Access to and Ownership of Public Sector Information

As part of its participation in the COST A14 Action “Government and Democracy in the Information Age” (see http://www.consilium.europa.eu/cms3_applications/Applications/dynadoc/cost_reports.asp?cmsID=441cmsID=&rep_type=DB_ACTSIG&act=A14&lang=EN) the conditions of online access to public sector information should be analysed from various perspectives including theoretical reflections, empirical analyses and international comparisons. The results were an international symposium and a book publication.

Public sector information (PSI) is important for a number of stakeholders: for citizens and civic organisations, for private businesses and for different agencies within the public sector. For citizens and civic organisations much of the public sector information is essential for exerting their civic rights and enabling democratic participation. The unique character of information in a free, democratic society is best expressed by Thomas Jefferson who called it ‘the currency of democracy’. Rights of access to PSI fulfil multiple functions: e.g. they serve individual information needs, allow for democratic control, influence behaviour and legitimise actions of government bodies (e.g. establishment of related infrastructures). For business, PSI is an important raw material and resource for the creation of value-added information products and services by the information industry.
The project investigated key issues and developments in online access to public sector information and the associated interest conflicts and challenges for public policy from various perspectives. Based on preparatory research an international symposium on “Access to and Ownership of Public Sector Information” was held on December 7, 2001, at the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna. It focused on the scientific discussion of issues related to the social, political and economic aspects of access to public sector information and its digitisation, both for citizens and businesses. Various lines of research were deepened in a subsequent stage including the following aspects: the relationship between access to PSI and the protection of privacy, adequate legislative foundations and legal as well as political reflections on ‘open government’; a comparison of legal policies in Europe and the United States and especially their economic implications, illustrated with case studies of PSI in two exemplary fields, meteorological and spatial data; analyses of challenges to data holders, particularly in the context of cultural contents; and various investigations from the perspective of citizens as end users, with country studies on Austria and the UK and a case study from Germany. Finally, the project results including policy recommendations for public sector information were published in a subsequent book project (Aichholzer, G. and Burkert, H. (eds.) (2004), Public Sector Information in the Digital Age. Between Markets, Public Management and Citizens’ Rights, Cheltenham, UK, and Northampton, MA, USA: Edward Elgar Publishing).

• Aichholzer, Georg

• Austrian Academy of Sciences

• Content mangement
• Knowledge management and knowledge engineering

• Information Provision