At the Internet Governance Forum website a report has been published on the Workshop "Public Sector Information online: towards a Global Policy Framework" that was organized at the recent IGF meeting in Nairobi. Workshop organizer Chris Corbin, authored the report on the workshop.

We previously reported on the preparations for this workshop in August and September.

The full report is available for download (.docx format).

A summary is cited below.

A brief substantive summary and the main events that were raised:

In the context of:

1. The knowledge of the growing world wide bottom up push by Civil Society with respect to open government data, open research data and open development data;
2. The knowledge of the top down approach where the heads of 46 United Nations Member States have committed to the Open Government Declaration on the 20th September 2011;
3. The knowledge of the US-India Strategic Dialogue Joint Statement of the 19th July 2011 that includes a commitment to jointly develop a data.gov tool kit based on open source software that would be made available to other Countries to assist them to commence implementing a component of an open government data policy;
4. The knowledge of the European Union legal framework on the re-use of Public Sector Information that entered the European Union statute book on the 31st December 2003 and binding on all European Union Member States on the 1st July 2005;
5. The knowledge of the OECD Public Sector Information Policy guidelines adopted in June 2008 in Seoul, South Korea;
6. The knowledge of the progress and experiences of over 40 United Nation Member States that have adopted and are implementing an open government data policy framework either in part or in full;
7. The knowledge of the launch of data.gov.ke ( http://opendata.go.ke/ ) launched on the 8th July 2011 in Nairobi, Kenya.
8. The understanding that the Open Government Data policy was dependent in the main upon a global Internet infrastructure that was accessible to all;

the workshop considered whether the time is now right to move towards a global policy on Open Government Data that UN Member States could adopt and begin to implement in accordance with their local national conditions that would lead overtime to a consistent implementation of an open government data policy framework at the global level that would stimulate the world wide global information economy through the provision of multi-lingual content, services and products.

To assist the workshop debate three pre-set questions were posed that the panel members, the participants within IGF6 room 14 in Nairobi and remotely either with direct input to the workshop via the remote moderator or via social media such as twitter could join in the debate and move towards a consensus view as to whether indeed the time was right to initiate the first steps towards a global open government data policy framework and if so:

1. How could this be achieved; and
2. What would be the likely impact on UN Member States in adopting and implementing such a global policy framework.

The first question in the context outlined above that was considered by the workshop was: Is there a need to now move towards a global policy on public sector information-open government data? There were a wide range of responses both from the panellists and the participants some of which were related to the content of an open government data policy framework and/or once adopted the implementation of the policy framework rather than the need for a global policy, these points have been moved and appear under the subsequent questions. The key points raised in the context of question 1 included amongst others:

Benefits of a global policy on open government data
As information knows no boundaries it is desirable to move towards a shared global framework on the re-use of public sector information - open government data. A consistent approach to data, licensing and formats across national boundaries would stimulate the development of inter-continental content, products and services, which in turn, would bring economic benefit as well as lead to greater transparency, civil society engagement and good governance.

Is the time right for a global policy on open government data?
Opinion varied across the spectrum from YES the time is right through to NO the time is not right. A number of concerns were expressed that included:
• To make progress Countries needed to have an electronic infrastructure in place that would provide a sufficient quantity of public sector information that could be made available electronically that would make implementing an open government data policy meaningful. The converse opinion was expressed that it was better to start in a small way with what data is available electronically as this would stimulate the learning and awareness, which is an important contribution to capacity building.
• In Countries where the current awareness and understanding was low and African Countries were cited – it was felt that such Countries may not be ready to enter into an international dialogue that would lead to the formulation and adoption of a global government open data policy framework as maybe the policy once adopted may not be suitable in the African context.

Use of existing Open Government Data policy frameworks
The consensus opinion was that it would be helpful to build upon the practical experiences and knowledge gained from implementing the European Union and OECD public sector information policies when developing a global open government data policy.

The second question considered dealt with two aspects:
1. Where and how could a global policy on open government data be prepared and adopted?
2. What were the key catalyst’s that would lead to a consensus across Countries that a global policy on open government data would be beneficial?

A summary of the key points raised during the debate in the context of question 2 and or raised in the context of questions 1 and 3 included amongst others:

Forums to develop a global open government policy framework
• The successful implementation of an open government data policy was dependent upon a multi-stakeholder community approach and as such the process of developing a global policy on open government data would be best considered in the initial stages within other global and regional multi-stakeholder forums.
• The implementation of an open government online data policy at all levels was dependent upon the existence and continued presence of a global Internet infrastructure that provides equal access to all the stakeholders involved in grasping the social and economic opportunities that arise from implementing a global open government data policy framework.
• The implementation of an open government data policy was dependent upon other data related frameworks such as privacy, the right of access and the right to use and these frameworks are similar to those needed for enabling the benefits of a global Internet infrastructure.
• With the above points in mind the view was expressed that the multi-stakeholder environment to be found in the Internet Governance Forum is in an important place where the process for moving towards a global policy on open government data could be initiated with the objective of formulating a common set of shared high-level principles. Once formulated these principles could be taken to other international and regional forums that have as yet not considered the need for an open government data policy for consideration, further development leading to possible adoption.
• The process could build upon and embrace the continued development and experiences of the deployment of existing regional or economic groupings initiatives in implementing an open government data policy framework such as the European Union and the OECD.
• The process could complement, embrace and support the multi-stakeholder Open Government Partnership formed during September 2011.

