Reluctant at best, obstructive at worst

Despite all promises made by governments, whether through the Open Government Partnership, the 2013 G8 Open Data Charter, the EU Digital Agenda or individual government promises to publish public sector information or government data openly by default, many transparency and open data groups around the world are struggling with governments that are reluctant at best, obstructive at worst.

Think again

If you think that information collected and paid for by the government belongs to us all, think again. Despite the launch of new open data projects, initiatives and portals and despite various types of government declarations and action plans, unlocking of public service information is not going fast enough. One might wonder how many more research reports on the economic value and societal benefits of open data need to be published.

The flow of information has changed

Information still flows from government to citizens, from professors to students and from media to consumers. At the same time, there are generations that do not need to be told what is good for them. They can investigate, publish and organize themselves. The way they interact with authority is completely different but the structures of government have not changed. They do not understand bureaucracy or the need for it and they do not have patience.

Finding out how government works

To reverse this, one needs to understand not only how government works but also how to influence it. Open data makes understanding possible and puts demands on governments. It allows people to see how governments operate.

Governments need to stop from building applications and start sharing data. When governments build apps, they continue to tell from their own perspectives what people need to know. This makes these government bodies not necessarily more transparent or open.

Information is a right, not a privilege

A call for open data confronts a closed government body with demands from outside, from the public domain. Open data raises questions about public institutions, how they work, how they deal with information and their public tasks. It raises questions about what data is being collected, the use, operation, maintenance, management and its open availability. That is the reason why we asked for the obvious.

From outside government, it is difficult to know what information and data the government holds. Often, government officials first want to know what you will do with the data, they want to know exactly what the economic or societal benefits you will create for them. Some governments have invested in research to help them decide what data to open. Others have organized speed dating sessions between the private sector and some government data holders. However, access to government information is a right, not a privilege for the happy few.

The two unknowns

A year ago, we send a letter to all government departments, explaining the need to unlock government information, the benefits of machine-readable government data in the context of the works of that government agency. We often are asked which datasets we would like to see opened. So, despite well-publicized benefits, there are two major unknowns. We do not know what data the government holds and we do not know all possibilities and opportunities that occur when particular datasets are opened.

Let us know what you have

In order to help government prioritize what datasets to open, what datasets can or cannot be opened, the first step is to know what data government holds. The best possible actor in position to know is government itself. Therefore we asked all government departments to do an data inventory and publish the results, preferably in a machine readable format. The coordinating minister for open data, the minister of Interior, Ronald Plasterk, agreed. In a recent letter to us, the government also believes this is the right step to take. The results will be published in the first quarter of 2015. It’s a beginning but a major milestone when it happens.

Arjan El Fassed is the executive director of Open State Foundation based in the Netherlands. He is also a former Dutch member of parliament and lead advocacy both at international development agencies as well as human rights organizations.