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Last updated: 08 December 2009
1. Over the next two years, the US Government is embarking on what promises to be the largest fiscal stimulus of the economy since the great depression. It will also be one of the most transparent fiscal programmes ever undertaken - the online portal Recovery.gov is empowering US citizens to see how the fiscal stimulus is being used in response to the recession.
2. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provides for unprecedented levels of transparency of financial information at the federal level. As part of a drive to improve efficiency and root out unnecessary spending, citizens are being given easy access to information on how, when, and where their tax money is being spent. Recovery.gov will provide information on federal grant awards, loans and contracts - with federal agencies providing data on how they are spending the money and recipients of federal funding providing information on how they are putting the funds to use. Although the site is still in its early days, citizens are keen to access the information - the site received an average of 4,000 hits a second on its launch in February 2009.36
3. The recent US federal experience is just one example of a revolution in the use and re-use of information - new technologies are providing opportunities to open up information as never before. Through this, citizens and communities are being empowered to make better-informed decisions over which service providers to use; to hold governments and public services to account; and to participate in dialogues and decision-making processes about the health and future of their services.
4. Through the 1980s and 1990s, the systematic central collection and provision of information on public services was strengthened or undertaken for the first time in the UK and in other countries. Often relatively crude measures and indicators were used in the first generation of league tables of, for example, school performance. Nevertheless, this was an important step - enabling the public to glimpse the quality and performance of individual public services in their area for the first time. During the late 1990s and 2000s performance indicators designed for public consumption were extended in the UK, for example,to the health and police services. At the same time measures became more sophisticated - for example the use of ‘value added’ indicators in schooling and ‘annual health checks’ in health care. Transparency was also improved by making additional sources of information more easily available and accessible - for example the putting online of Ofsted inspection reports in 2005. Most recently, websites such as NHS Choices have been empowering citizens to comment on and review public services - helping them to make informed decisions on which services to use. However, from looking at emerging opportunities around the world it is clear that there is scope to go much further.
5. The advent of new technologies gives rise to new opportunities to open up data as never before. In the best public services the availability, timeliness and overall quality of information for citizens far surpasses what it has been possible to offer in the past. Simultaneously, citizens are now able to play an active, innovative, role. They are no longer just ‘users’ of information; rather, they are being empowered to contribute to and re-use information through technologies such as web 2.0. This is breaking down government monopolies on information.
6. The opportunities that these new technologies present come together with new pressures from citizens who want and expect easy access to useful information.37 Four out of ten people consider that providing more information on public services is a top priority for service improvement.38
7. Our survey indicates that rapid changes in technology and citizen expectations mean that the provision of far better information should form the second element of a new relationship between citizens and services, supporting and building on clearer entitlements. To achieve this, services and professionals need to:
‘Governments must put their weight behind the right kind of information - balanced information that does not make artificial or misleading distinctions between “good” and “bad” services.’
Ari-Veikko Anttiroiko, Adjunct Professor, University of Tampere, Finland
8. The empowering of citizens through information rests on that information being both balanced and reliable. In the past, the design and provision of performance information for public consumption had a number of significant problems - the measures used were often relatively crude, giving an unbalanced and even misleading view of the performance of professionals and organisations. Looking around the world the collection and use of information has, in recent years, become far more sophisticated. Crude output measures of performance have been supplemented or replaced with information that enables citizens to develop a richer understanding of the services they use and rely upon.
9. One of the most important developments is the increasing use of balanced performance information - bringing together data on a variety of measures, such as the wellbeing of service users and the contribution of individual organisations to spreading best practice, as well as the perceptions and experiences of service users, professionals and the wider community. The White Paper Your child, your schools, our future: Building a 21st century schools system, sets out plans to introduce school report cards for all schools in England from 2011, so as to provide robust, comparable data on outcomes across the breadth of school performance, including pupil attainment, progress and wellbeing, and a school’s success in reducing the impact of disadvantage, as well as parents’ and pupils' views of the school and the support they receive.39 These cards will be similar to the school report cards used in New York, a world-class example of how to provide citizens and professionals with reliable, balanced performance information. The New York school report cards award each school a letter grade, A, B, C, D or F, based on its score across three categories of information: the school environment, student performance and student progress. A good range of data is used in this process, including statistics on attendance, academic assessments and graduation rates.
‘Pupil expectations and perceptions are important indicators of successful education systems.’
Fenton Whelan, author of Lessons learned, 2009
10. In a similar way, Healthcare Quality and Efficiency Reports in Sweden provide citizens with at-a-glance comparable and balanced information on health care services across the country.
