ICT managers warn of rise in legal challenges from providers over open data

The coalition government’s policies on open data and transparency could lead to challenges from suppliers on the grounds of commercial confidentiality, a briefing by Socitm has suggested.

The report, Open data and transparency: no turning back, advises local authority managers on how to respond to government requirements. From January 2011, councils will be required to publish data on all contracts and spending over £500, as well as job titles, salaries and expenses of senior officials.

“Pressure to publish more of their data is certain to follow,” said Socitm, which represents ICT professionals working in local authorities and the public and third sectors.

The briefing claimed that the government’s approach “could be as disruptive to traditional public sector ways of doing things as the internet has been for media businesses”.

It pointed to the government’s hope that an army of “armchair auditors” would get access to information and be able to challenge spending decisions.

“Suppliers able to see the value of existing contracts will be better able to provide competitive bids for new business, while the exposure might embarrass some incumbent providers,” Socitm said.

The association also warned that the new approach could make public sector work marginally less attractive to commercial providers.

The briefing suggested that useful applications could be developed to communicate information about performance of public services, and that this might in turn translate into local pressure for improvements in efficiency and effectiveness.

It suggested that the move to open data would expose significant flaws – “overlaps, omissions, ambiguity and duplication" – in existing data.

Report author Chris Head said: “Organisations will need to improve corporate understanding of open data issues, and to promote a transparency culture. Government mandate to publish specified data is not enough: there should be a pervasive culture of openness throughout the organisation, and this should go hand in hand with a more mature approach to information management, leading directly to significant efficiency gains.”