[Scottish] Open Data in Scotland

[ptb]

Does anyone notice all the info. already available about
Central/Local Gov't. activity and outcomes (also lack of
a.& c.) being passed over by journos. because it's all too
hard for the poor dears to analyze?  Especially when it
comes to Local Gov't. just don't expect your favourite West of
Scotland morning and evening paysheets to be negative.

Councillors (except, most of them, in the school holidays
-  why?) want people to come to their "surgeries" with
problems which as Elected Members they can address and show
an interest in, perhaps even resolve.  Cumulatively this
leads to more votes, especially if they keep it up over
time. Meantime none of us citizens can nearly as easily lay
hands on a useful official (this suits the top officials
because it's easier for them to deal with a few known
Councillors who are in the system than to keep pace with a
ragbag of citizens, presenting as unknown quantities).

If the permanent staff were free to work competently without
Councillor interference (other than the occasional sacking
of the topmost relevant official when things aren't
satisfactory) those Elected Members who have the necessary
capability would have time to think about strategy, policy,
quality control, freedom of information &c.

Pat




On Thu, 24 Jun 2010 23:36:17 +0100
Jason Irwin <jasonirwin73 at googlemail.com> wrote:

> You could do worse than speak to your local councillor during their
> surgery.  Some are OK; Councillor Braat [Lab] is one, Baillie Baker (Green)
> is another.
> They're both West End, but the council makes it pretty easy to find your own
> councillor.
> 
> http://www.glasgow.gov.uk/councillorsandcommittees/allMembers.asp?sort=0
> 
> You may even have a local community council/gorup association that meets up
> periodically (e.g. Yorkhill and Kelvingrove Community Council, not mine but
> one I know that is active).  Maybe a few can be brought on board there.
> Unfortunately I can't find a convenient site that lists the various groups
> contact details.
> 
> The pertinent questions you'd need to be able to answer are along the lines
> of:
> 1) Why is it good for councils to be more open?
> 2) What benefits can they gain?
> 3) How being open could save them money? (if that's possible)
> 
> Then you have the various issue over how the information is made public.  No
> point in releasing information that is hard to compare/aggregate (afraid I
> have no experience of that).
> 
> J.
> 
> On 22 June 2010 17:15, Kyle Gordon <kyle at lodge.glasgownet.com> wrote:
> 
> > Just discovered this handy website
> > http://openlylocal.com/councils/open?country=Scotland
> >
> > So, where and how do we go about persuading councils to change their
> > ways?
> >
> > Kyle
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Scottish mailing list
> > Scottish at mailman.lug.org.uk
> > https://mailman.lug.org.uk/mailman/listinfo/scottish
> >
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