A catalyst for an open government data policy
• There was general support for the establishment of a global knowledge base on open government data policy implementation experiences and practices perhaps under United Nations auspices. A particular focus on the capturing the experiences of developing Countries when implementing an open government data policy framework either in full or part was felt to be beneficial. The presence of such a knowledge base would be of help to Countries embarking on the implementation of an open government data policy framework or in part. It was noted that the European Commission funds the provision and maintenance of such a knowledge base repository that covers mainly European countries with limited international coverage.
• The provision of a Toolkit that contains components that could be used by developing countries would be beneficial. The tool kit could contain standard licences, benchmarking methodologies, applicable standards for example.
• Publishing of annual benchmarking surveys that indicated the level of a Countries e-readiness as to when the time is right to commence implementing an open government data policy framework.

The third question considered the key points that should be focused upon within a global open government data policy that would assist countries that currently do not have an open government data policy in order to commence adoption?

A summary of the key points raised during the debate in the context of question 3 and or raised in the context of questions 1 and 2 included amongst others:

Cultural Change
A key principle that needs to be embraced is that an open government data policy is not about technology or just implementing a data.gov platform. It is more to do with bringing about a cultural change such that it is beneficial to share public sector information with the Citizens and Civil Society at large and as such this should be one of the first things to start working upon. Education and training courses assist this change process but they need to be on a continuous basis and not on a once off basis.

Licences
Adopting clear and open global licence standards that are both human and machine-readable that enable use and re-use of data placed in the open domain. The presence of such licences accelerates the take up of the data. Such licences are an important component of the Toolkit.

An incremental approach
At the earliest opportunity commence placing data that has already been published in the open government data domain and to then incrementally expand the breadth of open data over time and also to migrate the data to open data standard formats.

Conclusions and further comments:
As electronic data and information knows no boundaries the consensus view of the workshop was that there was merit in moving towards a global open government data policy framework as this would over time provide consistency across the world that in turn would magnify the economic benefits over and above those that can be possibly achieved within a UN Member State national boundary by implementing an open government data policy framework.

In order to reap the benefits of an open government data policy framework implementation successfully the workshop recognised that a multi-stakeholder process was involved and as such the initial steps of moving towards a global open government data policy framework was to work with and through other related multi-stakeholder bodies such as the Internet Governance Forum that was cited by workshop participants as an example.

The workshop acknowledged that the implementation of a global open government data policy framework was dependent upon the global Internet and World Wide Web infrastructure and the associated technologies. It was also recognised that many of the related frameworks between the implementation and sustainability of both a global Internet infrastructure and a global open government data policy framework were common. For example: data privacy, data access, right of use and regulation. With this commonality in mind the consensus view of the workshop was that the initial steps towards formulating a global open government data policy should be taken within the Internet Governance Forum.

It was recognised that there was a need to help UN Member States appreciate the benefits and the value of implementing a global open government data policy and that this would be greatly assisted by the presence of a global repository of information - possibly under the auspices of the United Nations; on the development, adoption and implementation of an open government data policy framework that UN Member States could learn from and contribute to with their experiences within the context of their environment. Workshop participants cited examples of existing repositories within the Europe Union, Spain, and Australasia.

The workshop acknowledged – and as outlined in the background document to the workshop, the report - commissioned by the workshop organisers as an input document to the workshop; on the readiness of Caribbean nations to adopt and implement an open government data policy, the report on the awareness survey undertaken during IGF6 undertaken by the workshop organisers; that many UN Member States did not have a holistic information policy appertaining to public sector information in place that would underpin, facilitate and ease the implementation of an open government data policy framework. The workshop also acknowledged the worldwide momentum that was gathering pace from Civil Society – a bottom up push and the presence of the top down push from initiatives such as the Global Open Government Partnership and the recent Declaration that over 45 UN Member States have committed themselves to and to regularly report on the progress made regarding the implementation of the declaration.

In recognition of the situation outlined above the consensus view of the workshop was that although the time was not right now to adopt a global policy on open government data the time was right to initiate the debate for the need for a global open government data policy framework and that this should be in the first instance be initiated and maintained within the environs of the Internet Governance Forum. In parallel with the above action all workshop participants were encouraged to promote and make aware the networks that they were associated with of the above intention and action.

The workshop participants recognised that an open government data policy framework was multifaceted and as such was complex to understand and to appreciate. With this in mind both formal Education and training programs were seen as vital to support the delivery and sustainability of a global open government data policy framework.

The workshop organisers encouraged all participants if they have not already done so to acquaint themselves with the content of the knowledge bases on this subject that already were in existence and that were being added to on a regular basis and furthermore to contribute to them

This online report is supported by a more detailed workshop report and an edited version of the workshops’ transcript.