2. Open government and open data
Martin De Saulles
The term, open government, is open to a number of interpretations relating to the democratic processes of the state, the accountability of public bodies and officials as well as access to social and economic information by individuals. More recently, it has been co‐opted by sections of the technology industry where analogies between open government and open computing systems have been drawn and a movement calling for governments to be providers of open data has emerged. Janssen( 2012) differentiates between those advocating the setting up of open data initiatives and more traditional campaigners for open government that argue for a right to information whilst acknowledging there is an overlap between them.
O’ Reilly( 2010) talks of‘ Government as a Platform’ and‘ Government 2.0’ by which he means using the potential of collaborative technologies, particularly those based around the World Wide Web( WWW), to help solve some of the civic issues faced by local and national public institutions. He argues that where governments are successful in service delivery it is when they encourage the development of adaptable platforms such as the highway system in the US which was funded and regulated by the state but which allows a range of services to be delivered across it. US economic growth during the latter half of the twentieth century, O’ Reilly claims, was partly driven by the opportunities for the transport of goods and people across the country made possible by a modern road network. Technology platforms in the computing world such as the personal computing( PC) architecture set by IBM over 30 years ago and the application stores of Apple and Android, while not completely open, have stimulated massive innovation amongst hardware manufacturers and software vendors of all sizes. Zittrain( 2008) calls this the‘ generative’ nature of some technology systems, in particular the Internet, by which third parties are encouraged to develop products and services to run on top of the enabling platform.
While it might be argued that there is a technologically deterministic aspect to O’ Reilly’ s linking of the characteristics of computing systems to government services, perhaps where public data is concerned the analogies have some relevance. Some public services such as healthcare, policing, rubbish collection and defence do not obviously lend themselves to being seen as platforms on which other services can be developed by third parties outside of government. However, where government is a provider of data the notion of a technology platform may be more useful. One of the key factors driving the popularity of the Internet as a network for accessing and sharing information has been the ease with which hardware and software developers have been able to create products and services which can run across this network. The standards governing the interconnection of devices to the Internet are open and do not require the granting of permissions or paying of royalties to any third parties or governing bodies. Similarly, as long as the agreed standards are conformed to, software such as web browsers and applications such as email, Facebook and YouTube can be deployed to run on these devices. Prior to the mass deployment of the Internet, proprietary networks such as CompuServe, Prodigy and AOL offered email and information services but did not interconnect with each other restricting the extent to which users could interact with friends and family on other networks. By applying the lessons learned from the Internet and other open systems to the provision of public data perhaps some of the economic and social benefits of unlocking this data can be realised.
3. The data. gov. uk initiative
Since 2005 and the passing of the Re‐use of Public Sector Information Regulations, the UK has been one of the most active EU Member States in attempts to stimulate a thriving data market for public sector information. One of the driving forces underpinning is a belief that economic value can be unlocked by allowing commercial entities to use public data to create profitable information services. Research carried out by PIRA( 2000) for the European Commission compared the economic benefits of the relatively open US public sector information market with the closed one operating in the EU at the time. The authors of the study concluded that the economic benefits of a more open system which allowed the free and unrestricted commercial exploitation of public sector information far outweighed any short‐term financial gains public bodies may obtain by selling data. A restrictive market, they argued, discouraged innovators from using this data to create commercially viable information services while an open market was a stimulus to innovation that ultimately created new companies, greater employment and, therefore, more tax receipts for the government.
While a desire to stimulate economic activity was a driving force of the European re‐use of public sector information directive and the associated national legislation across many member states, more recently there have been moves to promote the social benefits of a more free data market. In the academic sphere this has
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