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COLUMN: Open data supports transparency accountability, and economic development

Open data is important for transparency and accountability, and for promoting public participation
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By Doug Holmes

Like all local governments, the District of Summerland collects a large amount of data required for the effective delivery of public services.

Every time you complete a form, submit an application, turn on a water tap, take a load to the landfill, or register for a recreation program, you are passing information on to the municipality.

Council is the custodian of this information but it is collected on behalf of the people of Summerland. As such, any information held by the District ought to be freely available to everyone.

This is the principle known as ‘open data.’ The only exception to free access to information should be to protect personal privacy, confidentiality, security, and compliance with relevant laws.

National and provincial governments in most western democracies have introduced policies to open up their datasets and launch web portals to support access to information in machine-readable formats. Many local governments are now looking to follow suit.

Open data is important for transparency and accountability, and for promoting informed public participation in the decision-making process. This in turn improves the responsiveness of the municipality to new ideas, demands and needs.

Not only should people have free access to public data, they should also be able to use that data any way they see fit.

In the 21st Century, data drives innovation and economic development. People need to be able to access information, learn from it, reuse it, build on it, and ultimately profit from it. The more data can be used, and combined with other data (from public or private sources), the more valuable it becomes.

Analyzing and harnessing data in novel ways to serve new purposes requires a shift in the way we think about public information.

Traditionally, public data is latent. It is collected for a specific purpose after which it is discarded or filed away and forgotten.

The District of Summerland has no shortage of lost data. We have land with no associated land use records and, believe it or not, we have land use records with no associated land.

Once in awhile District staff will come across an old bylaw or policy that nobody even knew existed but technically is still valid. There are many such examples, which tallied together make it difficult to proceed with an open data policy.

First thing we need to do is look at the way we maintain and archive public records. To that end, Council has earmarked $30,000 in this year’s budget for a document management review.

We need to get out the dark ages of paper-based systems. Electronic records, besides being environmentally friendlier, are far easier to search, retrieve, update, integrate, analyze, and share.

Digital records would assist Council to make the best possible policy decisions, and they would provide municipal staff with new insights to improve administrative efficiency and effectiveness.

Above all, they would ensure public information becomes public in more than just name.

Doug Holmes is a Summerland municipal councillor.