Assessing government initiatives on public sector information: A review of the OECD Council Recommendation

Better access to and use of public sector information (PSI), including open government data, are inter-related parts of the shift towards knowledge-based economies, and drivers of innovation, growth and employment. PSI can be used directly to generate products and services, and it contributes in a wide variety of ways to improving efficiency and productivity across the economy (including within the public sector). Aggregate OECD economic impacts of PSI-related applications and use were estimated to be around USD 500 billion and there could be close to USD 200 billion of additional gains if barriers to use were removed, skills enhanced and the data infrastructure improved. Exploiting the potential PSI market thus requires lower pricing and less restrictive licensing agreements. There is also evidence that increasing access and lowering prices have large positive impacts on the number of users and new uses without significantly increasing costs. This report presents the results of the review of the OECD Council Recommendation for Enhanced Access and More effective Use of PSI. The review is based on the analyses of the information gathered through a survey of PSI strategies in 20 countries as well as the European Commission. The review also benefited from a complementary online survey on Open Government Data (OGD) initiatives undertaken by the Directorate for Public Governance and Territorial Development (GOV) in coordination with the Directorate for Science, Technology and Innovation (STI). In doing so, the reports illustrates different strategic approaches to PSI policies.