[open-government] Economic benefits of open data

Tue Nov 16 12:33:19 UTC 2010

>
>
> 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 agree, besides although they may be useful for building an initial case,
economic arguments are not sustainable in the long term to keep the data
open, political calculations will always override effectiveness unless
rights are enshrined in law and known and used by citizens.

It is very difficult to make the case that transparency will reduce the
amount of work for those responsible for clearing out information requests
unless we take a wider system view and see those not as overwork  problems
for the responsible civil servant but as bottlenecks for the overall flow of
information.

There could be a possibility to differentiate certain types of databases
from other FOIA information such as minutes of meetings, letters or reports.
For data you could have some criteria or markers and a traffic light system.
Privacy, commercial, security, etc, could be assessed at the point of
production, datasets would be placed on an Information Asset Register but
only the orange would require further assessment upon request.

I don't think you can avoid demanding the IARs, or other way of letting
people know what is potentially available if you want transparency. This in
itself is a major battle as it provides key information. The UK government
mass surveillance plan is just to record the communication headers, not the
content.

Generally, we cannot deny that transparency is going to be more work and
increased complexity, the question is to spread the work and include data
handling and transparency in public officials' job specifications and KPIs,
and hire more people.
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