11. Alongside the use of tools such as balanced scorecards to make the performance of public services more transparent, leading-edge practice around the world is working to bring together performance information on individual public services with data on wider social outcomes. For example, the State of the USA project is looking to bring together mainly quantitative data on the full range of economic, social and environmental outcomes. The project aims to empower 120 million Americans to assess the progress of the USA for themselves.
‘Organisations must be encouraged to demonstrate that there is public value at the societal, institutional and system levels.’
Jocelyne Bourgon, President Emeritus, Canada School of Public Service and former Canadian Cabinet Secretary
Healthcare Quality and Efficiency Reports, Sweden
Good-quality, easy-to-understand and comparable information on the performance of health care services across Sweden is provided for citizens and professionals in the form of annual Healthcare Quality and Efficiency Reports.
The Swedish National Board of Health Welfare produces an at-a-glance report of health care performance indicators across the country every year. The report focuses on the relative performance of the county councils and regions which provide health services. Results of regions are compared against 101 quality and performance indicators, using a standard bar chart format for easy comparison.
A good range of indicators is used in an approach similar to a ‘balanced scorecard’: there are 63 indicators of medical quality, 9 indicators of patient experiences,14 indicators of availability of care; and 15 indicators of costs (such as the cost of health care per person, the cost-effectiveness of treatments and indications of the savings that could have been made if more efficient treatment options had been used). For example, the 2007 report identifies around £21 million in possible savings, region by region, if cheaper statin drugs had been prescribed.
The reports cost around £600,000 a year to produce. Initial evidence indicates that they have successfully provided a benchmarking tool for local areas/regions, as well as information for users of health care services and citizens more generally.
Importantly, an evaluation found that county councils are using the reports as a stimulus to deal with quality and efficiency issues. Overall, the reports have pushed quality of health care up the political agenda in local areas.
Sources: Quality and efficiency in Swedish healthcare, The National Board of Health and Welfare, Sweden, 2008; The National Board of Health and Welfare, Sweden; Swedish Health Care (an independent management and training organisation)
12. Importantly, information on wider social outcomes can supplement comparable performance data on individual services. For example, in Baltimore, USA, the Citistat system provides data on service delivery and performance, while the Vital Signs site provides data on the 40 key outcome indicators that ‘take the pulse’ of the city’s neighbourhoods by measuring progress towards stronger neighbourhoods, improved quality of life, and a thriving city. Bringing the two together empowers individual citizens, local communities and society as a whole to make better-informed decisions and to ensure public services that respond to the wants and needs of all sections of society.
State of the USA
State of the USA (SUSA) aims to bring together data across the full range of economic, social and environmental outcomes, in order to empower US citizens to diagnose and understand the health of their society. It is a highly ambitious project with multi-sector backing.
A website, www.stateoftheusa.org, will provide easy access to credible, reliable information as well as a forum for the public to engage on key issues including education, health and public safety. SUSA is spearheading the use of enhanced transparency to promote ‘social intelligence’ nationwide - that is, a more complete understanding of what is going on in a society and what may happen in the future. This requires bringing together data from individual public services, government, business, non-governmental organisations and others. In doing so, far more sophisticated analyses and diagnoses of the present state of affairs and of how to improve things can be undertaken.
Initially, SUSA will draw on official Federal Government statistical systems - enabled by the US Federal Government’s commitment to improve transparency of information. However, the ambitions of and driving force for the project go well beyond government - local communities, businesses and active members of wider civil society will contribute to and use the data provided. The information and analysis will empower everyone to assess the USA’s progress.
Source: www.stateoftheusa.org
13. If good information is to empower citizens to make informed decisions about the services they want to use, then the first step is to make it possible for citizens to compare services. While websites such as NHS Choices are providing opportunities for citizens to have their say on the services they have experienced and to view comparative information about a range of services, some other countries have gone further faster. They provide more information that is easily searchable, with comparison sites for services that are currently only partially covered in the UK. They combine comparative information with additional tools and facilities to access services online.
14. Childcare provision in the Nordic countries is significantly decentralised with a variety of providers, but as discussed in chapter 1 it sits within a framework of national entitlements to childcare as a principle. In Stockholm, the City Council has recognised that in order to ensure, in this context, that parents’ and children’s entitlements are met, it is essential to provide comparative information on the childcare providers available. Therefore, since July 2008, a website has provided comparative information,40 including staff-to-pupil ratios, the percentage of staff who are graduates and the location of the nursery on a standard-format map. Users of the site can search by distinctive features, such as pedagogic approach, as well as dietary, cultural or religious criteria. Having searched through the information available, citizens are able to apply online for a place for their child at their selected provider. The website and the online application process have cut by 50% the amount of time spent administering information and application forms.
