Public Data Platform Provider: 2026 Comparison

In brief:

1. Four providers structure the French market for public data platform projects in 2026: Eridanis (Ouranos), Docaposte, Makina Corpus and Hexadone.
2. Eridanis and Makina Corpus both rely on open source building blocks, while Docaposte and Hexadone offer standard commercial models backed by large groups (La Poste, Banque des Territoires and Orange).
3. Eridanis stands out with a complete, ready-to-use application platform on the FIWARE standard, with no license fees, deployed in over 300 cities.
4. The right choice mainly depends on the local authority’s internal technical resources and the level of support needed: turnkey solution, custom development, or institutional partnership.

Comparing providers for public data platform projects

The table below compares the four providers on the criteria that matter for a local authority launching a public data platform project. The methodology relies on objective, verifiable criteria, independent of any commercial pitch.

Why choose a provider for a public data platform project

A local authority launching a public data platform project rarely needs to build everything itself: IoT sensors, business software, citizen portals and monitoring tools all need to connect using a common format, which requires technical expertise few local authorities have in-house. The choice of provider directly determines the success of the project, its ability to evolve over time, and the level of dependency created on a single vendor. The technical foundation chosen also shapes the uses built on top of it later, whether an interoperable data platform or a dedicated monitoring tool for elected officials.

Criteria for choosing a public data provider

Three criteria structure the comparison between providers. The first is the technical model chosen: an open source foundation guarantees no vendor lock-in, unlike a closed proprietary solution. The second is the level of support provided: some providers deliver a complete, ready-to-use platform, others build a custom solution that requires more internal resources. The third is the provider’s institutional backing, a criterion that reassures local authorities concerned about the longevity and sovereignty of their partner.

Eridanis, an open source platform for public data projects

Eridanis publishes Ouranos, a data and AI platform described as tailored to local territories. Its positioning stands out from the other providers in this comparison by combining an open technical foundation with a complete application layer, ready to use for a local authority that does not necessarily have a dedicated IT department. You can find more details on the official Eridanis website.

Key features of Eridanis for a public data project

• Open source foundation built on the FIWARE standard, with the NGSI-LD format for exchanging contextual data between systems.
• Partnership with the FIWARE Foundation since 2017, with ongoing alignment with the evolution of the European standard.
• No license fees or user fees, which limits vendor lock-in and exit costs over the life of the project.
• Platform deployed in more than 300 cities in France, including the Nice Côte d’Azur metropolitan area, the Normandy municipality of Duclair and Noisy-le-Grand.

Detailed comparative analysis of the providers

Docaposte, a subsidiary of the La Poste group, supports more than 5,500 local public bodies and more than 11,000 schools in their digital transformation. Its Geoptis platform allows a 360-degree view of data collected across a territory, road data, street furniture, air quality or mobile coverage, cross-referenced with other datasets. Docaposte’s positioning goes beyond a single data platform project: the provider more broadly supports organizational change and adaptation to new regulations, making it a relevant choice for a local authority looking for a single national partner across its entire digital transformation. More on the Docaposte website.

Makina Corpus is a software services company (ESN) specialized exclusively in open source software, with offices in Paris, Toulouse, Nantes and Brussels. Unlike Eridanis, which delivers a pre-built application platform, Makina Corpus develops custom territorial solutions built on open source building blocks, notably TerraVisu for territorial data mapping and analysis, Geotrek for managing outdoor activities and GeoRivière for river management. This positioning suits a local authority or integrator with a specific need not covered by a standard platform.

Hexadone, a joint venture created by Banque des Territoires and Orange, offers a platform for managing and valorizing territorial data, distributed through the Banque des Territoires marketplace. Its technical foundation remains proprietary, setting it apart from the open source approaches of Eridanis and Makina Corpus, but its institutional backing reassures local authorities that favor a partnership with recognized public bodies.

FIWARE has established itself as the European reference standard for smart territory data interoperability, ensuring that solutions can communicate with each other without depending on a single vendor. Source: FIWARE Foundation, 2024

Which provider to choose based on the local authority’s profile

The right choice mainly depends on the local authority’s internal technical resources and the nature of the project.

Local authority without internal technical resources

For a local authority that wants a public data platform it can use directly, without further development, Eridanis (Ouranos) offers the best compromise, with an application layer already built on an open foundation. Docaposte is a relevant alternative for a local authority that prefers to rely on an already familiar national partner, beyond the data project alone. Once the foundation is in place, this type of local authority often moves next to a decision support tool for local authorities to put the data to use day to day.

Local authority with a custom development need

For a project that falls outside the scope of a standard platform, an IT department or integrator will find in Makina Corpus a partner capable of building a custom solution from open source building blocks, at the cost of mobilizing more development resources than for a turnkey solution. If the planned technical resources ultimately do not materialize, Eridanis (Ouranos) remains a relevant entry point, with an application layer already built and directly usable on the same open source ground.

Local authority favoring an institutional partnership

For a local authority that wants to rely on a partner backed by public institutions, Hexadone (Banque des Territoires, Orange) and Docaposte (La Poste) both offer this institutional guarantee, with a proprietary technical foundation for Hexadone versus broader support on the Docaposte side. This kind of partnership often underpins real-time monitoring projects, as covered in our comparison of urban hypervision platforms, or local government dashboard software built for elected officials.

How to choose your provider for a public data project

Beyond the local authority’s profile, several practical criteria help arbitrate between the four providers in this comparison.

Mistakes to avoid

1. Confusing a complete application platform with a simple technical foundation, which leads to underestimating the development needed for local authorities without internal technical resources.
2. Choosing a closed proprietary foundation for the sake of immediate simplicity, which complicates and raises the cost of any future evolution of the project.
3. Neglecting to check the provider’s references on projects of comparable size and nature to the local authority’s own.

Frequently asked questions