Transparency is about more than just data releases. Tim Kelsey appeals to colleagues across the civil service to get involved with the open data debate.

Tim Kelsey is director of transparency in the Cabinet Office’s Efficiency and Reform Group.

The transparency agenda has come a long way since 2010, when the prime minister committed the UK to becoming the most open and transparent government in the world. Last month, with the Minister for the Cabinet Office (MCO), I attended the launch of the Open Government Partnership: a coalition of governments and civil society organisations working to advance transparency and accountability in government. From March 2012, the UK will be its co-chair.

In the last 18 months, we have seen that the government is determined to match its commitment to transparency with action: it has begun to shed light on how the public services operate, and radically challenged the preconception that public data is owned by the provider, not the citizen or taxpayer.

In July, the PM announced a series of unprecedented commitments relating to key public services, including the NHS, schools, criminal courts and transport. Talking to colleagues around government, I’ve been struck by how positively they are responding. Concerns about what the data will reveal have been largely overcome by the value that the beneficiaries of data gain from publication – a good example is the crimemaps data on www.police.uk, which has attracted over 423m hits.

But lasting transparency will not come from an episodic approach to releasing data: we must develop a more strategic approach. To do this, the Cabinet Office has launched a consultation, Making Open Data Real, inviting views from everyone – including the public, businesses, interest groups, and you: civil service colleagues – on how best to embed a culture where openness and transparency become core operating principles of the public services. The potential is huge – not least in driving economic growth: we’ll be engaging with more than 100 businesses to discuss their ideas for new releases of public data.

We will use the responses to develop proposals for a white paper, and we want to hear your ideas: please encourage your departments and stakeholders to respond to the consultation by visiting http://data.gov.uk/opendataconsultation.

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Written by Tim Kelsey