U.S. PIRG on transparency: more states should do more of it
Along the same lines of the policy brief on Florida’s transparency I blogged about yesterday, the U.S. PIRG has come out with an interesting study on states providing online access to government data, concluding that there are no downsides to government providing data online in a searchable format, there are only benefits.
In Following the Money: How the 50 States Rate in Providing Online Access to Government Spending Data, the authors aim to provide a benchmark for comparing states in their individual road to providing government data online. They start by highlighting several key points about transparency in general. Among these:
*The movement toward Transparency 2.0 is broad, bipartisan, and popular.
*Transparency 2.0 saves money and bolsters citizen confidence.
*Even in leading states, there are many opportunities to improve transparency Web sites.
What does the study propose? Simply put, more—more information, more usability. The study outlines three criteria for Transparency 2.0. First, the portal a government posts its data on should be comprehensive, including all spending data for all levels of government. Second, it should provide all of this information in one site, not make you jump around to partner sites. Lastly, the information and search functions must be user-friendly, allowing citizens to enter a single query or browse common-sense categories.
The study also highlights innovative governments that get creative. San Francisco, for example, recently launched DataSF, a searchable Web site that provides data on a variety of city issues and allows users to comment on and rank the datasets with the hope of improving government performance in the future. The Web site also provides mobile phone apps that integrate the data and provide residents with useful tools. We at Sunshine Review love that sort of
So why should governments embrace transparency, according to U.S. PIRG? Transparency websites can help reduce fraud and misspending. The promise of posting information online makes shady officials know they have citizens to answer to and reminds fiscally irresponsible officials to think twice about a line item. Transparency portals are “excellent tools of civic engagement.” They encourage citizens to work together with government and remove that distance between voter and candidate. The study’s authors note in another section that without accurate and up-to-date data, citizens lack the tools to interact with their elected officials. The lines of communication only flow one way. And for all these benefits and the others detailed in Following the Money, the cost of a web transparency portal isn’t much. Another benefit of transparency: it’s cheap.
Basically, every facet of transparency is a good, inexpensive, money-and-legitimacy saving consequence. It’s like music to our ears. If governments want to ensure a happy citizenry that is engaged, it should collaborate with us by following the spirit and ideas outlined in Following the Money.
