The Digital Fabric of Scotland Is FOI Enough? Rosemary Agnew Scottish Information Commissioner 29 January 2014

Introduction

Digital over time

Digital over time

Digital over time

Two critical enablers An information service About service or access Data & Information Component of system An information service About service or access Component of the service Performance and outcomes Need different thinking about service delivery in a digital context Technology Accessible Reliable Usable

Accessible - quickly Reliable Truthful/ Accurate Informative Why What do expect information to be to deliver a responsive service? Accessible - quickly Reliable Truthful/ Accurate Informative Why Invisible

Embedded in range of other legislation Accessibility - Legislation Scotland (SIC) FOISA EI(S)Rs INSPIRe (Scotland) Embedded in range of other legislation Access to information – a mixture of reserved and devolved legislation. Scottish Information Commissioner enforces and promotes: Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 INSPIRe (Scotland) Regulations 2009 These apply (predominantly) to Scottish public authorities, and companies wholly owned by them. UK Information Commissioner enforces and promotes the equivalent UK legislation: Freedom of Information Act 2000 Environmental Information Regulations 2004 INSPIRe Regulations 2009 Which apply (predominantly) to UK wide authorities, which includes those who operate in Scotland – for example BBC Scotland, Forestry Commission Scotland. He also enforces reserved UK legislation Data Protection Act 1998 – which covers the whole of the UK including Scotland. The UK courts enforce Access to Health Records Act 1990 Access to Medical Reports Act 1988 (NB can’t find this leg?) There are a number of more specialist access to information regimes, such as the Access to Health Records Act 1990 which gives access to the health records of someone who has died (DPA only applies to living individuals). Access to medical reports deals with reports which a GP writes for insurance companies. This is not an exhaustive list. The Office for Public Sector Information (OPSI) is the regulator for re-use Although not directly related to access to information, the reuse of public sector information regulations deals with how public information, which may have been accessed via one of the regimes mentioned above, can be re-used. For example, they govern how and when an authority can impose conditions on re-use, including when it can charge. *************** INSPIRe 1.The EU INSPIRE Directive [2007/2/EC] aims to make available consistent spatial datasets about the environment and to create services for accessing these datasets so that they can be more easily shared or combined to benefit the development and monitoring of environmental policy and practice in all Member States and across the European Community. 2.These datasets are organised in a number of data themes, defined in the Annexes to the Directive (see Appendix 1). 3.The INSPIRE (Scotland) Regulations 2009 No 440 came into force on 31 December 2009 and turn this Directive into law that applies in Scotland. Complementary regulations have been made by the UK Government on behalf of England, Northern Ireland and Wales. Re-use Regulations on the re-use of public sector information that came into force on 1 July 2005. The Regulations implement a European Directive on the re-use of public sector information approved by the Council of Ministers on 17 November 2003. The aim of the Regulations is to encourage the re-use of public sector information by removing obstacles that stand in the way of re-use. The main themes are improving transparency, fairness and consistency. In doing so it will help stimulate the development of innovative new information products and services across Europe, so boosting the information industry. UK wide DPA (ICO) Reuse (OPSI)

Accessible Reliable Truthful/ Accurate Informative Why Invisible What do expect information to be to deliver a responsive service? Accessible Reliable Truthful/ Accurate Informative Why Invisible

Accessibility and legislation It enshrines rights Sets out duties In two ways Requests Proactive publication Requests make news When did you last see a report about proactive publication? FOISA (and FOIA) are trail-blazers internationally in making a positive connection between the right to know and proactive publication. They should act as a positive force to encourage public authorities to make as much information available for people to access themselves without having to make a request for it. “Otherwise accessible” means information that is universally and readily accessible – no longer relevant to offer restricted opening times to a dusty register office where you have to wait in line to be served. Digital offers the opportunity to make information available to anyone, anywhere in the world, at the time of their choosing.   Negative assumptions about publication schemes – people are not interested in the schemes themselves, but in the information that is made accessible through them (the schemes are the strategy, but the delivery is what people see). Publishing information doesn’t necessarily reduce the requests, but it makes it easier to fulfil them and often requests are narrower because people understand the context better from the available information. Digital strategy needs to be driven by what people actually want to see Scottish Government’s Digital Future strategy: http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Economy/digital has four pillars: Connectivity (making sure we have the digital infrastructure) Digital public services (online services wherever possible, shaped around users’ needs) Digital economy (harnessing employment and business opportunities presented by digital) Participation (making sure the public seize digital opportunities) Key differences between the Scottish model and the UK Government’s “open data” strategy. Both will make information available in a way that it wasn’t before and both rely on digital innovation. But the Scottish Government’s strategy is user driven (in line with the Christie Commission findings) and about encouraging more people to take up the opportunities presented. Significant relevance of FOI in the Government’s strategy – information requests give us a steer on what people want to see. Most of it is information that is directly relevant to their personal lives: condition of the roads they drive on, the standards of care in hospitals, quality of school food, etc. People want to know what their entitlements are, how to access services and the cost of those services. Some also want to know about decisions taken by public authorities, particularly how money is allocated to priorities and spent. A smaller number want to know about big political stories and whether they can trust politicians. We can use that evidence to identify what needs to be published – few people will want to know about authority strategies, but they want to know when their bins are emptied! In terms of digital archives, look first to what people ask you for. Open data / government is great. FOI is great too! Open data = supply-led, FOI = demand-led. Need a mix of both.

Is FOI enough? Definitely … But…

We need to evolve Maintain the strengths Enforceability Independent regulation Champion of rights Change the culture and emphasis Proactive rather than reactive Sharing rather than disclosing Communicate rather than respond Use information to enable not constrain “freedom of information” comes from the starting-point of the citizen’s needs

Contact Us Scottish Information Commissioner Kinburn Castle Doubledykes Road St Andrews KY16 9DS T: 01334 464610 E: enquiries@itspublicknowledge.info W: www.itspublicknowledge.info