Open government: some next steps for the UK

• Centre for Technology Policy Research

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21 May 2010This 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. 

In this report open government means 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 solely the remote centre downwards.

It proposes a consensual, non-partisan set of next steps that we hope will make open government an embedded cultural and technical reality: a series of next steps that will build momentum behind recent initiatives such as the Power of Information and the Rewired State to improve the use of public information and re-think our public services.

This paper also reflects in part wider concerns about the reputation of our political system. Restoring reputation requires trust. And openness has a key role to play in helping to re-establish trust.

Whilst open government is not primarily about technology, it is about a new model of government only made possible by the Internet age. It’s about how government should think and act in the twenty-first century: about establishing a new, stronger and better-trusted relationship between government, citizens and businesses alike. Whilst open government is not some magical panacea for all the problems of public administration and our public services, it is an essential component of reform.

There have been numerous media reports about a disengaged, disillusioned electorate, with younger people in particular feeling isolated from the political process. Open government, with its principles of transparency, participation and collaboration, offers the potential to help reconnect and revitalise the UK’s democracy and the way in which government and citizens interact.