Government Leaks – the Concerns of Web 2.0

For those interested in how Government policy can impact the lives of ordinary citizens this recent post from the Chair of the Government’s Web 2.0 taskforce is worth reflection. There is a significant temptation to believe that if governments at all levels just make available to the public domain the wealth of data collected and stored in government controlled databases and other electronic files, that third parties can and will utilise that data to create potentially useful information for citizens. I have no doubt that a mapping of the location of public toilet blocks around Australia will be of interest to many on some occasions and to some on many occasions.

While the Chairman’s advocacy for the release of such an apparently obvious and benign example of public sector information (PSI) as toilet block locations may show what can be achieved it also illustrates just how great a challenge there is for the Government 2.0 Taskforce to secure major public sector reform.

If there is considered to be a justification within the Health Department as to why the location of public toilet blocks should not be released for public mapping purposes – and I assume there must be - then how much more reluctant will the public sector bureaucracy be in releasing data that is genuinely or apparently controversial?

As the school league tables debate in New South Wales is making apparent, it is rarely the essence of the raw data that ‘concerns’ public officials, public servants or politicians. Rather it is the ‘interpretation’ of that data when assembled and presented at a certain level or in a particular way that excites controversy and concern.

A Commonwealth public servant’s immediate legal obligation is to serve the Government, the Parliament and the Australian public. In practice this obligation requires formal structures and administrative processes to guide and support the public servant’s deliberations and actions. As a consequence the culture of the Service has always been one of considered conservatism.

Information held within the public sector is only ever released ‘by authority’, be that by a general standing authority or by way of a deliberate and calculated decision. It is because of this culture that the unauthorised release of information – leaks – is considered so confronting and exceptional – even when the public interest is served by the release.

Today’s digital information technologies and those to come in the future will enable data and information to be shared, transferred, collated, collected, disseminated, analysed and communicated in ways and at speeds not previously considered possible. Releasing data from public sector databases will undoubtedly fuel innovation in products, services and public governance.

Without a deliberate and informed approach to reforming the cultural norms of public sector administration however these technologies will never achieve their full potential. I know of some in the Service who understand how big a change will be required in culture to effect genuine and positive change. Right now however the weight of opinion I fear lies on that side of the scales that presumes no change will happen and the status quo will prevail.

I, for one, will be relieved when as much energy is devoted to debate of this important topic as has been afforded to the release of spatial information on the location of Australian toilet blocks.

Simon Edwards Head of Government Affairs

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