Open up information for re-use
The UK Cabinet Office Strategy Unit has published a report titled: Power in People’s Hands: Learning from the World’s Best Public Services. (Reference: Ref: 296673/0709, 74 pages) The report considers the role of public sector information including the re-use of public sector information.
The Cabinet Office in announcing the publication of the report states:
“This report presents the findings of a Strategy Unit study of leading edge innovations in world-wide public services, which involved interviewing 50 academics, public servants and other experts from around the world. The report highlights more than 30 case studies from 15 countries.”
The report cites case studies from the following countries:
Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Korea, Netherlands, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, and USA.
The Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Minister for Public Service Reform has signed the Forward to the report.
:
Page 10
“2. Empowering citizens in the information age
21. A revolution in the use and re-use of information on public services is being stimulated by new online technologies, giving the potential to empower citizens to hold services to account far more easily than in the past. The leading-edge systems, such as StateoftheUSA.org and data.gov, are not only disseminating information rapidly. They are also breaking down government monopolies on information presentation and use by making it easy for people to analyse information themselves. At the same time, blogs, wikis and other web 2.0 tools are enabling citizens to get more deeply involved in validating information and collectively making decisions. In Cologne, for example, participatory budgeting uses new technology to give citizens a stronger voice over how public money is spent.”
Page 24 and 25:
“7. Our survey indicates that rapid changes in technology and citizen expectations mean that the provision of far better information should form the second element of a new relationship between citizens and services, supporting and building on clearer entitlements. To achieve this, services and professionals need to:
- count what counts: collect high-quality data in the first place, and combine performance data with information on wider social outcomes so that citizens have reliable and balanced information at their fingertips;
- open up information for use: make information (including performance and financial information) available so that citizens can compare services and make informed decisions, drive improvements in services, and hold government to account from the bottom up;
- open up information for re-use: make information and data available so that it can be easily re-used by citizens – mobilising a wealth of expertise to facilitate innovative use of data by citizens; and
- harness the power of networks: use interactive technologies, such as web 2.0, to break government monopolies on information creation and open up dialogue between and among citizens and professionals”
Page 31
“Opening up information for re-use
19. Making information available for re-use is the next step in the information revolution in public services. Governments do not have a monopoly on innovation and excellent ways of presenting and analysing data. Accordingly, the best systems are mobilising the expertise of citizens by making data available for re-use, or what is commonly referred to as ‘data-mashing’. For example, Data.gov in the USA is opening up a whole variety of datasets generated by the executive branch of the Federal Government for citizens to view and re-use (see case study box on page 32).
Foreword Introduction Chapter 1: Rights and entitlements Chapter 2: Empowering citizens in the information age Chapter 3: Personalisation Chapter 4: Prevention Chapter 5: New professionalism and new organisations Conclusion: From innovation to implementationEndnotes
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