UK report: OPEN GOVERNMENT some next steps
The UK Centre for Technology Policy Research (CTPR) has published a report titled: OPEN GOVERNMENT some next steps for the UK. The 53-page report sets out the importance of open government and how this can be implemented in the UK. The report makes reference to a range of initiatives taken forward under the previous UK Government and administration.
You can access a copy, in PDF format, here.
The paper aims to serve two purposes: to establish a more widespread understanding of the significance of open government, and to provide a clear pathway towards its delivery in the UK.
By open government, we mean the commitment to ensure that all aspects of the way that government and public services are administered and operated are open to effective public scrutiny and oversight. Open government will also enable public employees to work in smarter, better informed ways, working from the frontline upwards rather than the remote centre downwards.
We believe that there is a natural potential alignment between our UK system of government, our long tradition of liberal democracy, and what technology now makes possible. But it will take a strong political will and the implementation of a series of practical steps to get there.
This is, after all, not about our government and our public services as they currently exist. But how they would be if we were to design them now. It is in that spirit that this paper aims to add momentum and support to make open government pervasive, routine and sustained by offering a series of recommendations that we believe will help advance and embed the necessary cultural and technical changes required to help make open government an embedded reality in the UK.
Let us know what you think. In particular, as well as the recommended next steps for central government, we are keen to start a more widespread debate about what open government means for local and regional government. If there is sufficient interest, we will extend this work into these other areas.