15. Information for citizens on domestic help, social care services (see case study box opposite), care homes, schools, adult education and leisure services are also provided on the Stockholm City Council ‘compare services’ website. Similarly, in the Netherlands the ‘KiesBeter’ website provides information to help citizens make better choices, with several types of indicator including coverage of services, medical quality and information on common treatments.
16. The provision of comparative information is often successfully combined with opportunities for citizens to access services online. For example, Sundhed.dk, discussed in chapter 3, enables patients to have online consultations with health care professionals and access transactional services such as prescription services.
To help citizens in Stockholm to make decisions on which provider of social care services to choose, the City Council has developed a website which contains high-quality, easily searchable and comparable information.
All providers are presented in the same format - with the name, a short description of the services offered and a location map. Alongside this, data gathered from surveys of users is presented in an at-a-glance form - for example, the percentage of users who are ‘satisfied with the work the staff carry out’, who report that ‘staff respond to them in a good way’, and who have been able to ‘reach staff when necessary’.
Information is presented on which services the provider subcontracts out, such as evening/night services and food preparation services, as well as on the subcontractor used. More detailed information is also provided on the mission and aims of the service provider - spelling out the benefits to citizens of using its services.
For example, some providers use this as an opportunity to describe their links with clinicians and other professionals, their length of experience in the industry and their areas of expertise.
The information is searchable by area of the city and by organisational form (for example municipal, cooperative or private sector). Cross-comparison functions on the site make the information even more accessible. Around 60,000 unique visitors use the ‘compare services’ site each month.
The site cost around £250,000 to set up and has led to substantial efficiency savings by reducing telephone calls and by moving the applications process online - the time spent on tasks such as information provision and application processing has reduced by around 50%, leading to annual savings of more than £500,000.
Source: Stockholm ‘compare services’ website; Stockholm City Council
17. Information is being made available not only to inform personal decisions. There are also broader collective purposes for enhancing transparency - to strengthen and secure the accountability of governments and public service providers. Across the USA over the past few years, individual cities have started a transformation in they way they make government data available. For example, a number of cities have used Citistat systems as part of results-oriented approaches to driving improvements in services. The Kennedy School of Government has estimated that these systems can lead to significant savings - up to $100 million over four years in the case of Baltimore. Similarly, citizens in Washington DC now have easy access to useful information on government and public services; citizens themselves designed some of the applications for the presentation and analysis of performance data (see case study box on page 30).
18. Making performance information transparent is essential if citizens are to be empowered to hold governments and public services to account. However, leading-edge governments and services around the world are now also making financial information transparent so that citizens can assess and compare the efficiency of services for themselves. The challenge is to bring performance information and financial information together. The USA, at city and federal level, is leading the world in empowering citizens through access to clear information on how public money is spent and what is achieved as a result of this expenditure. Websites providing information on a national basis, such as www.recovery.gov, are building on what has been achieved by individual US cities. For example, the Open Book portal in New York state gives citizens access to up-to-date information on how public money is being spent. It provides easy-to-use search tools as well as access to catalogues of raw data which can be re-used and re-interpreted by interested members of the public, researchers and academics.
Democratisation of government data, Washington DC
The starting point for political leaders in Washington DC is that all information should be in the public domain. Data streams from the city government's agencies have been opened up to citizens, and to enhance the quality and usefulness of the information all systems are now running on Google applications, which improves data uniformity and makes it far easier to compare data.
In addition, an open contest called ‘Apps for Democracy’ gave members of the public the opportunity to build computer applications to make the data more accessible and easy to use.
In all, 47 successful applications were created, representing $2 million in value for the city government, while the programme cost around $50,000. This represents a 4,000% return on investment for the city.
Data transparency has been combined with sharpened accountability and improved decision-making by the city's senior executives - the Mayor discusses with his department heads the outcome measures to use for assessing future performance of public services, with weekly accountability and performance sessions which are often broadcast on television.
The city's approach has driven improvements in performance in a number of key service areas. For example, reducing health care waiting times for children in non-emergency situations was set as a priority through public consultation: 85% of children are now seen in 72 hours, compared with 21% in 2005.
