The right of access to information clearly applies to all documents and to other materials stored in other formats, such as audio-visual materials stored on tapes, CDs or DVDs.

A question arises when it comes to access to information stored in databases. This issue is very important for journalists who may want to get at more detailed information rather than a simple answer to a question.

In general, public authorities are not required to generate new documents or information in response to requests. They normally will be ready to extract some information from a database using a simple search. This is something which is required following decisions of the information commissioners in countries such France and Slovenia.

In some countries, a database is considered to be a “document”; in other countries a document is limited to a coherent set of information which can be extracted from a database. Access to information and open government data campaigns are now arguing that access should be granted to entire databases, not just the information contained in them. In the meantime, this is something which journalists should be aware of and check the situation in your country if you are planning to ask for an entire database.

At the same time, something very exciting is happening to government databases which should be of interest to all journalists: the “Open Government Data Revolution” in which public institutions are releasing entire databases to the public by putting them on line in central web portals. See Box C on Open Government Data. Good training in Computer Assisted Reporting Techniques is now essential in order to make the most of these new information resources.

Box C: Open Government Data

What is open government data?

The release of databases and other collections of information by government departments in formats that can be freely used, reused and distributed. Release is generally proactive, without the need for access to information requests.

•    An example: In 2007, the UK government released a database with locations of bicycle accidents around the country. This information was linked by members of the public to maps, making it possible for cyclists to plan safer journeys avoiding the black spots.

•    Another example: In Australia, in January 2010, government released the National Public Toilet Map which shows the location of more than 14,000 public and private public toilet facilities with data such as opening hours, availability of baby changing rooms, and accessibility for people with disabilities. Sounds funny? Think of the possibilities: associations of disabled persons can provide a database for their members to plan journeys; mothers could access a service by mobile phone to locate the nearest baby changing room.


What are governments doing to promote access to datasets?

There are currently a number of initiatives to release government data in bulk, these include:

-   United States: On 21 May 2009 the US Government launched Data.gov whose purpose is to give direct public access to machine-readable datasets generated by the Executive Branch of the US Federal Government. An initial 47 datasets are on line, of the thousands planned for release.

-   United Kingdom: Working with Tim Berners-Lee, one of the inventors of the World Wide Web, the UK government has created Data.gov.uk, a single online access point for government data, launched on 21 January 2010.

-   Australia: the data.australia.gov.au website links to numerous databases and encourages users to “make government information even more useful by mashing-up the data to create something new and exciting!”

-   New Zealand: a portal for accessing government databases is located at data.govt.nz. Recent release include a database from the food safety authority with a breakdown of the major causes of food recalls, and total number of recalls 2001 – 2009, and hospital performance data from the Ministry of Health. In addition, an independent website, the Open Data Catalogue provides a portal to local government datasets in NZ.

-   Denmark: Danish National IT and Telecom Agency has created a meta-portal to link, Digitaliser.dk, to guide users to available public data.


What are other issues for journalists to be aware of?

There are potential obstacles to accessing full government data:

-   Information that is stored using proprietary rather than open source software, so users will have spend money on the software to be able to read the information;

-   Information released in formats that can’t be read by computers is difficult to reuse;

-   Data or the database itself is subject to copyright or other licences;

-   Data is or released under public sector information reuse licences for which users have to pay.

These problems are still being resolved by open government data activists in discussions with governments. In the meantime, where governments have released data, such as on the portals listed above, journalists might want to start surfing through, while thinking creatively about what stories it might generate.