[open-government] Is it too radical to demand everything?

[Josh Tauberer]

> the open data movement must demand from government and public sector 
> to publish everything themselves

It's not too radical. If you add in basic caveats for security, privacy, 
and intellectual property, I think most open gov advocates would say, 
yes, in a perfect world, government records should all be online. That 
sort of across-the-board transparency is the root of the freedom of 
information / right to know movement, which is right now pretty healthy 
across the world. People do demand that, and constitutions these days 
get written with that in mind. (Success!)

A good starting point is the external links section on 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_information_legislation.

At the same time, people specialize on particular types of government 
records --- legislative, geospatial, financial, etc. We get into the 
details on these because when it comes time to implementing open data 
the details matter.

So, both are going on.

- Josh Tauberer (@JoshData)

http://razor.occams.info

On 09/14/2012 05:06 AM, Ivo Babaja wrote:
>
> Considering Rufus' post about great expectations, I think that the 
> goal for open data should be more radical.
>
> I think that, at least in some future perspective, the open data 
> movement must demand from government and public sector to publish 
> everything themselves.
>
> To require that information should be published, to be considered 
> official and legal.
>
> And I mean ALL information. Why not e.g. publish financial 
> transactions made from all government's accounts?
>
> That should help fight corruption more than simple budget projections.
>
> With this info, there is foundation for more meaningful, more 
> to-the-point political discussion, whether it comes from media, 
> political parties or NGOs.
>
> And that is real contribution to democratic progress.
>
> But open data can not be just about progress.
>
> It must also be about people's right to know and control those that 
> are conducting public duties.
>
> My views in short here: http://www.publictopublic.org.
>
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Ivo Babaja
>
>
>
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