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Enabling Access to Public Sector Information

By Michael Geist

Last week's focus on open access, including the Liberal commitment to open government, brings to mind key issues involving access to public sector information.  My colleague Elizabeth Judge tackles the issue in her chapter in From "Radical Extremism" to "Balanced Copyright": Canadian Copyright and the Digital Agenda.

Judge provides a comparative analysis on the use and reuse of public-sector information, noting that many other countries have moved far ahead of Canada in offering their data in open formats accompanied by open licences.  The article identifies several alternatives to moving toward open data, including government-backed initiatives and the adoption of open licences such as a Crown Copyright licence modeled on the Creative Commons licence.  She notes that crown copyright remains an impediment to access to Canadian public sector information, but concludes that open licencing offers a mechanism to overcome that barrier without the need for statutory reform.

Full post as published by Michael Geist on October 26, 2010 (boomark / email).