Evidence of meeting #20 for Government Operations and Estimates in the 41st Parliament, 2nd Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was sets.
A recording is available from Parliament.
NDP
Anne-Marie Day NDP Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC
My next question is for all of you.
How important is it for a government to cooperate with other levels of government and other countries on open data practices and data set selection?
And here is my follow-up question. Should Canada and the United Kingdom be working together?
NDP
Anne-Marie Day NDP Charlesbourg—Haute-Saint-Charles, QC
The first part, on the importance of cooperation, is for all of the witnesses.
The second part of my question is for the witnesses from the United Kingdom.
NDP
The Chair NDP Pierre-Luc Dusseault
Let's begin with Mr. Stirling. I will then give the floor to Ms. Bates.
International Director, Open Data Institute
There are a number of bodies being set up to foster that international collaboration. There are technical committees working at the Open Government Partnership, which I actually think has a Canadian co-chair at the moment. There are similar bodies working in places like the OECD, and the UN, etc.
Between the U.K. and Canada specifically, I understand that there are regular working-level meetings.
Lecturer in Information Politics and Policy, Information School, University of Sheffield
In terms of the collaboration between Canada and the U.K., as Richard said, there is a working-level collaboration.
I'd also say that, in terms of the research community around open government data, there is quite a lot of interaction there between researchers in Canada and the U.K.
In terms of government cooperation at different levels, that is massively important. One of the reasons Canada scored slightly lower on the open data index was because of the federal structure in Canada and local governments and institutions having access to some data but not the federal government, so that interaction is very important.
Thank you.
NDP
Gordon O'Connor Carleton—Mississippi Mills, CPC
Thank you very much.
We're talking about government provided data. The way our country operates, it seems that government decides what data they're going to provide. There is also no compulsion on the government to provide data.
I asked a few witnesses recently if it would not be a good idea for business sectors to identify the sorts of information they want, then inform the government of the kind of information they want, and then the businesses might get what they need.
I'm going to ask each of you your opinion on that idea because the two witnesses we had recently said no, and they figured that the government should just be left to evolve.
I'll start with Ms. Ubaldi, then Ms. Bates, Mr. Stirling, and Ms. Da Sylva.
E-Government Project Manager, Reform of the Public Sector Division, Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Thank you.
Our view is in fact that, yes, actors including businesses should voice their interests about which data sets the government should release in open format to enable the governments to prioritize the data sets to be opened up.
Lecturer in Information Politics and Policy, Information School, University of Sheffield
Thank you.
In the EU, at least, the public sector information lobby is very strong and is very vocal in demanding what it wants from governments and the European Union around the opening of the right of access to public sector information.
I'd also echo what the other respondent said, that it's not just about what business demands, but about what society at large needs to be demanding as well.
International Director, Open Data Institute
I would endorse taking a sector-by-sector approach. In the U.K., we have established sector panels to be the focal point for this conversation between the departments who have the data and their agencies, and the industry working to provide services in that area. To provide the voice of business and the users of data to government as a whole, we have also established an open data user group. There are more details as to how that operates online.
Associate Professor, School of Library and Information Science, Université de Montréal
I would like to add something to what the others have said. The majority of sites I have accessed have a button on the lower right-hand side that says:
“Which data set would you like? Please ask us for your data set.”
Apparently, there is already some willingness to let users choose their data set. That is obviously on an individual and voluntary basis. That should be accompanied by more collective efforts.
Carleton—Mississippi Mills, CPC
I have one other question.
Our government doesn't really advertise that it has these sites; you have to be in the business to know that they're there. I asked whether we should advertise, and those people responded no. I wonder what your opinions are.
Ms. Ubaldi.
E-Government Project Manager, Reform of the Public Sector Division, Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Well, we believe that for all actors, including the private sector, it is very important to know what's going on before advertising, and awareness-raising is essential.
I would like to echo what another witness said. It's about businesses as actors, but it's also about other groups in society, so taking active steps to advertise and let people know and engage is, I think, essential.
Lecturer in Information Politics and Policy, Information School, University of Sheffield
I'd agree. I can't see a reason that you wouldn't let people know about data that is available. If you're wanting to prevent some sort of reuse or something, then the policy and regulation would be at a different level.
Thank you.
International Director, Open Data Institute
I'm going to say that it depends on who you think the users are. It depends upon the sector whether advertising is the best way of reaching them. It could be that the most effective way to increase the awareness of the data is to send it to whatever the representative body of the charities and civil society is, in a letter from a minister or a senior official, asking them to spread the word to their members, and the same would be the case with the energy representative body—rather than paying for advertising.
But in principle, I favour drawing people's attention to it, absolutely.
Associate Professor, School of Library and Information Science, Université de Montréal
Yes, you should advertise. I can't understand why you wouldn't advertise, unless you're afraid that access to the website might be too tremendous, but I don't think we're there yet.
I think advertise, yes, but also make sure that you give sufficient explanations as to what the people will find there, because when you sift through the sites, there are so many different things and they may be difficult to sift through. The Canadian site is just so huge—there are so many things—that to figure out what might be of use to you might take a while. So make sure the advertising educates the user.