Minister denies danger of information overload

Published on Wednesday 3 August 2011 17:14

PLANS to make more data publicly available have been branded "freedom of information 2.0" by the minister responsible for the revamp.

Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude has launched a web consultation on how to introduce changes which will see a plethora of data published online including sentences handed to criminals, hospital success rates in treating certain illnesses and more education results.

He claims the proposals will boost accountability, force bodies to become more transparent and create a culture of openness rather than secrecy.

Mr Maude said: "We want to get away from a position where data gets released as result of pushing and pulling to a position where we drive it out to put power in the hands of the public, where we are open by default."

The biggest recent revamp of publicly available data came in 2004 with the implementation of the Freedom of Information Act, passed four years earlier, which enables anyone to ask questions of and expect answers from public bodies.

Mr Maude said: "This goes in the same direction, but will be much more open and widely available. It's freedom of information 2.0 - it's entirely complementary."

He denied the changes would lead to an information overload because the sheer volume of published data would make it difficult to find relevant information.