Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Diane Mercier and I am a practitioner, researcher and consultant in knowledge transfer. For over 20 years, I have been working as an information professional for the City of Montreal. I am currently in charge of open data. I have multidisciplinary training, which goes to the heart of your concerns. I have a Master's in computer science and a PhD in information sciences. I am involved in many training and research activities at a number of Quebec universities and public organizations. My testimony, as an individual, will focus on the benefits of open data from the perspective of knowledge transfer.
Public data are part of the common good that we need to be able to use and that allows us to transfer a considerable amount of knowledge. Public organizations are the keepers of this knowledge. When these data become open, they contribute to the transparency and accountability of our public organizations and to the promotion of ethical behaviour.
In Quebec, data are documents, digital or otherwise. They include information and knowledge management systems, which are the embodiment of expertise. In Quebec and in our major cities, it is the young people who are challenging public organizations. Just like the rest of the world, they are calling loudly and clearly for free access to data in order to use it, to add value to it, to better understand the world and get involved in making it a better place according to their own values. They want to be able to use what belongs to them, since public data, we must remember, essentially belongs to the public, not to public organizations.
For example, it was these young people who contributed to the public consultation that was organized jointly by the Commission permanente du conseil municipal sur les services aux citoyens and the Conseil jeunesse de Montréal. The commission recommended that the City of Montreal explore the possibility of circulating open data. These same young people also participated in the five-year review of the Charte montréalaise des droits et responsabilités.
Yes, intergenerational transfer of knowledge does take place, but it needs to be extended promptly to all citizens and communities, and especially within public organizations. Knowledge transfer through open public data is also very beneficial for enhancing the quality of management in our public organizations. It helps to break down organizational silos and to promote understanding, solidarity and consistency among staff members, making them aware of what is happening in their organization. In addition, this all has an economic impact on efficiency. The internal transfer of public information also helps to ensure the protection and sustainability of public intellectual capital.
Where are we now and where are we heading?
Making public data completely open does not happen overnight. The proof lies in the first annual review of the cities and governments that wanted to demonstrate this concept. Achieving open data fully will take time. We will need everyone's continued efforts, we will need the efforts of politicians, governments and citizens in order to bring the intellectual capital up to date. The LiberTIC group has clarified the process for completing the initial implementation phase: advocating, showing the relevance, bringing players together, and convincing leaders. In Quebec, some organizations are already there and should soon be able to move on to the next phase, which is planning initiatives. First, elected officials have to examine the issue. Then they will vote on legislation and adopt policies.
Leaders have to approve directives, standards and action plans.
The public will have access to catalogues of sets of open data based on conditions tailored to their use.
Public organizations are creating interfaces for direct access to public databases, and the public will be able to contribute.
Finally, accessibility standards will be applied to webcasting first, and then to the whole document production chain.
But that's not the end of it. After doing the planning, adjustments will constantly need to be made. The risks of going backwards will be significant. Privileges, exclusive agreements and information behaviours, such as procrastination and information overload, could put a lot of pressure on reverting to closed data.
In addition, the online community is likely to want to take centre stage in open data and define the challenges as being essentially technological. However, open data is only in part related to computing. It is important not to fall into this trap.
Above all, open data is a human and political issue, and that is what our approach should be if we want it to work. It is up to the highest authority in the organization to provide leadership and to assign this task to the data-production units within the organization. Open data cannot be achieved elsewhere, such as by computer services, public relations or consultants.
The following are some suggestions to facilitate and support the adjustment phase and the task given to the highest authority in the organization: first, get appropriate support by hiring information professionals, integrating them with the teams in the data-production units and placing them in strategic roles; second, provide managers with support in the classification of public documents; third, develop and hone the information and social skills of managers and employees in all areas.
Other considerations are: adding value to data through metadata; digitizing downloadable documents and multimedia items into an accessible format; and getting rid of proprietary technologies and software applications, since accessibility is not compatible with closed-source software. Finally, employees and the public should be both encouraged to be involved in the development of applications.
As a result, the organization will acquire the social skills and learn to adjust and refocus its strengths, by using the data, the metadata, understanding how they operate and how to use them.
Those are some of my observations, and I hope you will find them useful.
Thank you.