Overview

Costs of publication should be minimised unless there are clear benefits.

Why

It is difficult for public sector bodies to estimate the commercial or other value of their information. The risk of deciding what publication form will best deliver that value, and the work of converting it to that form, should be left to commercial product and service providers, and other consumers.

Intended Outcome

Unnecessary costs of publication are avoided.

Possible Approach

Public sector bodies publishing information SHOULD either:

• Publish it in the manner that involves lowest cost, consistent with making it available effectively and openly, or
• Carry out cost-benefit analyses of the possible measures to assess potential use and stimulate take-up, methods of publication, and formats for publication, and select measures, methods and formats in the light of those analyses.

How to Test

The costs of publication and of measures to assess potential use and stimulate take-up CAN be checked by analysis of the financial accounts of the body concerned.

The actual take-up CAN be checked by analysis of use information collected by the computer systems that make the information is available.

Whether cost-benefit analyses have been carried out CAN be checked by reviewing the reports that they produce. Estimates in these reports CAN be checked against actual expenditure and actual take-up figures.

Evidence

Many presentations and discussions at the Samos SHARE-PSI workshop mentioned how difficult it is for public sector bodies to assess the commercial potential of the information that they publish.

Ease of publication is an identified requirement of the Open Public Sector Data Business Scenario.

Lifecycle Stage

Planning (with testing in publication and subsequent phases).

Audience

Everyone responsible for the creation or publication of public-sector information.

Related Best Practices

(To be added once the list of best practices is complete.)