The UK Advisory Panel on Public Sector Information (APPSI) has published the minutes of the sixth APPSI Annual conference that was held in London on the 10^th December 2009.

Section 10 of the minutes summarises the presentations and discussions and states:

“10. Summary of presentation and discussion

10.1 The Deputy Chair of APPSI drew out the main themes from the presentations and discussions during the seminar, as follows:

• As well as the economic downturn, the factors driving government policy and leading to a change of balance between the private and public sectors are:
  • Enhanced efficiency
  • Localism
  • Greater transparency
  • Technological change.

• The announcements in the Smarter Government white paper relating to the opening up of Ordnance Survey data, postcode areas, and mid-scale mapping, as well as the release of public transport data and underlying data for weather forecasts from April next year, are not to be considered as individual events but rather as a process that supports an open and transparent government. APPSI will be in a position to provide advice about the implications of these proposed changes through the consultations that have been planned as part of the process.

• The presentations and discussions highlighted the importance of research to inform decisions and, in particular, how research is crucial for organisations in deciding what business models to adopt. Research also enables organisations to take a more business-like attitude to pricing models and licensing.

• ‘Free’ data is not really ‘free’ – it’s important for government to consider where the cost actually falls and how the data is going to be maintained under this new funding model. The policy for government to release ‘free’ data might mean that less or poorer quality public sector information is created in the future.

• The prospective changes in funding for PSI re-use and terms of agreement set between those who create the information and those who commission products from the information lead us to identify the importance of a national information infrastructure that sets out clear boundaries for suppliers and users of PSI and priorities.

• The recent announcements about ‘free’ data bring into question the possible need for enhanced regulation. It might be possible that in the future a revised regulatory framework is required and a policy lead nominated to implement the new policies.
• More needs to be done to raise awareness and knowledge at local authority level and in the devolved administrations about the value of public sector information and its re-use. There is clearly a need to involve local authorities and the devolved governments in the decision-making process to ensure they feel part of the changing landscape.

• The PSI licensing framework needs to be simplified and standardised to encourage greater re-use of PSI. OPSI is currently working on a simplified model using Creative Commons attributes to ensure that terms and privacy conditions are clear and enabling for users.”

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