[open-government] Economic benefits of open data

[Ton Zijlstra]

I heard the Dutch Ministry of Education say they saw the number of requests
and questions (so not just FOIA, but all requests for info) drop
significantly by releasing all their education related data pro-actively
(well, not entirely proactive, it took a court case to get them going, but
they did that very constructively and saw the court decision as an
opportunity). Also the questions they still receive they can answer faster,
as they now know themselves where to find the data. Will see if I can get
some more concrete 'proof' from them.

As to arguing for the potential of open data. With the new Dutch government
(very much focused on budget cuts, and spending but 1 line in the coalition
agreement on internet and things digital) as well as with local governments
(also very much looking at budget costs) I am currently much more focussing
on how releasing data 1) helps that department itself to execute tasks, and
reach goals. 2) helps the department's 'clients' to better reach their goals
/ do their tasks. So positioning it either as being more efficient and more
effective themselves, and as being less 'needed' by empowering the ones the
department serves to be more effective (which also improves gov's image).

best,
Ton
-------------------------------------------
Interdependent Thoughts
Ton Zijlstra

ton at tonzijlstra.eu
+31-6-34489360

http://zylstra.org/blog
-------------------------------------------


On Mon, Nov 15, 2010 at 5:58 PM, <toby at law-democracy.org> wrote:

>
> I agree that this argument has advocacy potential, hence my 'admission'
> that I use it myself.
>
> I am becoming concerned, however, that it will create a backlash in due
> course. Already in Canada I would say one tends to get little mileage out
> of such arguments.
>
> So I would like to see two things:
>
> 1) Solid economic arguments based on evidence (I know about the UCL
> Constitution Unit's work but I don't think it amounts to this). This could
> either be generic studies about the value of proactive disclosure or more
> focused studies on the economic benefits of open data. It would be great
> if Tim's proposed session for London could go ahead.
> 2) More rights based arguments that do not depend on cost (sort of along
> the lines of your second para. below). I think there are interesting
> opportunities here (eg along the lines of proactive disclosure delivering
> the right to information more effectively, as some posts to this list have
> argued, and also deliver it in a more egalitarian way).
>
> Best, Toby
>
>
> > I can only speak for the UK. There is a study by the University College
> > London's Constitution Unit, that tracks FOIA request types, quantity and
> > cost and has been doing this from 2006.
> > http://www.ucl.ac.uk/constitution-unit/research/foi/publications.htm
> > There is a real concern by people who deal with FOIA requests that by
> > making things open will bring on an onslaught of requests but so far from
> > what I hear, this hasn't manifested itself as of yet. There are web based
> > request sites that make the process of request easier whether this is
> > having an effect I don't know.
> >
> > The law gives certain rights to information and compliance has cost. It
> is
> > whether you have the information wrenched from you which costs or that
> you
> > have a mechanism so people can 'self-serve' which also costs but probably
> > less.
> >
> > I suppose in the current climate we are getting more traction from public
> > bodies by giving them a cost saving argument rather than an innovation
> > one.
> >
> > Julian
> >
> > On 15 Nov 2010, at 15:34, toby at law-democracy.org wrote:
> >
> >>
> >> Right to information activists, including myself, routinely make the
> >> argument that proactive disclosure will reduce the burden of processing
> >> requests for information, and in some countries (eg India), this is even
> >> built into the law. However, I do not know of any proper study on this
> >> relationship. Intuitively, outside of the routine release of very basic
> >> information, I believe it is equally likely that more proactive
> >> disclosure
> >> may actually stimulate more requests for information (through whetting
> >> peoples' appetites for information).
> >>
> >> It may
>
>
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>
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