The Hague, April 26, 2000

Title

TOWARDS OPTIMUM AVAILABILITY OF PUBLIC SECTOR INFORMATION - Memorandum presented to the Lower Chamber of the Dutch Parliament by the Minister for Urban Policy and Integration of Ethnic Minorities

References

The Hague, April 26, 2000 Lower Chamber, session year 1999-2000, 26 387, no. 7 Pages 23 Language: English

Contents

I. INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY I.1 Introduction I.2 Summary

II. DESCRIPTION OF THE OBJECTIVES AND BOTTLENECKS FOR THE DIFFERENT

INFORMATION CATEGORIES II.1 Basic information of the democratic constitutional state II.2 Information that is public on the grounds of the Act to Promote Open Government [Wet openbaarheid van bestuur, Wob] II.3 Other information

III. ANALYSIS OF THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK

III.1 Access to the ‘basic information of the democratic constitutional state’ III.1.2 The availability of the ‘Basic information of the democratic constitutional state’ III.2 The legal framework for accessibility and availability of public sector information under the Wob III.2.1 Openness and accessibility of electronic databases III.2.2 The use of public information III.2.3 Use of public sector information on which third-party rights are attached

IV. INITIATIVE FOR A POLICY FRAMEWORK

V. FURTHER STEPS

1. Follow-up evaluation of the Wob 2. Research 3. Invitation to the various government policy sectors 4. Interdepartmental coordination and research 5. Market and Government 6. Amendments to the Wob, Copyright Act, Database Act and the Neighbouring Rights Act 7. Further research into the desirability and feasibility of public law regulations for the use of public sector information.

Summary

The objective of this memorandum is to develop a framework for the commercial use of public sector databases and a more precise definition of the term `basic information of the democratic constitutional state'.

The policy objective indicated here is to make this information more accessible, so that it becomes suitable for electronic mining and reuse, autonomously, coherently and free of charge.

It has been established that the electronic databases of government bodies often fall under the term Wob-information. Public sector bodies, contrary to the situation on paper, appear to reserve copyright and database-right on a massive scale. Citizens and businesses do have access to the information, but are unable to use that information at their discretion without explicit consent. This seems to be contrary to the spirit of the Wob. Therefore a policy line is outlined, aimed at non-exploitation of public sector information by the public sector itself.