Sources: iStrategyLabs; Leadership in customer service: Creating shared responsibility for better outcomes, Accenture, 2009; GMAP Washington: Government Management Accountability and Performance Program, National Governors Association, 2006
© New York State Office of the State Comptroller 
19. Making information available for re-use is the next step in the information revolution in public services. Governments do not have a monopoly on innovation and excellent ways of presenting and analysing data. Accordingly, the best systems are mobilising the expertise of citizens by making data available for re-use, or what is commonly referred to as ‘data-mashing’. For example, Data.gov in the USA is opening up a whole variety of datasets generated by the executive branch of the Federal Government for citizens to view and re-use (see case study box on page 32).
Open Book portal, New York
Open Book New York was launched in 2008 as part of a series of reforms to make government spending more transparent to citizens. The website gives citizens easy access to information on how state government is spending tax dollars. Its purpose is to give the public a roadmap to follow their tax dollars through government to public services.
Easy-to-use online search tools identify spending for 3,100 local government agencies and more than 100 state agencies, and display more than 60,000 state contracts in real time. These tools help taxpayers find out how much government spends on everything from travel and employees’ salaries to public safety and consultants. In addition, a new tool has recently been launched to help citizens track the use of $26.7 billion of federal aid that New York State is due to receive over the next two years, in response to the recession. Users can search by state agency, category of spending and federal programme title, and data is updated daily.
Source: Office of the State Comptroller, New York
20. Where governments have acted to release information, this has led to data being re-used in ways that cross traditional policy and departmental boundaries. For example, in the USA the District of Columbia site StumbleSafely brings together information on local bars and clubs, including the latest updates on nightlife, with crime data to help people plan safer routes home. A more open information regime in the USA has also given rise to a plethora of non-government websites designed for citizens to compare public services according to standard measures and at the same time participate in online communities and access relevant information and resources. For example, greatschools.net was inspired by an individual teacher committed to increasing parental involvement in education - the site provides easily accessible comparable information on schools, as well as community forums and online groups for parents to discuss similar topics and issues.
21. The World Wide Web has grown so quickly and successfully over recent years primarily because it is underpinned by ‘open standards’ - making it possible for anyone to contribute to its development or to access what others have made available. It is this quality that makes the Web so useful for people around the world. One interesting development, highlighted by our survey, is that governments and leading public services around the world are beginning to recognise the importance of not merely making information available, but making it available in standard formats so that it can be easily viewed, used and manipulated by citizens. It is for this reason that in Washington DC, for example, all city government systems are run on Google applications (see case study box on page 30). It is also one of the reasons why in Spain maps have been made available for re-use - making it possible for performance data on public services to be presented on standard maps, for example to show locations or track variations geographically.41
Data.gov makes information available for re-use
The purpose of Data.gov is to increase public access to high-value, machine-readable datasets. The development of the portal is a high-priority ‘open government initiative’ for the new US administration.
The portal increases the public’s ability to find, and use datasets that are generated and held by the Federal Government. Information is made available in easily accessible formats, for example at-a-glance maps, as well as in the form of raw data catalogues - ideal for re-use by those with specific areas of interest and expertise such as researchers, community groups and interested members of the general public. Data.gov is continuing to grow. For example, the Sunlight Foundation is running a contest, ‘Apps for America 2’, to showcase the creativity of web developers in the design of applications that provide the public with easy access to data provided through Data.gov.
Sources: www.data.gov; www.sunlightlabs.com; Office of Science and Technology Policy - Executive Office of the US President
22. Innovative strategies are being employed by governments around the world to mobilise expertise outside government in order to make better use of public information. The ‘Show Us a Better Way’ competition in the UK is an excellent example of how governments can open up opportunities for the public to suggest innovative uses of information. A similar contest in Belgium, ‘Innovative and Creative Applications’, prompted skilled members of the public to develop 35 online applications for public benefit, despite offering only a small amount of prize money. Similarly, the Apps for Democracy contest in Washington DC led to 47 online applications being created, representing $2 million in value for the city government, while the programme cost only around $50,000 (see case study box on page 30).
23. In some instances governments and providers of public services have responded to the World Wide Web by simply transferring information from paper to an electronic format. This shift does have some advantages, making it easier to find and search information previously only available on paper, but this is far from harnessing the full potential of interactive technology such as web 2.0. Web 2.0 is the second generation of web development, facilitating collaboration and dialogue between online participants - through blogs, wikis and other interactive forums. Leading-edge services are now recognising the significance of opportunities presented by new interactive technologies.
‘The internet is now fostering opportunities for the opinions of citizens to be included in the design and delivery of services.’
