Information PolicyConcepts and Principles Concepts and Principles

Sharon DawesICEGOV 2009

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Overview

• Information policy environment– Policies reflect their social & political settings

– Many stakeholders, actors, and roles

– Environments change, policies follow

• Two kinds of information policies and policy

roles for government:– Value-driven policies

– Instrumental policies

Policy types and governmental roles

Instrumental Information policies

Government as

information collector,

producer, provider

and user

Value-drivenInformation policies

Government as

regulator of information

flow in society

and user

Social and political concepts that underlie information policy choices

• Public speech and communication

• Diversity of information sources

• Individual choice and autonomy• Individual choice and autonomy

• Government openness

• Government regulation

• Role of private enterprise

Policy choices reflect social & political values

• Speech and communication: encouraged censored

• Diversity of sources: many few

• Individual choice & autonomy: protected restricted

• Government openness: transparent secret• Government openness: transparent secret

• Government regulation: light heavy

• Role of private enterprise: encouraged limited

High LowFree flow of information in society

Value-driveninformation policy themes

• Government transparency– Embodied in information access laws, records management and archival

requirements, public meetings and reporting laws

• Individual rights and autonomy• Individual rights and autonomy– Embodied in polices on free speech, privacy, and confidentiality

• Diversity of information sources– Embodied in treatment of the press and role of the private sector

regarding information sources and services

• Intellectual property– Embodied in copyright, patent, and trade provisions

Value-driven information policies as balancing mechanisms

To balance conflicts among three information values:

Access

To balance an information value against another policy concern:

Ownership Privacy

Other policy

Info value

Type I conflictHow best to implement, operationalize, or set the boundaries of an agreed upon information policy goal:goal:

Example: Is personal privacy best protected by government regulation or self-regulation by industry?

Type II conflict

An information value in

conflict with another social,

political, or economic goal

How to balance personal privacy

against the need for domestic

security following 9/11?

Type III conflict

An information value in

conflict with another

information right or value

Does web-based peer-to-peer

music sharing constitute a

form of access or a violation

of the ownership rights of

music producers?

Instrumental information policies

Government as

information collector,

Instrumental Information policies

Government as

regulator of information

flow in society

information collector,

producer, provider

and user

Value-drivenInformation policies

policies

Instrumental policies• Use information (or rules or policies about information) to

achieve some other policy goal– e.g. environmental quality, social equity, market fairness

• Used to influence individual or organizational choices and behaviorsand behaviors– e.g. requiring chemical manufacturers to publicly report toxic

by-products encourages improved processes that reduce pollution

• Used to create and manage information resources as a public good.– e.g. data collected and published about demographics or the

economy

Instrumental policy principles

StewardshipUsefulness

Information Stewardship Principle

• A conservative principle that addresses:

– treatment of government information as a fiduciary

responsibility of all agencies

– data collection decisions and methods– data collection decisions and methods

– data definition, quality, and integrity

– information architecture, standards, and frameworks

– information and system security

– confidentiality protections

– records management

Information Use Principle

• An expansive principle that addresses:

– government information as an asset of society

– information sharing within government & with others

– information-handling skills of public employees– information-handling skills of public employees

– information and technology as agents of change in

• programs

• services

• the relationship between government and citizens

Principles of information use within government

StewardshipUsefulness

Summary

• Value-driven policies– Information as the object of policy

– Government as regulator of societal information flow

– Conflicts among values are inevitable

• Instrumental policies– Information as a means to achieve some other policy goal

– Government as information collector, user, disseminator

– Stewardship and usefulness principles are equally

important

Information policy creation, change and development mechanisms in

Global contextEvgeny Styrin Ph.D.Visiting scholar

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Visiting scholarCenter for Technology in Government, SUNY AlbanyICEGOV 2009Bogota, Columbia

April 22, 2010

Why information policy? – Establish and implement certain principles in working with

information• Equal rights to access information• Price of information obtained • Danger and damage prevention caused by information• Privacy and security of information• Intellectual property

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• Intellectual property• Quantity and quality of information in Governance• Cultural identity preservation• Overcoming the digital divide• Processing information (creation, update, deletion)• Responsibility for information ownership and use• Requirements and standards of work with information

Information policy

Political parties

Business communities and

unions

Regional and local

governments

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Information policy

Bureaucracy

Legislative authorities

Citizens

Experts, researches, scientists

Key players and their interests in information policy

• International Organizations (WTO, UNDP, WB, IMF, OECD) –recommendations, standards, principles

• Intergovernmental Unions (EU, UNASUR,CAN, CIS)• National States

•Political parties•Business communities and

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Information Policyinfluence

•Business communities and unions •Bureaucracy•Legislative authorities•Citizens•Experts, researches, scientists•Regional and local governments

Okinawa Charter on Global Information Society –2000 (G8) Digital Opportunity Task Force (DOT

