- From: Tim McNamara <paperless@timmcnamara.co.nz>
- Date: Thu, 23 Sep 2010 08:41:00 +1200
- To: Brian Gryth <briangryth@gmail.com>
- Cc: open-government@lists.okfn.org, eGovIG IG <public-egov-ig@w3.org>, citycamp@forums.e-democracy.org, openhouseproject@googlegroups.com
- Message-ID: <AANLkTin5Gcs-tS7L6Fqi6J5LAsKneNvhHk4cv5a+vtYK@mail.gmail.com>
2010/9/22 Brian Gryth <briangryth@gmail.com> > Thanks to everyone that has replied. Great stuff. > > I have one additional questions. Does anyone know the average costs of > complying with a open records/freedom of information request for > non-sensitive information? Alternatively, does anyone know of some kind of > report or study that has compared the cost of open records compliance and > data transparency/open data? > > Cheers, > Brian > Hi Brian, New Zealand's Ministry of Justice provides guidance to departments on cost-recovery. This is NZD 38 per half hour for staff time, plus costs of photocopying, etc.[1] Other than that, I can only speak from my personal experience as an ex New Zealand public servant who has processed several hundred requests for official information. My impression is that the biggest cost is opportunity. There are a few parts of the process: - assessing the question: Is it relevant to our department? Do we need to consult with others? Do we understand what is being asked? This might involve a follow-up call, meeting or email to clarify the request. - collation of information - drafting the response: seemingly endless photocopying, QA In a small policy team, a large request can suck up someone's week of more. That could be a quarter of the capacity of that team. In a politically charge request, there might be several amendments to the response made in consultation with the Minister's office. Bigger departments have specialist information managers to keep track of which requests have been made to make the process more efficient. However, I found that this can just add more bureaucratic steps to the process. Tim McNamara Masters Candidate in Public Policy, Victoria University of Wellington Identi.ca / Twitter @timClicks [1] http://www.justice.govt.nz/publications/global-publications/m/ministry-of-justice-charging-guidelines-for-official-information-act-1982-requests-18-march-2002
Received on Wednesday, 22 September 2010 22:19:21 UTC