The Power of Government Information
Access to government databases takes a really interesting turn.
It's well known that newsies only write bad news, and the conjunction of the word 'government' and 'data' has been written about ad nauseum. However, what I think is the most remarkable thing to happen in the sphere of 'government' and 'information' - yes more than HMRC & CDs - has taken place without many people noticing. It's come out of the 'Power of Information' taskforce that was set up in March following an independent review last year.
The goals for the taskforce are to make better use of government information - not personal information, but the huge amount of data that is collected and hardly used. This includes neighbourhood statistics, OS maps, crime, healthcare, public spending... a long list. They are also generating a catalogue of government databases and standard license agreements to make it easy for people to identify, request and use other bits of public information.
One of the specific offshoots is the showusabetterway.com website and competition. This is a place where anyone can submit an idea for new use of public information. The best idea will receive £20,000 to fund development. Ideas can come from anyone - technical or non-technical, and there is nothing to stop technical people simply implementing them for fun! Personally, I think the more important payoff is the collation and exposure of these ideas, and the longer term spreading of this way of working. Think what the impact could be on procurement! There are lots of people motivated by their own experience, interest or capability who could make use of the information if the barriers to access them are removed or lowered. Of course, there is nothing to stop people from making money out of what they create, but that is only one of several potential motivations for putting in effort.
The thinking behind this taskforce takes leading edge understanding of Web 2.0 ecosystems and applies it cleverly to modern government. That's the sort of thing that we as professionals should look to encourage and support. So, my call to you today is to go and have a look at the website, tell your mates and/or your mum about it, make comments, put in some ideas and/or start knocking out some prototype systems. The websites are:
- Show us a Better Way
- The Power of Information Taskforce Blog
- The boring official bits on cabinetoffice.gov.uk
Ready... set... GO!
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Comments (5)
Leave CommentAs someone with long experience as a civil servant and now working in the private sector, I wonder if they would accept the idea of providing detailed information on the performance of: 1. MPs 2. Ministers In a free and supposedly democratic society, how these 'elected' officials performs would be of great interest. That would be a fun site wouldn't it!
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Very amusing Martin. As I'm sure you know, there are copious amounts of information in the public domain on the performance of MPs and Ministers, but few people take the time to look at it. In fact, Tom Steinberg (one of the two authors of the Power of Information review) is the founder of mysociety.org that is responsible for theyworkforyou.com, writetothem.com, fixmystreet.com and helped produce the Number 10 petitions site. Together these sites provide a view of what MPs are doing in parliament and make it easier for constituents to communicate with their MP. The whole idea of the POI work is to put information (and hence power) in the hands of those who can make use of it. Anyway, what are the performance metrics for MPs and Ministers? Working hours? Column inches? Blame avoidance when faceless civil servants with final-salary pensions screw up? Perhaps the ultimate performance metric for them is election results, and that is something we all get to participate in if we choose to.
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I trust the task force is taking full account of the ideas in the Guardian's "free our data" campaign. Government data is our data, paid for already -- so make it freely available and let the ideas flow. No need for a 20k bung? http://www.freeourdata.org.uk/
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Philip - Yes, I imagine so...but you'd better ask them!
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I am intrigued to know how this initiative will handle the problem of data aggregation. As well as the volume of data - 20 million records are a more valuable commodity than just one - the term also covers the linking of two harmless pieces of information to reach a conclusion that ought to be protected. Of course such data are there to be found anyway, but such a structured approach may well throw up a few facts concerning, for example, the vulnerability of Britain's critical national infrastructure that would surely be of interest, not only to journalists, but also to potential terrorists. Watch this space!
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