There is an access to information policy and there is an information management policy, but an open data policy that specifically says departments that publish data on their websites must do so in machine-readable format is not currently developed. We are working on it. It has a number of ramifications.
For instance, if we take other departments—not including NRCan or Environment, which have a long and successful history—most departments that publish data don't necessarily publish what we call the metadata with it. The metadata has to be crisp, has to be to standard form, and has to be bilingual, so that when downloading, computers can easily reuse this data. Otherwise we're downloading data that couldn't really be interpreted or used properly by any programmer or computer.
We're looking at the implications of doing that. In a period of fiscal constraint, how can we do that so that departments can release more and more data in machine-readable formats without having undue financial burdens placed upon them in a time where they're asked to do quite a bit more?