it, what descriptions are needed. Our team developed a light-weight proof-of-concept system for recording dataset metadata and ran workshops to familiarise AEV teams with cataloguing concepts.

Tool development – 2024

Building on the pilot phase, we further developed metadata collection system into what is now LNDS’ flexible Metadata Capture System (MDC) – a secure tool for metadata entry and management. Authentication features and audit trails were integrated to support broader utility not just for AEV but for any organisation. 

Data documentation – 2024

In this phase, the collaboration focused on defining what qualifies as a dataset in practice, establishing registration and approval workflows for using the data catalogue in AEV’s day-to-day operations. As part of this project, we held a series of workshops with all major teams and units in the administration to get a full picture of their data sources and datasets. From these meetings, we built up a seed catalogue of nearly 400 datasets and sub-datasets, covering all areas of the AEV’s remit. On LNDS’ side, our team developed comprehensive documentation and training materials to support AEV.

Implementation – 2025

As a final project, we facilitated the import of the seed catalogue, initially maintained in the form of a spreadsheet, into the production system. After a series of extensive tests to ensure the compatibility of the Metadata Capture System with existing public sector authentication and authorisation systems, the production system was deployed within the administration’s in-house IT infrastructure. We officially released and presented the Metadata Capture System on 13 May 2025 via a webinar held jointly by representatives from AEV and LNDS, and attended by most of AEV’s staff.

What we achieved and why it matters

As a result, nearly 400 datasets were documented across AEV’s different areas. The administration now has a functional internal data catalogue system that helps save time, prevent duplication, and improve transparency in day-to-day work. Thanks to this early investment, AEV is also well prepared to meet upcoming legal needs and requirements, without the need for significant additional changes.

Beyond the outcomes within AEV, the impact of the project has extended more widely across the national data ecosystem:

• Metadata Standards:
  The project laid the groundwork for Luxembourg’s national metadata standard (DCAT-AP-LU), contributing to the country’s alignment with European data interoperability efforts.
• Metadata Capture System:
  The Metadata Capture System, developed and refined through this project, is now widely used among LNDS data partners for recording metadata of datasets. 
• Best Practices: 
  Approval workflows and user roles defined with AEV have been integrated into LNDS’ broader guidance on data inventory best practices – AEV’s approval process became a model for others.
• Training:
  The training elements developed during the project have been incorporated into LNDS’ wider data cataloguing training materials – from introductory presentations to a full user manual for the metadata capture system. 

Scaling the impact

This initiative represents a blueprint for modern data management in the public sector. It demonstrates how effective collaboration, supported by the right tools and standards, can improve operational efficiency and data reuse.

As we continue to expand our services in LNDS, lessons learned from the collaboration with the Environment Agency have extensively shaped the way we deliver data cataloguing services to our new data partners – helping to build a stronger, more connected data ecosystem in Luxembourg. Early lessons from the project helped simplify communication and training, choose the right metadata models, and develop the right tools for building data inventories in the public sector.

Do you want to make your data easier to find, use, and manage? Reach out to our experts to explore how our cataloguing solutions can support your organisation in order to make your data findable & interoperable​, so you can create value from your data.