Chris Yiu, Policy Exchange's Head of Digital Government, will take part in a panel debate organised by Citizen 2012 on The Emergence of the Digital Citizen which will discuss new communications channels and the challenge of managing ‘traditional’ communications channels and social channels.
We were pleased to see a number of elements of the Budget statement that follow recommendations laid out in previous Policy Exchange reports. Overall on growth, the Budget is likely to come out positive, but leaves the toughest political decisions on public sector pay to the future.
This report says that policymakers need to move on from a skewed debate around bank lending, and do more across the entire funding "ladder" for high growth businesses and investors. In particular government should concentrate efforts on removing barriers and targeting support for innovative small businesses.
Fulfilling the promise of open public data in the UK
This report advocates making all non-personal data held by the public sector available for free, allowing entrepreneurs to use this data to create a wealth of new products and services of value to both businesses and consumers.
Head of Digital Government Chris Yiu is quoted by The Daily Telegraph praising the government's creation of the new Data Strategy Board which will go some way toward implementing the recommendations from Policy Exchange report A Right to Data for releasing all non-personal public sector data.
Chris Yiu, Policy Exchange's Head of Digital Government, is quoted from A Right to Data in a BIS press release on allowing the private sector and open data community greater influence over the release of public sector data.
Financing Innovation argues that the government should concentrate efforts on removing barriers for innovative small businesses by allowing them to bypass all the current complexity on charges, reliefs, rates and exemptions and instead deal with a simple flat tax.
A Right to Data says that all non-personal data held by the public sector should be made available to the public for free. Opening up public data so that it can be linked, analysed and made useful could provide a huge economic and social boost, with some estimates suggesting that the upside for the economy could run into the billions of pounds.
Head of Economics & Social Policy Matthew Oakley reviews the Budget. He praises the government's adoption of proposals from Financing Innovation and tackling public sector National Pay Bargaining but criticises changes to Stamp Duty and Corporation Tax, as well as the fact that many tough decisions have been left for the future.
There is no longer a reasonable justification for keeping publicly funded data under lock and key. With the government ostensibly committed to transparency, Head of Digital Government Chris Yiu argues that opening up public data is a must, and could have solid economic and productive benefits.
This event will discuss the role of open standards in UK public policy. How much potential is there for open standards to power public sector reform, catalyse competition and contribute to economic growth? If open standards in the public sector are a policy goal, then what will it take to deliver change?
This briefing will be a chance for our friends and supporters to hear about Policy Exchange’s plans for 2012 and beyond. We will also set out our thoughts on the political and policy landscape as we head towards the midway point of this Parliament.
