Access to information is essential to the spirit & practice of open government. Right to information legislation (RTI), also referred to as freedom of information, establishes a general presumption that all information held by government should be accessible. Every government department and arms-length public body should publish a standardised record of all research it carries out, whether conducted by civil servants or commissioned through independent academic experts. The record would include what the research is looking at, who is conducting the study, and any agreements around the publication of results. A standardised record of all government research would empower the public to scrutinise what research is being carried out, by whom, and what the results were. This transparency would make government more open, and help improve the trust between researchers and policymakers by making it harder for studies to be delayed or suppressed for political reasons.
This content is created by the open source Your Priorities citizen engagement platform designed by the non profit Citizens Foundation