Public information strategies: Making government information available to citizens

Abstract

New technological opportunities and increasing demands make it imperative for government agencies to make the information they gather available to citizens. How should they go about this? This paper presents a conceptual framework for analyzing the strategic options open to agencies which have information that could be relevant to citizens. The conceptual framework is constructed on the basis of the literature and tested in a case study. The Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management in the Netherlands gathers traffic information which is useful for citizens when they want to avoid traffic jams. Presently, the agency sells information to intermediaries. The agency wanted to release the information through its own website but this was prohibited by a court ruling. This paper reviews other strategies and proposes that an 'Intel inside' strategy may be a viable option in view of the consequences for effectiveness, manageability, cost-effectiveness, equity and legitimacy. The paper concludes that the conceptual framework proves useful for analyzing the strategic options open to agencies for making government information available to citizens.