Speaking as a public interest organization, one of the challenges we face is having a limited capacity to access the information that we need to provide the expertise that we can.
One thing to emphasize would definitely be increasing the accessibility of existing data. I think that can be done quite easily through an online portal without necessarily the need for lots of policy or legislative development. That could be done quite easily and quite quickly by links to other websites, that online way of doing things. That's one emphasis.
Another emphasis to increase transparency is to just release more disaggregated, raw data. Right now as an organization, if we want to look at forecasts of energy use and demand, etc., it's often provided in very digested forms. The data isn't separated from the analysis of that data. Sometimes there's a lack of disclosure of the methodologies that are used to interpret the existing data. Just providing the raw data to the public or providing more information about the methodologies used to interpret that data would be very useful for us. We would be able to see the bases of government assumptions about energy use and the future of energy policy. Again, that's something that can be done quite easily.
I would also suggest something that facilitates more real-time data disclosure, when it's just given in a raw format. Again, generally speaking, that is not as labour intensive.
The third take-away could be to remember that data disclosure does exist within a larger regulatory context. Going forward, it will be very important to ensure robust hearing processes in which energy policy is determined and oversight over the way governments use energy data to actually inform the creation of policy through hearing and processes.