Professor Reto Steiner, University of Berne, Switzerland
24. The most innovative governments and public services are opening up dialogues with citizens - this is having a dramatic effect on policy development and public consultation. Citizens, experts and policymakers can be brought together through web 2.0 to engage in discussions, share knowledge and ultimately develop better policy to improve social outcomes. There have been successful moves in this direction in the UK, such as Downing Street e-petitions. However, in Seoul, for example, discussions of policy issues and opportunities for the city government to obtain feedback from citizens have been opened up even further through systematic, ongoing dialogues between experts, policy-makers and citizens (see case study box opposite).
25. The opening up of a dialogue and discussion on policy-making only goes part of the way to realising the full potential of knowledge and information sharing through interactive technology. Interactive technology excels at bringing together dispersed knowledge and expertise to improve the outcomes of public services. For example, the Peer-to-Patent project in the USA enables decisions to be made on patent applications using information obtained via an online community. Anybody who is interested may submit information published prior to the filing date of an application for comments on the application. Each application is discussed in an online forum, which enables participants to vote on the most relevant prior applications, with the 10 most applicable publications submitted to the patent examiner for consideration during examination. Initial indications are that 2,000 peer reviewers are participating in the project and 72% of participating patent examiners want to see Peer-to-Patent implemented as regular practice.
26. Most powerfully of all, web 2.0 is being used to offer citizens the opportunity to participate more deeply in decision-making processes. For example, the city of Cologne in Germany has used web 2.0 to empower citizens to participate in making decisions over how its budget is spent (see case study box on page 34).
The Cyber Policy Forum, Seoul, Korea
The Cyber Policy Forum is an online discussion forum focusing on a different topic each month. The city government makes a proposal and an expert is invited to comment on it. Citizens are then free them post opinions on the site. The forum provides citizens with an opportunity to discuss openly and understand policy issues, and for government to obtain feedback on issues and ideas. There are two parts to the forum - one for adults and one for young people. The forum has strengthened consultation processes by raising public awareness and understanding of political issues. Some of the most interesting contributions are taken forward into the formal policy-making process. Seoul in Korea has been recognised as having one of the world’s best e-governments over the past three years. The city ranked first out of 100 cities in a worldwide UN survey of e-government. The initial budget for the forum was around £14,000, with recorded online hits for different topics varying considerably, depending on levels of public interest. The most popular topic to date is reforming the bus system in Seoul - with around 20,000 hits.
Source: Digital governance in municipalities worldwide, United Nations, 2007
Participatory budgeting through web 2.0 in Cologne, Germany
Participatory budgeting was introduced in Cologne as part of a wider agenda in the city of ‘services for citizen participation’. The municipal administration recognised that to put citizens at the centre of governance it is necessary to give them a say over public funds.
Participatory budgeting has been piloted in the city through an e-participation internet platform. The platform empowers citizens to participate in planning the budget by submitting proposals, comments and assessments, and submitting votes for or against specific proposals.
The system encourages ongoing online discussions, rather than dialogue always being part of a tightly time-limited event.
To manage the flow of conversation and to target contributions, the interactive website was carefully and transparently overseen by forum facilitators.
The success of the project is due, not least, to its high profile across the city - the project was publicly advertised and information leaflets were sent to each household.
The levels of involvement in Cologne surpass comparable projects elsewhere in Europe - around 5,000 proposals were submitted during the first trial and more than 52,000 votes were entered. There were around 120,000 unique visitors to the website.
The pilot phase of the project cost approximately s300,000 to set up and run. The initiative is now developing towards the introduction of improved systems in 2010.
Sources: The UN Public Service Awards, 2008; Cologne - The Participatory Budget, Cologne City Council, 2009
27. New technologies are providing opportunities to open up information as never before. Governments around the world are responding to this technological revolution by re-evaluating the approach they take to information transparency. The shift required, however, is more than just a technical one. The starting point for government in countries such as the USA, which are at the leading edge of information transparency, is that government information should be in the public domain and easily available for use and re-use by citizens. This approach is underpinned by freedom of information legislation and practices which actively promote openness in government. Across other countries, government cultures will similarly need to change, possibly prompted by changes in legislation.
28. The need for a change in the culture of governments, however, should not be used as an excuse to diminish the role of government. It would be a mistake for governments simply to step back. Rather, they should act as strategic leaders - ensuring that balanced and reliable data is collected and then released in easy-to-use, uniform formats that all sections of society will find useful. Only if governments play this role will citizens and communities be genuinely empowered to make informed decisions, hold government to account and participate in dialogue and interaction.