Open Data & Open Government implementation in the UK

Transcription

1 v1.0 Open Data & Open Government implementation in the UK Andrew Stott UK Transparency Board & formerly Director of data.gov.uk QUT 23 Sep andrew.stott at dirdigeng.com

2 UK Policy Drivers

3 UK Policy Drivers June 07 Feb 09 Mar 11 New economic and social value 3

4 Economic Innovation and Growth 4

5 Allowing and Encouraging Innovation 5

6 Civil Society and Social Value 6

7 Civil Society and Social Value 7

8 UK Policy drivers Mar 09 Jul 11 Improve public services New economic and social value 8

9 Improving Public Services 9

10 Improving Public Services 10

11 UK Policy drivers Jun 09 May 10 Transparent & Accountable Government Improve public services New economic and social value 11

12 Transparent and Accountable Government 12

13 Transparent and Accountable Government 13

14 The emergence of data journalism 14

15 The first two years of data.gov.uk Over 7100 datasets 37 GB of geo data Public Data Principles Open Government Licence Transparency of salaries, spending, contracts and tenders 15

16 Lessons learned

17 Important to have top-level political support Greater transparency Public information does across Government is at not belong to the heart of our shared Government, it belongs commitment to enable to the public on whose the public to hold behalf government is politicians and public conducted. bodies to account 17

18 Important to have strong demand-side 18

19 Also important to have passionate team! 19

20 Set coherent policy principles, but not in stone 20

21 Clear, common, licensing approach 21

22 Incremental delivery 22

23 It s not just about new data Scope for Open Data also includes data previously published but in non-reusable format with restricted licence only aimed at specialist groups only for payment only in response to FOI requests difficult to find difficult to understand 23

24 Handling the concerns of data owners People hug their database, they don't want to let it go. You have no idea the number of excuses people come up with to hang onto their data and not give it to you, even though you've paid for it as a taxpayer. We have to ask for raw data now Tim Berners-Lee 24

25 A sample of data hugging excuses It s held separately by n different organisations, and we can t join it up It will make people angry and scared without helping them It is technically impossible We do not own the data The data is just too large to be published and used Our website cannot hold files this large We know the data is wrong We know the data is wrong, and people will tell us where it is wrong We know the data is wrong, and we will waste valuable resources inputting the corrections people send us People will draw superficial conclusions from the data without understanding the wider picture People will construct league tables from it It will generate more Freedom of Information requests It will cost too much to put it into a standard format Our IT suppliers will charge us a fortune to do an ad hoc extract

26 Dealing with data hugging It s held separately by n different organisations, and we can t join it up It will make people angry and scared without helping them It Data is technically owners impossible need to be helped through We do not own the data The Often data is they just too rationalise large to be fear published of the and unknown used Our website cannot hold files this large Example & precedent are your friends We know the data is wrong We know Look the for data ways is wrong, to manage and people potential will tell risks us where it is wrong We know the data is wrong, and we will waste valuable resources inputting For first the corrections phase, compromise people send us on data, not on licence People will draw superficial conclusions from the data without Ensure data owners get credit for what they do understanding the wider picture People release will construct league tables from it It will generate more Freedom of Information requests It might be combined with other data to identify individuals/sensitive information It will cost too much to put it into a standard format Our IT suppliers will charge us a fortune to do an ad hoc extract

27 Manage expectations, prepare for mistakes They are just tiny, tiny steps down the road of transparency. We re making a small start next week. But eventually, it s going to make a big difference. The information we re publishing next week won t be perfect, it won t always be in the most convenient format, and I m sure there ll be some mistakes. But I don t want to hang around making sure everything is perfect I want to get on with it.. David Cameron 29 May

28 Continuously engage with @paul_clarke 28

29 It s not (just) an IT project! CIOs can give leadership, but CIOs/IT Directors often do not own the data Key issues are business, policy and politics: don t let policy makers brand it as just IT Cloud technologies can be used to reduce costs and scale capacity easily Software Lots of good Open Source available eg CKAN Developing platform/tool market eg Socrata The website is a means not an end 29

30 and the biggest lesson of all Overcome obstacles practically by doing, not debating 30

31 Next steps for UK Policy/organisation Right to Data - FOI 2.0? Codify policy currently out for consultation Public Data Corporation for paid-for data Delivery Improve data quality Industrialise release processes Data standards and support ( linked data ) 31

32 Wider Implications 32

33 Government is a data user too 33

34 Government: key provider of reference data 34

35 Open approach to personal data? 35

36 Questions? 36

37 End 37