London: 2 April 2008

The UK British Computer Society (BCS), Geospatial Specialist Group hosted a presentation on the UK Guardian Newspaper – Free Our Data (FOD) Campaign. Michael Cross a member of the British Computer Society, a freelance journalist and a regular contributor to the Guardian presented the Free Our Data Campaign and the impact that it has had to date. The meeting took place in the British Computer Society headquarters in central London and was attended by 25+ members and guests. The 25-minute presentation followed the BCS Geospatial Specialist Group Annual General meeting and was followed by a 25-minute question and answer session. The ePSIplus Thematic Network was represented at the meeting.

The presentation commenced with a reflection of the 1970’s when the Government owned substantial swathes of the UK economy but over the years this has changed to the point where the most valuable nationalised industry remaining in the Governments hands was that of public sector information. The Governments creative accounting kept the real cost off the balance sheet and as such the wider costs as well as the costs to society were not reflected in the balance sheet. The Free Our Data campaign had successfully raised the issue and had gained political attention such that the Public Sector Information had become a mainstream issue within the UK Cabinet Office and the Ministry of Justice. The value of the Public Sector Information has grown exponentially over the years due to digitisation.

Three case studies were put forward to highlight the issue – Addresses, Water pollution and Travel Data.

There were alternatives, which were successful and the Global Positioning System and the Rugby Time signal (Commenced 1926) were cited which had spawned huge industries that made significant contributions to the economy way beyond that of the cost of the systems and infrastructure involved in implementing sustaining these two examples.

The Free Our Data campaign was now in its third year and during the time the campaign has been active there have been a number of reports published that highlighted the issue:

• The UK Office of Fair Trading CUPI report
• The UK Cabinet Office commissioned Power of Information report
• The UK Treasury commissioned report Models of Public Sector Information Provision via Trading Funds

The presentation ended with the statement that the evidence now available, the political interest, the consumers and re-users of Public Sector Information and history were all on the side of the Free Our Data campaign however there was a need to maintain vigilance and for the campaign to continue especially to address the issues of creative accounting that was preventing the true value to the economy from the greater exploitation of Public Sector Information being achieved.

A number of views and positions were then debated following the presentation, which included amongst others:

• Comparisons with the Library sector, which had gone down a similar route to the Free Our Data campaign and case had been successfully proven and implemented. The case for improved use and exploitation of Public Sector Information was considered to be similar and was in essence a no brainer!
• The role of the British Computer Society and its Royal Charter and the ethics of its members with respect to the Public Good. It was noted that the British Computer Society had been very silent on the Government produced papers on Crown Copyright. It was time for the Computer professionals to engage and ensure the Public Good was sustained.
• The Free Our Data campaign had rightly identified the issues but the solution was not correct. There was a risk of the quality of data falling if the funding was left to the vagaries of Government vote funding.
• Discussions on the case studies cited by Michael Cross raised other issues related to public protection (security) in the case of bore holes and whether Transport Direct really met wider Government policy and initiatives for example the right of free bus travel for the over sixties.