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Central Government, Government Data Management, Policy

Do the benefits of open govt data outweigh the costs?

By Robin Hicks | 8 April 2010

“Data belongs to the people, particularly that held by the public sector,” Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, told journalists at a conference recently. Johnson had just unveiled the London Datastore, a repository for all sorts of data which had “previously been languishing in the deepest recesses of City Hall.” The big idea was to drive innovation by setting data free. But putting data online is not without risks. FutureGov asked officials in South Korea, Singapore, the UK and the Netherlands whether they feel that the benefits of open government data outweigh the costs…

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Dr Jung-hee Song (pictured), Assistant Mayor for IT & CIO, Seoul Metropolitan Government, South Korea
We have been looking into this area for some time, and have made plenty of information publically available already. Our mission is to improve the quality of peoples’ lives through ICT and enhance the brand value of Seoul. I think opening data helps us do this, but its value really depends on the sort of data you’re opening up, how it is applied and the people who use it. The amount of money that is invested in an open platform will never outweigh the benefits if people use it, and good comes of it. But there is no doubt that some platforms have been, and will be, created unjustifiably and will not be able to prove their worth. It is very important that you are very selective about which data set you make open first. A good place to start is with traffic data. We have also been looking at ways to open up environmental, real estate and land and property information.

Emer Coleman, Project Director, Greater London Authority, UK
From our experience at City Hall the answer would have to be a resounding ‘yes’ since the financial costs for London‘s Datastore have been minimal yet the potential benefits are so great. We know this from the level of engagement that London’s developer community have had with us since we started the project in October 2009. There is a real desire on their part to do good things with this data that will help us make better decisions for and with Londoners. You cannot predict what is going to happen in the future, but if releasing data becomes part of restoring faith in politics then that represents a huge benefit in itself. As Mayor Boris Johnson said at the launch of London‘s Datastore, sunlight is the best disinfectant. We look forward to seeing what emerges in the market and in policy terms from releasing our data as we continue on the journey of encouraging all public agencies in London to join us.

Peter Quek, Director of Information Systems, Urban Redevelopment Authority, Singapore
As government, we collect a lot of data, some of which can be useful for businesses. But looking at the Singapore government as a whole, my view is that there is already a lot of information already available on government web sites. The Department of Statistics, for instance, provides a lot of economic, financial and socioeconomic information. Government sees the need to make information freely available to level the playing field for businesses. But policy issues get in the way. Data privacy, security and intellectual property call for careful consideration, particularly with sensitive data such as health records. That said, one way to deal with the privacy issue is to aggregate government data - to de-sensitise it - and then make it available on a single platform. There could be a free version for the public, and a subscription version for professional bodies.

Matt Poelmans, Director of Citizenlink, Ministry of the Interior, The Netherlands
I think it’s a little too early to answer this question with confidence, and my honest answer is that I don’t know yet. But in financial terms, there’s no extra cost, is there? The data is already there. The only thing that will cost money and time is ensuring the data is available in an open format. There is a good argument to suggest that open data can be used to make public services better. But there could be risks that we don’t know about yet. What if data was made available on criminals and mashed up with addresses? Web sites might spring up for people to check if convicted criminals lived in their neighbourhood, which could raise serious social issues. The task for government now is to look into these risks, and assess whether or not the data can be used in a way that infringes the law. That said, I believe the right thing for government to do is to try setting data free first, then monitor what happens. Exactly the same principle applies to how government should approach social media.