Force)– Seizing Digital Opportunities– Bridging the Digital Divide– Promoting Global Participation– Building Human Capacity– Promoting E-Commerce (Legal Framework)UNDP Global Summit (2 stages, Geneva 2003, UNDP Global Summit (2 stages, Geneva 2003,

Tunisia 2005)- 175 countries– Information Society Development Principles Declaration

(Geneva 2003)– Action Plan (Geneva 2003)– Tunisia Commitment– Tunisia Information Society Program

Geneva Action Plan 2003• E-government• E-Business• E-Health• E-Employment

• Cultural diversity• Ethics• International

Collaboration

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• E-Employment• E-Education• E-Ecology• E-Agriculture• E-Science

Collaboration• Mass Media• Evaluation of E-

development

Tunisia Information Society Commitment and Program 2005

• Confirm Geneva Action Plan 2003• Develop financial mechanisms of Digital Divide

overcoming• Internet usage regulation• All kinds of partnerships in ICT projects

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• All kinds of partnerships in ICT projects• Freedom of information search, usage, receipt especially

for knowledge creation• Integration opportunities• Cybercrime protection steps • Building trust and human potential• ICT infrastructure• IT-strategies development in every country (not later

than end of 2010) – POVERTY REDUCTION!

Basic mechanisms of Governance related to information policy

• Decision making

• Conflict resolution

• Change implementation

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• Change implementation

• Experience transfer

Decision making

• What information do we need?

• Why do we need it?

• Does it let us make better decisions?

• How do we use the information?

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• How do we use the information?

• Do we obtain better results? (communities and their demands, land, property, population registers, territory and ecology, health records history, educational resources, cultural heritage)

Conflict resolution and controversy in goals

• Privacy vs. Accountability and Transparency

• Right to access information vs. National Secret

• “Pay for information” vs. “Get it for free”

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• E-document vs. Paper document

• Controversy among information policy documents on different governance levels and different sectors and branches of state activity

Information policy change or evolution factors

• Sign or adopt new international standards and agreements (UNCITRAL)

• Enter new political unions, blocks and organizations (EU membership)

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organizations (EU membership)• Implementing changes in National Strategy• Lobbyism (different sources) and Interest

Groups • Legal framework (new definitions, rules)

Producing information policy change

Formal and informal rulesLegal Framework

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Political Institutions

How to improve information policy for the agency – Administrator’s Guide (Balance

Between Risk and Trust)

External environment identification

Conflict resolution

Decision making

Evaluation

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Identify external environment demands, changesFormulate problems Identify, choose and study appropriate experience Identify external and internal stakeholders

Build trust, support and feedback within your stakeholders network (social media for professionals, knowledge sharing, discussion platforms)Find out conflicts, controversies (legal context, political environment, informal rules)Make your goals more clearIdentify the desirable outcomesAssess readiness and resources for the changes and policy implementationIdentify and manage risks of possible changes in information policy

Establish or join agreements, frameworks, standards, glossariesDevelop info policy document as a tool for your goals achievement (build guidelines, apply for laws modification, give detailed instructions, avoid ambiguity and high level of abstraction)Use public expertise (involve NGO’s, experts, other relevant stakeholders)Identify mechanism of new info policy enactment (awareness, understanding, control)Staff training

Evaluate effectiveness Get stakeholders’ feedback

Information Policy Organizational Infrastructure (Governance Culture

2 opposite points)• Carrots vs. Sticks?• Recommendations, informality and autonomy

vs. Orders, legislative formalization and penalties

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penalties• Leadership vs. Participation• Transparency in problem solving vs. Back

stage activity• Frequent vs. Rare activities in success

evaluation, strategy adjustment, new issues discussion

Information policyEstablishing principal agreement

– All elements of agreement between the levels of government including the purpose, roles and responsibilities, terms and conditions

– Description of the parties, governance structure, commercial arrangements,

– Legislation authorizing the proposal and legislative/policy requirementsrequirements

– Information to be exchanged &/or integrated services to be provided, limitations on access, use and disclosure of information, confidentiality requirements, information protection and management, disposal of information, audit requirements

– Dispute resolution processes and sometimes liability/responsibility clauses in various circumstances for failure to abide by terms and conditions or for negligence or privacy breach

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Experience transfer in information policy adoption

• ICT development goes with different pace• Many countries face the same problems• There exist a number of solutions based on

different cultural and traditional legacy, political regime, strategic goals, structure of economy and

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regime, strategic goals, structure of economy and society

• Benchmark solutions and pick up those based on similar reality to yours

• Adopt solutions according to country’s peculiarities or develop new solutions

Small group discussions

• Identify problems and approaches in your

government to share with all tutorial participants

• Themes

– Legal framework– Legal framework

– Institutional change

– Strategies/mechanisms for policy making

– Government transparency

– Citizen’s information rights