The value and challenges of public sector information

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to explore the concept of public sector information (PSI), what it is, its history and evolution, what constitutes its corpus of documents and the issues and challenges it presents to society, its institutions and to those who use and manage it. The paper, by examining the literatures of the law, political science, civil society, economics and information and library science explores the inherent tensions of access to and use of PSI-pragmatism vs. idealism; openness vs. secrecy; commerce vs. altruism; property vs. commons; public good vs. private good. It focusses on open government data (OGD)-a subset of what is popularly referred to as 'big data'-its background and development since much of the current debate of its use concerns its commercial value for both the private sector and the public sector itself. In particular it looks at the information itself which, driven by technologies of networks, data mining and visualisation gives value in industrial and economic terms, and in its ability to enable new ideas and knowledge.

Reengineering the open government concept: An empirical support for a proposed model

“…The debate around open government entrenches into more than one direction, where public information is collected, organized, and stored by governments, but not fully owned and not freely disseminated and reused. The legal constraints of ownership, reuse rights, and legitimate representation of real owners (citizens and businesses) is a debatable issue (Henninger, 2013), and vulnerable to private sector forces and interest (Bates, 2012). A study related to the Chinese experience in open government concluded to a major challenge facing the success of such step, which is the attitude of public officials (Piotrowski, Zhang, Lin, & Yu, 2009).…”

Big Data in e-Government Environments: Albania as a Case Study

“…AS Big Data contain personal data, institutions should invest IT infrastructure adapting security techniques such as cryptography, data anonymisation and statistical disclosure control (Moreno et al, 2016). Furthermore, there is a conflict between demands for privacy and those for more openness and transparency (Henninger, 2013).…”

Information Practices in Contemporary Cosmopolitan Civil Society

“…Although Habermas's public sphere has been criticised for many reasons, including its lack of concern for women and its notion of universality, the idea of a public sphere, a space where ideas can be distributed and debated, took on a new lease of life with the popularisation of the internet in the early years of the 21 st century. Governments have also acknowledged their responsibilities in making known information, commonly known as public sector information, gathered as their departments fulfil their accountabilities (Henninger 2013).…”