The Defra Network Transparency Panel: Open Data and a Transparency Vision

Post: 6 September 2013

This is the first in an occasional series of posts about the work of the Defra Network Transparency Panel.

The Transparency Panel was set up earlier this year to support delivery of the UK Government’s transparency agenda as it applies to Defra’s areas of responsibility. In addition to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs itself, Defra Network encompasses a long list of other public authorities (including the Environment Agency, Natural England and Fera). Many of these authorities have substantial data assets.

Other government departments have their own “sector boards” with similar responsibilities for transparency, though there is some variation in approach and practice.

In principle every sector board is supposed to have at least one external member in an independent “challenge” role. On Defra’s Transparency Panel that’s me; my job is to advocate for the interests of open data users, and help keep the Defra Network members in touch with demands and trends in the information economy.

Defra has been a tiny bit slow off the mark in setting up its sector board, but there have so far been two meetings (one in February and another in May). Minutes and papers from both meetings are now available online. I have also set up an unofficial webpage with further material about the work of the Panel, including some links that may help you explore the availability of datasets held by the Network member authorities.

I am keen to hear from anyone with an interest in the re-use of Defra Network data, particularly with reference to identifying and prioritising datasets that you think should be available as open data. My e-mail is owen.boswarva@gmail.com and I am @owenboswarva on Twitter. I’ve started using the #defratransparency hashtag for Twitter discussions about the Panel’s work and related open data issues.

The Transparency Vision

One of the first things the Transparency Panel has done is to write a vision statement. There’s a draft version below; there will probably be some tweaking but my sense is it’s just about there.

The Defra Network:

• …will become a leading contributor to the aims of public sector transparency (growth, accountability, public services improvement);
• …will behave in line with our recognition that information and data paid for by the taxpayer belongs primarily to the taxpayer;
• …believes that public sector information and data are the national infrastructure for the 21st Century and that re-use of these assets by others will deliver economic and social benefits;
• …utilises the same information and data for our internal work that we share with society, building trust and awareness of our policies;
• …believes informed citizens and businesses make smart choices, making our policies more effective;
• …operates a culture of the ‘right to know’ rather than the 'need to know’;
• …publishes information and data quickly, improving its quality later, utilising metadata to ensure its quality is well understood by potential re-users
• …is a responsible custodian of information and data, protecting sensitive and confidential information appropriately. We are mindful of our data protection obligations and will never treat personal data as open data;
• …creates information and data with open sharing and discovery in mind. Sensitive information and data will be separated from open information. Information and data that is released will be in formats that make it easy to re-use and include supporting information to help appropriate re-use;
• …uses the Government's Open Data Principles as our practical guide to implementation of our vision.

The “Open Data Principles” mentioned are the Public Data Principles published by the Public Sector Transparency Board in October 2010. This is one of two statements of principles on open data that the UK Government has endorsed. The other is the G8 Open Data Charter agreed in June 2013. More work has gone into the G8’s Charter, and the technical annex is particularly good.

The two sets of principles are compatible, and both are substantially more robust in their support for open data than the UK Government has been in practice. The challenge is to close the gap between the principles and their implementation “on the ground” within public authorities.

I have a normal level of skepticism about vision statements and aspirational language in general. It’s debatable whether every UK delivery department needs to have a similar Transparency Vision. However I gather that the Department for Transport (the government department that in my view has so far done the best work on open data) also uses one.

Although my own focus tends to be on the practicalities of implementing the open data agenda, I recognise that driving organisational and cultural change within the Defra Network will be important to securing open release of data on a wide scale.

It is early days for the Transparency Panel, but so far most of the members are making the right noises. In particular, based on the correspondence and conversations I’ve had, there seems to be a determination to make discovery of Defra Network datasets, and the process for handling open data requests, as transparent as possible.