The Dutch government is not doing enough to further its transition to an open government. It should step up its ambition in this area and start working on implementation. This was the main message from a meeting that the Standing Parliamentary Committee of the Interior had last month with the substitute Minister of the Interior Stef Blok on the National Action Plan Open Government 2016-2017 and the National Open Data Agenda (NODA).

These sobering conclusions echo the findings of the OGP Progress Report published last year.

Open data

According to the spokesman for the conservative-liberal People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), the nine actions in the plan are not enough to ensure the progress that is needed in open government. He urged the Minister to put more pressure on government institutions to implement the Law on the Re-use of Public Sector Information (WHO), the Dutch transposition of the European 'Directive 2003/98/EC on the Re-use of Public Sector Information' (i.e. the PSI Directive). This Directive was revised in June 2013, and its amendments were implemented in Dutch national law in July 2015.

In addition, the spokesman emphasised the importance of open data and the economic value that can be created from it. He wants Statistics Netherlands to become the national open data hub and to help municipalities open up their data.

Open by design

The spokeswoman for the social-liberal party Democrats 66 (D66) pleaded for a quick introduction of the new WOO law that will replace the current Act on Public Information (WOB). According to her, the WOB's conditions are often abused by public agencies to do exactly the opposite of what they are supposed to do. The new law would make active publication an obligation. It has already been adopted by the Dutch Parliament and is currently awaiting commissioning by the Cabinet.

The spokeswoman for the Labour Party (PvdA) agreed with her D66 colleague on the importance of open-by-design: everything should be publicly available, unless there are compelling reasons not to do so. She also wants to stimulate an open attitude with public servants and politicians, and to increase knowledge and change the culture. According to her, it's a lack of knowledge on open standards and open source software that results in resistance. So she is calling for the establishment of a knowledge centre, and for the LEDO expertise centre to act as an ambassador in these areas.

Masterplan

The spokesman for the Christian Democratic Appeal party (CDA) said he sees no coherent policies, no priorities, no mandate, and no perseverance in developing policies to bring about a digital society. According to him, implementing a digital society should be facilitated and orchestrated in agreements and legislation, similar to the way it is done for hard infrastructure for transport over water, through the air and by train. He suggests the development of a masterplan for a digital society.

In his reply, the Minister acknowledged the importance of open data for democracy (through government transparency and accountability). At the same time, he insisted on a reserved role for central government; he does not want to force other layers of government. The Minister also emphasised the high complexity of publishing government data; even making an inventory is not an easy task. He does agree, however, that making available information on purchasing and subsidies should have priority. The Minister promised to enter into conversations to set things in motion.